McLaughlins Take France: September 2019

With Jeff back in the United States for a week, we decided to hit the train tracks and head up to Amsterdam for a mother/daughter/son trip! I have traveled a lot with the kids by myself but this was our first international excursion.

So instead of this blog giving you a play-by-play of our four days in Amsterdam, I thought I would share with you the very valuable lessons I have learned these past few days. (A brief description of what we did each day will be below, with photos, for anyone who is interested.)

Lesson 1 - There is tremendous value in letting the kids decide what we do. They have spent the past few months doing what Jeff and I think would be fun and interesting. And to be fair, I did the same thing this time and made a list of what I thought would be fun and educational things to do in Amsterdam. Once we arrived, the kids suddenly had a voice in what they wanted to do.

The first things the kids suggested was Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. I honestly thought this would be a rip-off with how expensive it was and how small the interior seemed. Four floors and two hours later, I was sadly mistaken. The kids and I were absolutely enthralled with the bizarre, beautiful, and strange items inside. Not only was it visually stimulating but it had so many puzzles throughout for us to decipher. We left more curious than ever!

The kids also wanted to go on the roof of A'Dam's Tower and do the swing that goes over the edge of the building. Again, this would not be something I would do in a million years but they were excited, so I said yes. We all three did it, in the rain. Those 90 seconds, suspended in the air, were some of the best memories made.

Lesson 2 - Jeff can tell you that the thing I stress most about when traveling is where our next meal will be. I think this has to do with not ever wanting my kids to get to the point where the bonk. It is never pretty when they get hangry. I also hate having to make quick decision on where to eat when people are hungry. I think that when you do, you end up spending way too much money and the food is usually subpar. Adding to this is the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) I feel in not experiencing the "best" food a city has to offer, and you can see how quickly it snowballs for me. This trip, I started off trying to plan every meal, taking suggestions from guidebooks and online, which meant we had fries from Mannekenpis right on the street corner, delicious sweet and savory pannekoeks the Dutch are famous for from PANCAKE and De Vier Pilaren.

But with all this planning, these didn't end up being our favorite meals. Our favorite meals ended up being from places that were so unexpected. The first one to mention is that two of our nights we had dinner from the convenience store Albert Heijn. Here we got to pick out EXACTLY what everyone wanted. So, we ended up with yogurt, sushi, an egg salad sandwich, fruit, and chocolate. Another meal that surprised us was at Bird Snackbar. We ducked into this small restaurant, that only seats 18, to escape the rain on our way back to our hotel. The kitchen was as small as a bathroom. But they provided us with the most delicious Thai food to satiated our souls! And finally, upon leaving a museum and asking a docent for a good place to eat, we took a wrong turn and ended up at a Syrian restaurant called Bread and Salt Bakery, where the kids had chicken shawarma for the first time, instead of the sandwich shop recommended. Yum!

Lesson 3 - Anyone who knows me can attest that I HATE to make mistakes. This is because I research, learn, and study so much that I assume it isn't even possible to make one. So on a trip like this, I can be particularly hard on myself if I do make a mistake, because in my mind it might detract from others overall enjoyment of the trip. So I do all I can to make sure everyone - in this case, Edy and Will - are well-fed, comfortable, and have everything they need in my backpack. So Wednesday, I was busy in my role as travel director, looking for the next place to eat in anticipation of imminent hunger pains as I left a tram with two kids and all of their possessions. Trouble was, I didn't have all of mine. I had left my coat - the coat I took 6 months to decide upon buying for this year abroad. (It is a 3-in-1 Patagonia coat, that promised to be the ONLY coat I would need. It is a rain coat, a fall coat, and zipped together, a winter coat.)

So what did I do? I left the kids exactly where they were and ran back to the tram. I am not sure if I got back on the same one or a different one. Either way, it wasn't there. I then ran around looking everywhere for it. Finally, I found the transportation office, where they said they post photos online of all items lost on GVB transportation but I would have to wait until tomorrow. Well, wouldn't you know it, the exact moment I left the transportation office to go find my kids, it started to pour. Even at 42 years of age, I still have so much to learn! And to learn so in front of my kids is so humbling.

The kids were great! I, of course, apologized profusely for doing something so stupid. They were kind and offered their coats and hats. (I took Will up on his offer and wore one of this Star War hats, since he always has on two.) And I tried to forgive myself and move on from it for the sake of the kids. I didn't' want my bummed out mood to disrupt the trip. It honestly took entering the Anne Frank House later that evening, and realizing how small this problem was in the grand scheme of things, to really turn my attitude around. I might not have my coat, but I have these two precious children in my life...

I never found the coat, even after appealing to the GVB, iLOST Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, and Amsterdam Central. So I bought a new red rain coat to tide me over in the meantime. In addition to hopefully being a bright reminder to always check that it is with me, it will also be a good souvenir of our time in Amsterdam. It will be the "remember that time mom lost her coat" coat. And every time I hear that, I will smile because I know I have the support and encouragement of my children teaching me right alongside with them.

All in all we loved Amsterdam! We struggled to get used to looking out for bikes in addition to cars, buses and trams. That being said, it is amazing to be in a city where everyone bikes and there are so few cars on the streets. We loved each of the museums we explored and felt right at home with all the English everyone spoke. Even in the rain, it was beautiful. The only thing we couldn't get used to was all the marijuana smoke...

Finally, because our parents will want an exact play-by-play of what we did each day, the following provides just that. As always, thanks for following along!

Amsterdam:

Tuesday, September 24, 2019: We left Paris at 10:25 on the high speed Thalys train for Amsterdam. For just 6 euros more we were able to sit in First Class COMFORT. This meant we were much more comfortable doing our school work.

Once in Amsterdam, we were blown away by all the bikes. Here is one of the bike racks outside the train station.

After we checked into the Hotel Library, we took a Stromma Canal Tour. This give us a good feel of as to where things were located in Amsterdam. While on the boat, it started raining and didn't stop the entire time we were there.

I love how these buildings tilt.

After the boat tour, we walked to the main square of Amsterdam - Dam Square. This is where the town started. Along the way, we were drawn to some souvenir shops as well as some tasty fries.

This was the closest we got to the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. This didn't interest the kids as much as what was across the street - Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum! (I will let the pictures below do the talking.)

Mancala Board!

Finally, we had dinner! We needed refueling after all that crazy experience. Thank goodness for a Albert Heijn being located on every corner! Just knowing we were headed back to our hotel made the following photos of Amsterdam in the rain so beautiful.

Our hotel!

Wednesday, September 25, 2019: For breakfast we headed to Pancake! to have some sweet pannekoeks before we started our busy day. We took at tram to Het Begijnhof, where upon entering you feel like you have left Amsterdam behind in this peaceful courtyard. It was here that the Beguines, a Catholic order of unmarried or widowed women lived religious lives without taking monastic vows. They remained Roman Catholic, even when most of the city turned Protestant. While there are no more Beguines living here, it is still an area where only women (108 of them) live.

A tiny hidden church inside Het Begijnhof!

From there we headed to the first of three museums. We started with Het Grachtenhuis, or the canal museum. Here we learned how Amsterdam was made, most specifically, how the houses and buildings can sit on the wet swampy land. Naturally from there we went to the Houseboat Museum to tour an actual houseboat.

All good days of travel involve finding at least on playground. Amsterdam did not disappoint. And guess what? It happened to be outside an Albert Heijn. After exercising, we had our afternoon savory pannekoeks at De Vier Pilaren. We briefly walked through the Vondelpark before heading to the Van Gogh Museum.

Like many things in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum did an excellent job catering to kids. They had a scavenger hunt that kept Edy and Will entertained for over 90 minutes in the museum. It had them looking intently at art and even sketching some on their own! As you can see below, Will took it very seriously.

After the museum, Will found a place to release some energy. This also marks the last time I think I had my Patagonia coat. What is not documented here is the frantic race I made across the train station square to try and get back on Tram 12, nor is running into then transportation office to report it missing, nor it starting to downpour as I head off to find the kids I abandoned while on the search for my coat.

After finding some dry clothes and taking some time to do some school work in the late afternoon, we headed out to the Anne Frank House for our 7:00 p.m. tour. This is the only photo I was allowed to take. I took this because Edy was Anne Frank in third grade for the Wax Museum project. After touring the Anne Frank House, we headed out in the pouring rain, grabbing a quick bite at Bird Snackbar before falling into bed.

Thursday, September 26, 2019: On Thursday, we decided to sleep in a bit after the busy day yesterday. (I also had seen it was going to rain in the morning so I thought I would delay our departure, given I didn't have a coat of any kind now.) Wouldn't you know the day you decide to sleep in is when your daughter's iPad alarm goes off at 7:00 playing Bohemian Rhapsody followed by the hotel fire alarm ringing for just long enough for you to consider getting up but not long enough where you actually do.

When we finally headed out, hungry, and still tired, we grabbed a tasty apple pastry from De Bakkers van Oost before heading to Verzetsmusuem, the Resistance Museum. The Verzetsmusueum really impressed me. They had an entire section where we learned about four children who where actually alive during World War II. We heard each of their stories and got a really good understanding of what life was like for them. One was a girl who followed in her parents footsteps and joined the NSB (Nazi Socialist Movement, later turned Nazi Party). The other was a boy, whose father was a pastor that preached openly about resisting the Germans and helping Jews. One was a Jewish girl whose family had to go into hiding. Finally, there was another boy whose family tried to adapt to German occupied Amsterdam with little success. We then got to the end and watched a video of all of them in their 70s, where they reflected back upon this time in their lives. What a gift their legacy gave in helping children like Edy and Will learn what it was like to live in Amsterdam during German occupation. This museum has forever made an impression on me.

We then were fortunate enough to not follow the docent's directions carefully enough and ended up at Bread and Salt Bakery where the kids had chicken Shawarma for the first time. After lunch, the kids really wanted to go to A'Dam Tower to swing over the edge of the building. I thought, why not, we were already soaking wet, one of us more than the others. How bad could it be swinging high up in the air, over the edge of a building? As I said above, it was remarkably fun and very memorable!

Before heading to our last adventure for the day, I stopped in America Today and bought a rain coat. The sales associate felt bad for me for loosing my rain jacket that he even gave me a discount. It was the best 53 euros I have spent this far in Europe.

Edy, always channeling her father, reminded us that we had not entered a church yet this trip and it was her one wish to do so. So we stumbled upon Oude Kerk, which happens to be the oldest surviving building in Amsterdam, dating back from 1306. What was most unique, other than being surrounded by the red light district, is that it was long and narrow like most churches we have been in but instead of worshiping from back to front, the pews and alter here are set up on the sides. So you end up sitting down and looking to your left or right towards the back or front of the church. The other unique feature is that shops are built into the side of the church.

Before heading back for an early evening at the hotel to relax and do some homework, we stopped at Albert Heijn for dinner. Will got sushi and Edy joined me in having yogurt.

I chose red over the bright yellow most people in Amsterdam wear.

We love these small cars!

Oude Kerk

The clock above the organ is going backwards.

Shops built right into the side of the church!

Friday, September 27, 2019: This morning we headed back to PANCAKES for some more sweets before we began our last few hours in Amsterdam. Wouldn't you know it, the sun decided to shine ever so briefly today.

We headed out to Het Scheepvaartmuseum, a maritime museum, where we toured a replica of a Dutch East India Company ship and learn about the life of a people living in Amsterdam during the Golden Age of ship building.

From there we walked to the floating tulip markets, which felt much too touristy for us. We had hoped to see more flowers. We left there to find a different fry place to try, called Vleminckx, which Will liked better than Mannekenpis. From there we bought our final souvenirs of cheese and chocolate before heading back to our hotel to grab our luggage. We then headed to Amsterdam Central to await our 4:15 train back to Paris. But I had one final surprise for the kids, First Class PREMIUM, where they feed and water you the entire three hour train ride back to Paris!