Amsterdam Day 2

Today I am sharing day 2 in Amsterdam. It promised some beautiful weather and we were ready to take FULL advantage of no rain. 

If you missed day 1 you can read it here.

I was planning on doing days 2 and 3, but the post was just too long! I will share day 3 tomorrow. :)

At 9am we all walked together to breakfast. We were headed to The Lobby. It is near the De Wallen neighborhood and close to The Dam Square. Ali and I had read about this place before we even left, so it had some big shoes to fill!

Some neat pictures on our way to breakfast.

The latte was amazing! And they gave you free water. So this place already had an A+ in my book!

They're known for their Eggs Benedict, and I am pretty sure I know why. It was amazing! So delicious. If you find yourself in Amsterdam, make time to come here for breakfast!

Blake ordered American pancakes with bacon! Also very good!

With full bellies, we were off for a full day!

First up, The Dam Square.

Across from The Square.

There was a prayer taking place right next to The Square.

 

We walked by Amsterdam Centraal. 

Group picture, minus Ali!

A church.

Canals.

 

Ali and I. 

 

Blake and I.

We stumbled upon a sculpture garden that had the MOST amazing flowers. 

House boats! If we ever visit Amsterdam again, we will do our best to stay in house boat on a canal!

A park with a waterfall.

The craziest trees I've ever seen!

The Rijksmuseum.

The A!

Blake and Brian climbed to the top. 

Thank heavens for selfie sticks!

So, many, people!

I spy with my little eye: FOOD TRUCKS! 

Yum. Little mini pancakes.

And macaroons!

After this we stopped near Ali and Brian's hotel for lunch. We grabbed a blanket they brought and headed to Vondel Park to enjoy the sunshine!

But first, a selfie!

Beers in the park!

We relaxed in this park for quite a while. They had live music, and a nice pond. 

Brian and Ali headed out to get ready for their dinner cruise, and Blake and I did the same! We were all going on evening canal cruises!

 

The start of the cruise!

These are the dancing houses! They are all so crooked and look to be dancing.

A Chinese restaurant!

The water was so calm.

It was an awesome experience to be on the water at night!

After the cruise we all met back up and walked through the Red Light District. What a sight that was! We actually walked right through it earlier in the day, but hadn't even realized. It undergoes a complete transformation from day to night!

We headed out to the bar to see what the Amsterdam night life was like, and it offered up some great people watching! After a few drinks and some excellent music we headed back to our hotels for a good nights rest.

Ali took this photo from her Fitbit the next morning. Day 2 (Sunday) we walked 16 miles! No wonder my feet were sore.

Please join me tomorrow for day 3!

Heidelberg, You Have My Heart

Hello! I am really having a love/hate relationship with Germany's weather this week. I leave the house when it is sunny, and I walk home in the POURING rain. I think it is time we invest in a second umbrella.


Ohhh but look at these flowers! :) Makes a walk in the rain worth it.

Any who!

Saturday morning, we ventured to Heidelberg, Germany. This town was charming folks, really really charming!!! It didn't take long for me to fall in love with all there was to see and eat!

The GPS said 3 hours and 33 minutes. 

Before we began our adventure we stopped at a bakery for some breakfast. 

I opted for a chocolate croissant. 

Blake got a pretzel. :)

We stayed at the Marriott Hotel in Heidelberg. It is situated right on the Neckar river, and is a short walk to the Old Town. We asked for early check in, so our room was ready at noon. The hotel also offered parking, which was a necessity for us!

The view from the hotel! We had a nice balcony.

Hauptstrasse. The longest pedestrian-only zone in Europe!

This street was incredible! Filled with shops and restaurants.

This is a side street off the Hauptstrasse.



We went to an Irish Bar for lunch! MMM cider beer!

On our walk through the Old Town ... we found a Christmas Shop!
Kathe Wohlfahrt, a famous christmas store.





You bet we found our ornament!



It was by far the most lavish one we have bought yet, but it sure is lovely!

After ornament shopping, Blake decided he wanted to give in to one of my wishes of owning a Longchamp Tote. We stumbled across the store, he marched in and bought it! He really is sweet! :)

After our shopping we decided to do the Philosopher's Walk (Philosophenweg). It is across the Neckar from the Castle, and it is said that its name stems from the fact that University Philosopher's and Professor's walked the path. *Fun Fact* Heidelberg University, is the oldest University in Germany, and the 5th oldest in Central Europe. It still functions today as a research University.



In order to get there we had to cross this lovely bridge!



A view of the Castle from the bridge.



Then it was the walk! It was steep at times, but all worth it!



One of our lower views!



A little higher up.



Castle.





It was truly breathtaking and certainly philosophical!



Blake at the top!

Me at the top!

Blake and I!



Panoramic!



The view from the ground!

After this we walked to the Castle. You can take a funicular up to the Castle, and then you can continue up on the funicular to Konigstuhl stop, which is 1,800 feet above sea level! A funicular ticket also granted you Castle access so we went for the ride.



The view of our walk from the other side on the Castle grounds.

Various photos of the Castle.





Riding up on the funicular!



The view from the top!



The station.



The sun came out. :)





A fountain in the Old Town.



We found a restaurant on the Neckar and enjoyed a nice German meal for dinner... We went into quite a few restaurants before we found one that wasn't full! I guess if you want to eat on the Neckar, you're best off making a reservation!



After dinner we enjoyed Gelato! Mmm.

Then we hit up a few bars to watch England vs Russia in the Euro Cup.



On Sunday, we slept in and it felt really good!

We saw a little Italian place that looked really good the night before, so we stopped there for lunch before we drove home.



Pizza and salad. What more could I need.

Ciao!