Amsterdam in 48 Hours

Wahh! It’s been more than a year since we’ve been to Amsterdam.  I always felt guilty about not being able to blog about this!

This was the last leg of our trip after the Big Blog Exchange last year.   Fall was in full swing and the colors of the city were really pretty!  I just finished spending 10 days in Italy.  The hubby arrived in Rome and we went to Paris for 6 days, Iceland for 6 days and we chose something familiar: Amsterdam as our exit.

Related Posts:
Paris Photo Diary
Iceland Blue Lagoon & Glacier Walk
10 Reasons to Visit Iceland
The Googly Gooeys in Italy

I was here twice before.  First with my family and second, with my then boyfriend-now-hubby. 🙂   Like what I wrote in the coloring book (Yes, our coloring book has words. It’s talkative for a coloring book, I must say), I think the nice thing about getting to revisit a place more than once is that you always get to see new things.

(It still bothers me that the parenthetical phrase above is actually a sentence. Oh well.)
I think the one of the reasons why Ponggo particularly wanted to revisit this place is that it’s not too busy for a big city and it doesn’t have that vibe that makes you want to rush things!

I spotted a house near the canal that read “It does not matter” above its door and I’m thinking maybe I should put this somewhere in our house as a good reminder about how I shouldn’t be stressing out on the nitty-gritty.  Well, so far, compared to this time of the year last year, pregnancy has spared me from so many stressful things.  To start with, society is kinder to me, almost everyone smiles at me and not everyone is not expecting me to do strenuous things (even if I can like carrying an uber light foldable chair).  Lol on this pampering and I will definitely miss it next year! Hehe.

We rented a unit via Airbnb and the light in our room was generous.  The place had a spacious living room and a kitchen the hubby was so happy to cook risotto for us that night. 🙂

We didn’t go biking this time but I’m such a sucker for bikes with baskets in front (think Zooey Deschanel from 500 days of Summer) so I just had to take a photo of this! 🙂  We rented a Vespa instead so we can be more efficient since we lived a few minutes away from the concentric canals.   I was Miss Google maps throughout this trip.  😀

Every time I’d pass by a flower stall, I’d take photos of whatever was being sold.  It’s as if they’re begging to be drawn, don’t you think?  Going through our whole album definitely makes me miss being able to wear stockings, boots and a coat.

I took a photo of these postcards just to remind me how much I spent on them in general during the trip.  I was on a postcard sending spree.  I would offer postcards to anyone who wanted one on Instagram–well, at least 3 winners per city and then I would send postcards to friends and family.  I’d also keep some to myself.  OMG.  Such a postcard addict!  The hubby was frowning at my idea. Hehe.

So the story goes:  Relatives & friends would ask what luxury item I bought for myself when I was in Europe & my answer would be “Umm…Paper?”  I went home with so much paper in my luggage: new books, new watercolor paper, postcards, leaflets and maps of the places we’ve been to, tickets, leaflets that had to nothing with my life except for the fact that the design was awesome…and some magazines. 😀 Hehe.

One of the things I’m definitely definitely grateful for during this trip was our breakfast dates with Jizelle, my high school friend and travel blogger over at NowWhatsThePlan.com!  I always dreamed of being able to spend time sitting in cafés and didn’t know how as we’re always in a rush to take pictures.  So, thank you so much Jizelle!  I wouldn’t have been able to see the city the same way if not for you!

The other thing I’m grateful for is being able to have salmon each day!  I have refrained from having smoked salmon for the past 9 months and I can’t wait to indulge once I’m a new mom! 😀 *Yessss!* (Also, kindly include in the list a generous amount of coffee, salami, and spicy (raw) tuna salad). 

Jizelle lives by one of the canals in Amsterdam.  They’ve been to places I can only dream of such as Southern France in the summer…in a field of lavenders.  Huhu. Oh, they’re also expecting to meet their little future travel buddy soon! 🙂

Read more about their travels on:
Blog: NowWhatsThePlan.com
Instagram: @NowWhatsThePlan
Facebook: Facebook.com/NowWhatsThePlan/
Pinterest: Pinterest.com/NowWhatsThePlan/

Super dooper thanks for these gifts too Jizelle!  You know how much I love chocolates (and I have n blog posts about this).  So, I actually ended up eating one of them chocolates before taking a photo of it.  This is why I’m not a food blogger!  I fail miserably in the EQ department–I don’t know how to wait.
I always have photos chalkboards in each city.  I don’t know why. I’m probably drawn to the spontaneity and rawness of it plus the words (I can’t understand except for free wi-fi & Heineken) that make it up. 🙂

So, this is how we travel.  It’s usually like a photo contest between the hubby and I.  For example, we stop at a road lined up with neon trees above and then I go, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a photo of the leaves?”  The hubby kneels down and I try to take a photo as well.  Okay, fine. Ponggo won this round.

You can rely on Ponggo to take photos of landscapes while I’m always into the tiny details.

And oh, these yummy pancakes are one of the things we had for breakfast with Jizelle.  Now if my pancakes only looked and tasted as decent as this.  I swear, you can’t rely on me for food unless you want to enjoy instant noodles, rice from the rice cooker and umm…hot dogs, corned beef and instant tocino. Hehe. 😀  I can also phone in a take out lunch / dinner for ya or I can drive you to the nearest resto. *Beads of sweat are falling from my temples.*

The sun was setting and we’d always stop by one of the canals in the hopes of taking more pictures!  I wanted to stop by the bench where they shot Fault in Our Stars because I really like the song by Ed Sheeran and I wanted to have an Instagram post that said “The Fault in Our Bench”. *Nyahahaha. Cornyyyyyy.*

We also spent a night out with a new American couple friend we met when we were in Rome: Zeynep & Eric.  It’s really different when people get to show you around!

More from our bagel breakfast with Jizelle.  It was begging to be drawn and it’s making my usual bagel / sandwich look sad. Hehe.  During this entire trip, I actually lost weight despite the daily dose of chocolates. *Oopsies*  I just realized that the food I am consuming here at home is oilier and I don’t get to walk a lot when I’m here in the Metro. *Double oops!*

One of them last shots by the hubby of the boat houses!  So many things I miss about Amsterdam.  I can actually go on forever & share with you my daydreams about becoming a designer living in this city.  😀

Okay, I should stop now.

If you turn to page….Oh right, we specifically asked that our book should have no page numbers.  Hehe.  Anyway, we dedicated a couple of pages to Amsterdam on our coloring book.   If you found this blog post because of it, congratulations on making the QR code work…or typing in the link. Hehe. 😀

‘Til our next trip…or…well, I should say,
‘Til my next backlog post!

XOXO,

Tipsy ♥

Related Posts:
Coloring Book Hits Bookstores This Week
Travel Coloring Book: Around the World with the Googly Gooeys
10 Things to Do In Florence & Finding Your Art Style
Postcards from Tuscany
Why You Should Travel Alone
Colorful Houses of Burano

P.S. Just in case you missed the ongoing Christmas blog giveaway, click here.
P.P.S. Around the World with the Googly Gooeys, our coloring book, is available in all National Bookstore branches.  But, if you’d like to have a copy delivered to your home, you may order here. 🙂