Amsterdam, The Netherlands

For our last bank holiday as U.K. residents, we took the train to Amsterdam with our friends Eric & Angie who recently moved to London.

We set-off for Amsterdam early Friday morning and arrived in Amsterdam early afternoon. We took the Eurostar train to Brussels and changed for our connecting train to Amsterdam.

When we arrived, we checked into the hotel and then set-out for lunch - we were starving! We wandered our way into Foodhallen which was a remodeled warehouse with various food stalls and bars inside. After getting a full variety of food, we set out to explore the city. We wandered our way through the Jordaan district until we came upon the Anne Frank house. Noting that the line wasn't too bad, we hopped in and were able to tour the house.

After touring the Anne Frank house, we were hungry again and found a gastropub to grab dinner. The gastropub was a local spot with a menu that changes based on availability and freshness of food. We all enjoyed our meal.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast in the hotel and then were off to a bike tour. On our bike tour we quickly learned that biking in Amsterdam is serious business. Everyone bikes in the city and if you are new biker to the Amsterdam scene, it's noticeable. We all may have had a couple of mishaps here and there. Our bike tour took us all over the city - Old City, Museum Square, Vondelpark, Jordaan District, Red Light District and more - it was great way to see all of Amsterdam!

After our bike tour finished, we grabbed lunch and set out towards the 9 streets for some shopping. After getting our fill of the shops, we headed back to the hotel to drop off our things and refresh before dinner. Later that evening we grabbed dinner at a restaurant along the canal and had an excellent tasting menu. Our meal included four dishes and I think we all had a different favorite - mine was dessert but it's most always dessert.

The next morning we slept in before heading out for brunch. The weather in Amsterdam was beautiful on Saturday and we agreed that the sun must of taken it out of us. We don't get much in London. After brunch, we rented a boat so we could explore Amsterdam from the canal. Shane & Eric navigated the canals, and the other boats, quite well. After our boat tour, Shane & Eric were on the hunt for a pub to watch the Liverpool match. When they sat down to watch the match, Angie & I opted to peruse a nearby art market and both found pieces to purchase. When the match concluded, we grabbed a sushi dinner and then headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we fit in the Rijksmuseum before making our way to the station to catch our train.

We were so happy to be able to spend our last U.K. bank holiday traveling with friends!