The Heineken Experience and Greek/Spanish Tapas - Amsterdam

Here are pictures from the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam. Get your tickets from a tourist desk to skip the lines and get an extra beer. Beware the free gift. It's a tiny Heineken glass, so it's cute, but you have about a 20 minute walk to the Heineken store away from the Experience to get your glass. The good news is that there are many restaurants and pubs in that area so if you plan it just right, you'll have a spot for dinner. :o) This really is an experience. It's something you can do if you have kids because there are lots of games. I particularly like the area where you walk across the floor and can kick around the stuff projected onto the floor. hehe.

You don't actually see the brewing process. You just get to check out a mock brewery.

At the tasting. That glass is the size of your free glass that you get.

Yes, there is a "ride" here. You stand on a moving platform and watch a video. There are some surprises! It's cheesy but fun. Great if you are going as a family.

Want to stop for some PS3? Yep... they've got it.

For dinner we went to Oresti's. The food was FANTASTIC. The staff were so friendly, and the owner was so nice! He made sure I had a taste of ouzo before leaving.

Blue cheese fondue with chips and bread for dipping! Yum!

Fish egg salad and octopus. That fish egg salad was really yummy! Steve didn't want to order it, but then he ate half of it after tasting!

Just for fun:

My aunt Lisa took these pictures to recreate this event. When we first got our tram tickets, we weren't quite sure when and where to swipe the cards. At the stops in the suburbs, there were two card swipe machines that we, of course, couldn't read. Steve, Lisa, and I got lucky. We all swiped ourselves in using the correct reader. Jim used a different one. I think it was the one that just gives your balance. Anyway, Steve, Lisa, and I went to a worker and were asking for directions. He pulled out a map to explain. Meanwhile, unnoticed by the rest of us, Jim was stuck behind the gates waving his arms and yelling to get our attention! He couldn't get out because technically he never checked in to the tram! LOL.

Steve said, "Uh.." and pointed. We ran to help and couldn't stop laughing. I said, "Steve, you could have told us he was stuck!" Steve said, "Uh.. I tried." We said, "What happened?" and Steve responds, "His thing wouldn't work," which immediately sent us into more hysterical laughter. We are so mature.

Amsterdam - Sleeping, Transportation, Canal Tour, and the Anne Frank Museum

Amsterdam was an interesting place. Here are some tips and previews for you (Thanks again to my Aunt Lisa for some of the photos):

From the airport, we took a bus (199) to our stop for the house. We bought our ticket from the bus driver, who has change if you need it. It was €5 for the trip. For the rest of our stay, we bought 3-day transportation passes for €16.50 each that were good on GVB buses, trams, and trains (this did NOT include any transport to the airport - FYI).

 We found our place to stay on AirBnB. Look early because many of the places in the city book quickly. We ended up staying pretty far away. It was a 30-40 minute tram ride to get downtown. :(

It had VERY steep stairs!

This was our room. Steve and I pushed the beds together.

Back down the scary stairs...

One day we took a tour of the canals (they pronounce it in the way Americans would say "camel".. that kind of annunciation.. hehe). We used a tourist desk to book the tickets, and it only cost us €10 each for one hour. I really enjoyed it. It was the boat with the word "Love" on it.

Largest floating Chinese restaurant.

 I didn't realize just how many canals there are in Amsterdam!

 I also didn't realize that they claim they are famous for french fries (chips), which you can cover in any of about 15 different sauces.

We ordered the small size. What is the large????

Coffee and a cheese stand??? Heaven.

 The Anne Frank Museum

See the pictures below? That is the queue (line) for the museum. ORDER YOUR TICKETS AHEAD OF TIME ONLINE. That's what we did. Give yourself 3-4 weeks ahead of when you plan to visit. Tickets on-line were €9.50 each. I think it was worth it. Pictures weren't allowed inside, which is fine because I wouldn't want to ruin it for you.

 Near the Anne Frank house, you'll find a cozy place called bistro Bij ons. It's a really good Dutch restaurant!
*Note - Many places charge you for water so either order something else and share a water to save money or bring your own bottle. They won't give you tap water.

Just for fun:
I thought the sign on the right side of this restaurant was so funny! Maybe it's just me...