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More Amsterdam Treasures... with kids!

1/23/2017

We love Amsterdam!

Nearly a month has passed since our beautiful holiday week in Amsterdam... and of course, absence makes the heart grow even fonder. I've been so busy since our return to Spain that it's been tricky to find time to properly capture all of the fantastic family adventures we had in Holland... but I certainly can't move on to tell the crazy story of 'Paris and The Bedbugs' until I've done justice to Amsterdam!

Here then are the final highlights from our special week in this splendid Dutch city of canals, bicycles, beer, chocolate, pannekoeken and more! If you've ever considered taking your family abroad to Europe, Amsterdam should be at the top of your list of wonderful places to travel with children!

ICE*Amsterdam - Skating!

ICE*Amsterdam on the Museumplein

Amsterdam's Museumplein is a large grassy open space flanked on several sides by important national museums. It begins with the Richtsmuseum, an elegant home for beautiful art and priceless artifacts from The Netherlands throughout the past thousand years. The Aventura children and I spent an amazing day there with Abuela Luminosa in 2015, investigating its historical wooden ships, armor, jewelry, clocks, gowns, sculptures and artwork of Holland. They have a fantastic kids' tour and scavenger hunt!

Down the road a bit you'll find the Van Gogh museum which houses the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world, along with the innovative Stedelijk Museum, the small and cozy Moco, and also a diamond museum that travels throughout several buildings and covers nearly a full city block!

The grass plain in front of these museums is enormous and has wide walkways that sometimes feature artwork or musicians busking. In the summertime you can find families there picnicking. Several restaurants dot the area, including the Lunchkiosk near the art square.

The Aventura children yearned to have some fun in ice and snow this Christmas. Unfortunately for them, despite the freezing temperatures, there was zero snow during our time in Amsterdam. We were so delighted though to discover that ICE*Amsterdam hosts a fun and popular ice skating rink directly in front of the Richtsmuseum!

Little Angel and her dad on skates!

ICE*Amsterdam provides a decent-sized rink with room to skate on either side of a makeshift wooden bridge where parents and onlookers stand to take photos and watch the merriment unfold. At the edge of the rink tables and chairs have been set up to form a bit of a 'beergarten'; it is entirely possible to sit for an entire afternoon enjoying warm or cold beverages with your spouse while your children get their energy out ice skating!

A major thing we noticed about ICE*Amsterdam was the sense of merriment and real engagement of the local community. The rink was absolutely crammed with laughing children and parents.

Newbies (like our family) pushed metal chairs along the ice to stay upright, and experienced skaters cut swift circles around them. A hockey class took place along the back side of the ice. Despite the chilly air outside, the shared joy across the ice rink was virtually palpable!

Moco

Since I was feeling a bit under the weather with bronchitis that day, I snuck off to tour the Modern Contemporary Museum Amsterdam (Moco) while Señor Aventura and the little Aventuras were ice skating in sub-zero temperatures. I'd been charmed by the warm and homey exterior of the Moco building itself and wondered what the quality would be of the art selection housed within.

To my joy Moco actually contained a powerful representation of the works of its current featured artist, Banksy. I'd heard of him before but never experienced his pieces firsthand. I found myself so moved by the insightful political themes of his poignant street art.

His anti-authoritarian work felt more relevant than ever!

Banksy

It was very refreshing in a beautiful old city to see work that felt so modern... deeply embracing contemporary themes. There is a pathos to Banksy's work... I loved his simple images of the girl with the heart balloon. We now have a print of it in our Barcelona apartment!

Moco is a smaller museum but definitely worth the euro to visit in person. There is an audio tour offered, but it is also possible to get the gist of the exhibition's message even if you don't opt for the headset. Even though there aren't a huge number of works displayed, the ones that have been selected for viewing are very powerful and worth your effort.

Stedelijk Museum

Work on display by Jean Tinguely

The Stedelijk Museum is a wonderfully large space with plenty of room for multiple big exhibitions of modern artwork. Their permanent collection contains colorful works by Matisse, Kandinsky and Mondrian among many others.

We've spent a decent amount of time inside its walls twice now. During the summer of 2015 when we enjoyed a phenomenal Matisse exhibition featuring some of his most famous and exciting works. The Scientist was so excited to see work in person that he'd studied at home in his art class.

This time we explored the Jean Tinguely 'machine spectacle' exhibition which was unlike anything I'd seen before. Tinguely's machines are not only visually intriguing but often work in surprising ways to interact with the audience, moving, shaking, making noises and more.

We learned a lot about Tinguely and his philosophy of creation from this exhibit. Señor Aventura commented several times that he seemed like one of the original "makers" (or an inspiration for Burning Man); in any case, way ahead of his time... although many of his performance pieces were actually designed to be destroyed instead of used!

The Scientist listens carefully to his audio guide explaining Tinguely's work.

Soccer Dude and Little Angel cycle the contraption.

One of our favorite parts of the Stedelijk museum is its lovely and sizeable family space in the center of the lower floor.

Children may use their hands (and even feet!) plus a variety of tools and materials provided to create art that represents the stylistic traits of the museum's current featured artist. In this space families can work together to create art.

During both visits, my children were enthralled with this lovely room. What could be a better way for children to appreciate the work of important artists than to encourage them to experiment with their techniques, right there in the museum?

We give an Aventura family rating of five stars to this special art room at the Stedelijk!

Verzetsmuseum - Dutch Resistance Museum

Half of the museum is an interactive experience designed to teach children!

Could this be the best museum in all of Amsterdam? We think yes. The Dutch Resistance Museum is a recent creation, conceived and designed to raise awareness about Holland's resistance efforts during World War II. As Americans we have grown up hearing a lot about the roles of the United Kingdom, France, Russia and Germany in World War II. We as a family knew much less about the role of The Netherlands in the war before visiting this extraordinary museum.

The facility is divided into two distinct spaces. One caters to children, and the other to adults. As parents with three younger children, we went immediately went to the "time machine" area built especially for children. It is set up to tell the story of World War II from the perspective of four real children who experienced the war firsthand. One was the son of a member of the Dutch Resistance; one was a normal Dutch boy whose family simply tried to live through the war. A third was a young Jewish girl, and the fourth was a teenaged girl whose Dutch family sympathized with the Nazis.

The stories of these real life characters unfold throughout their 'homes' which are built to scale in a historically accurate way. As you interact with their belongings, books, furniture, and rooms, you learn more and more about what actually happened to them during the war.

We spent over three hours going through the Junior Resistance Museum. Even though the model homes were technically created for children, I found it to be highly engaging even from the point of view of an adult! As a teacher myself, I was so impressed with the meticulous level of detail in each room and the thought provoking questions asked of my children at every turn. The experience was filled with sounds, textures, and interesting opportunities to learn about daily life in the 1940s amid wartime!

Our kids had to completely immerse themselves in the experience, and to think through the decisions and actions of each individual character. It was such a powerful experience! For days afterward my sons were speaking to us and to each other about what they had learned. "What would we have done if we lived then?" they asked again and again. "What would you have done if you were there?" "Would we have resisted?"

Little Angel learns about tragedy through the eyes of another child.

Señor Aventura spent more time than I did in the section of the museum reserved for adults, and he was blown away by the level of depth the exhibit went into in order to explain the rise of Fascism in The Netherlands before the war, along with their characterization of the complex political scene in Holland prior to the invasion of the Nazis. My husband was very moved by the photos and insights given into the lives of Dutch resistance leaders who risked everything to save Jewish families and children. Neither of us knew before that over 200,000 Dutch civilians had died of casualties related to the war, including starvation!

In the end, we still only got to see about half of the museum in the four hours we spent there before closing time. We all agree that we would love to return there in the future to explore everything we missed... including a fascinating room we glimpsed devoted to rationing and the food science of World War II.

This museum is a MUST SEE for any family interested in history and getting a more first-hand experience of life during the war.

Bagels & Beans

The Scientist enjoys lunch at Bagels & Beans!

We can't sign off on Amsterdam until giving you just a taste of our now-favorite sandwich shop, Bagels & Beans. I've never experienced a bagel shop like this in the United States. It's a casual sit-down restaurant where the service is friendly and the food exceptional!

I was so impressed by their delicious cream cheese, I actually asked about it! Our server told me that the company makes all of its cream cheese in-house. They also have the best gluten-free bagels I've ever eaten! (Something else that tells you this place is not ordinary... they post the recipes for their signature bagels and cheesecake online for anyone to make at home!)

Bagels & Beans features sweet bagels, savory bagels and special bagels (like Japanese-style wild salmon and chicken chutney). Their prices are extremely reasonable, especially by Dutch standards. Between the five of us we must have tried seven different kinds of bagel dishes and all of them were terrific. They also had a very extensive selection of yummy teas and coffees, which were much appreciated in the 3C weather.

Just to clarify how much we loved this place, we ate lunch at Bagels & Beans three times in seven days!

All in all, we spent an amazing holiday week in Amsterdam. We could easily have stayed for a much longer time.

"I could live here, Mom," confided Soccer Dude as we stood gazing across a frosty canal toward gorgeous buildings in the distance. Perhaps someday he will!

Sad to say goodbye to the beautiful Amstel River! What a fantastic city.

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Amsterdam With Kids: Micropia, Anne Frank Haus & Indian Cuisine!

1/11/2017

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Amsterdam on Boxing Day 2016. Cool Houseboats!

Amsterdam. Family friendly and incredibly beautiful are perhaps not the first adjectives that come to the mind of most people who haven't been to this fun town in person. Amsterdam's more 'exciting' reputation precedes it. In America if you tell your friends you're planning a trip to Amsterdam they may give you a bit of a wink and smirk, blush or giggle as they say, "Oh really!!!!"

Amsterdam is of course known worldwide for its Red Light district; its relaxed attitude toward drug use and sexuality. If you're looking to spend a debauched weekend in Amsterdam, this is of course possible with relative ease. For some travelers, that is the main attraction!

Yet there is so much more to Amsterdam than you might imagine... and it really is a fantastic city for families with kids. Breathtaking canals, insanely delicious food, fascinating museums and gorgeous parks with ziplines and playgyms for children (and adults) to play in... major universities and business schools, opera and ballet, world famous breweries. Lovely cafés full of exotic coffees. Talented musicians busking in the streets and bicycles everywhere flying right toward you at breakneck speed. Street markets full of fresh fish, art and handcrafted chocolates!

Amsterdam is a small city but magnficent in both its culture and historical importance.

This pretty much sums it up. Awesome.

Over the past two years our family has spent nearly three weeks in Amsterdam... 10 days in the summer of 2015 and a little more than a week just now for Christmas 2016. We've been lucky to enjoy the town when its parks have been green and verdant, vines and bushes blooming colorfully around the lovely canals... and also when the landscape was barren, crisp and chilly, with chimneys smoking and families laughing and playing in the outdoor ice rink in the Museumplein.

Every time we come to Amsterdam we love it. Every time we leave my children say, "I wish we could stay longer!" and "Let's come back again soon." We love Amsterdam!

Here are some of the adventures and attractions we experienced in this terrific city on Boxing Day 2016 when the temperature ranged from 9C to -2C and Little Angel and I bundled up in four layers, hats, scarves and gloves to stay warm, agile and happy!

Micropia

Cool building-sized poster... microbes!

Señor Aventura, a biology major in college, has now taken to describing Micropia as the "coolest, most interesting museum I think I've ever been to!" High praise indeed! This museum, currently the only one of its kind in the entire world, is dedicated to sharing information about microbes ('the smallest and most powerful organisms on our planet'). It's an amazing 90 minute interactive science lesson teaching children and adults alike about the one hundred trillion microbes that are on us and in us at every moment, and around us everywhere we go.

The displays at Micropia are unconventional and fascinating. They sometimes use microscopes to show real bacteria, fungi, viruses, molds, yeasts, algae, archaea and more... other times you might look at the rotting carcus of an animal to see how it is decomposing. You can scan your own body to see approximately how many microbes you carry, where they are located and what types they may be. There is even a fun "kiss-o-meter" to show how many microbes are transmitted in a single kiss (see photos below). The museum teaches about how microbes can be both highly destructive or highly helpful inside the human microbiome; how they influence various products, vaccines and medicines; and their many crucial roles in our Earth ecosystem.

The children and I have visited Micropia twice now, and we are still completely fascinated by its jars of different types of bacteria growing on household items, displays of molding or rotting food, jars full of poop from different species, real human intestines and much more. Talk about not getting bored! We could barely tear the kids away from this place for lunch!!!

"Ewwwww!" squealed the kids. "Romance!!!"

Anne Frank Haus

The line to get into the Anne Frank Haus travels down the block and around the nearby church. We've waited for over an hour each time we've toured the annex where she and her family hid during the German occupation of Holland, but both times our visit was completely worth the wait. On Boxing Day (after our Micropia visit) we arrived just as the sun was setting at 4:30pm and the wind by the canal was picking up. By the time we finally made it to the front door for admission to the building, it was 6:00pm, pitch black and literally freezing outside... I could not feel my toes!

Anne Frank wrote in her diary that she could hear the bells from this church pealing from her room.

Still, something about waiting outside in the dark and cold for so long before entering the tiny annex where Anne Frank, her family and a few other families hid for several years made the experience of climbing up that very steep staircase to their rooms hidden behind the bookcase even more powerful and moving.

The quiet of the dark, cold night made the eerie stillness inside of the old Dutch house feel even more personal. More than ever I could visualize Anne and her sister Margot curled up on their narrow beds in the darkened rooms... writing, studying, trying to think of happier days ahead... desperate for a breath of fresh air or glimpse of sunlight, while forcing themselves to be completely silent.

Visitors to their rooms pass through in near-silence as well, honoring the tragic living space as they might typically honor and respect the silence in a church, synagogue or mosque. In its way, visiting Anne Frank's annex is also a spiritual journey. Each visitor must confront the past and ask themselves, "What would I have done if I'd been there? What would I do if it happened now?"

Taken before we realized no photos were allowed. Heartbreaking sign and Star of David used to identify Jews during the Nazi occupation.

Our children left with so many questions about World War II, Judaism, Naziism, the role of The Netherlands, concentration camps and more. The 90 minutes we spent touring this unforgettable house were followed by another 90 minutes of talking it all over at dinner. The kids were perhaps most impacted by the fact that Anne's father, Otto Frank, tried to get papers to leave The Netherlands and bring his family safely to the United States but couldn't get the right documents. They were also surprised to learn that that before the war Anne was a popular girl who loved to flirt and thought mostly about boys; reading magazines about famous movie stars, and spending time giggling with her friends.

"She sounds like most of the girls in my sixth grade class, Mom," mused The Scientist. "Even though she's so famous, she was just a regular person."

"That's the thing," his dad and I nodded. "The reason Anne Frank's story is so powerful is that she could have been any of us."

"I'd like to read her real diary," he added. "The full version. When I get a little older."

"Absolutely," we agreed.

Over dinner we talked quietly about what it means when governments have registries for citizens of a certain race or religious background; what it means to exclude certain people from activities due to their ethnic or cultural background; and we also had to explain internment camps to our daughter. We all felt so sad for Otto Frank... who survived the concentration camp to return home and learn that his wife and daughters were dead. Talk about losing everything.

Our children range in age from 11 to 7. Though it is a serious tour and obviously quite sad, we all agree that visiting the Anne Frank Haus is a fantastic activity to go through together as a family. It truly expands your perspective, stimulates crucial conversations and gives kids a sense of how blessed they are to live and worship freely today. Highly recommended!

Koh-I-Noor Restaurant

Somebody's hungry!

Speaking of dinner, we had a fantastic experience at the Koh-I-Noor restaurant, just a few minutes walk from the Anne Frank Haus. After waiting in that freezing line and then touring the house, we'd found ourselves chilled to the bone and ravenous by 7:45pm. To our dismay, the café at the Anne Frank Haus had just closed for the night.

"But mommy, I'm so HUNGRY!" said Little Angel urgently. "You said we could have a snack at the café!"

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea it would be closed." I rested my head in my hands and rubbed my neck for a moment, thinking. "You know what would be amazing right now?" I asked my family.

"What?"

"Indian food! I want something really hot and spicy to warm up with... I still can't move my toes!"

"That does sounds great," my husband agreed. "I could definitely go for Indian food."

"I saw an Indian place when we were getting off the bus," The Scientist added. "I can look it up." He pulled out his phone (as he loves to do!) and soon told us (thanks to TripAdvisor) that the Indian place just down the street was called Koh-I-Noor and received mostly five star reviews.

"Perfect! Thank you so much. I'll call right now!"

Everyone in Amsterdam speaks flawless English, so when I telephoned the restaurant to ask about a reservation on short notice, it wasn't too much of a problem that the man on the other end of the line answered in Dutch. Within moments we'd both transitioned to English and I was relieved to have such an easy conversation with man on the other end of the line.

"I have three very cold, very hungry children," I explained to him. "We are just minutes away. I am so sorry that we do not have a reservation."

"Rest assured madam, children are welcome here. We will find a table for you!"

"Wonderful!" Our family cheered and then began to relayer our thick winter sweaters and jackets for the walk.

The restaurant itself proved to be intimate and colorful. Even though it was not yet eight o'clock, it was packed! We'd arrived earlier than our reservation so they kindly led us to a separate waiting room where they handed our children juice and brought my husband and I beer and wine to wait with. We relaxed and watched fun Bollywood music videos together.

"I want to dance like that!" exclaimed Little Angel, pointing to the long row of elegant Indian dancers.

"Me too!" I agreed.

"Not me!" grinned Soccer Dude. "I don't dance!"

Before long we found ourselves ensconced in a spicy sea of curry, tikka, masala, spinach, chutney and naan bread. The service was so personable and warm. For the first time since morning, we felt completely warm and comfortable. Soccer Dude began to clown around, while Señor Aventura told us funny stories.

Enjoying a fun night in Amsterdam at Koh-I-Noor!

The owner came by our table to check on us many times. "I opened this restaurant in 1981," he confided, "and I've been here almost every day since then. Many of my customer have been coming here for 20, 30 years. Parents come and then their children come. We have many regulars, with their favorite tables and dishes. They have become friends."

We loved him instantly and agreed that we will always return to Koh-I-Noor any time we are in Amsterdam. If only they had a restaurant in Barcelona!

By the end of dinner, Little Angel was resting her sleepy head on her arms and even The Scientist had begun to yawn. We emerged from the cosy restaurant into the frosty night feeling cheerful and ready to go home. We waited for a while for the tram to arrive and passed the time watching our breath as we exhaled white clouds into the dark night. My husband and the children beat-boxed to stay warm. We laughed at ourselves out loud, and then felt quietly grateful. It had been a very good day.

Up next in our tour of Amsterdam... ice skating on the Museumplein, Bagels & Beans, Banksy at the Moco, and a whirlwind of experiential art at the Stedelijk!

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When Far From Home At Christmas...

1/6/2017

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Little Angel on Christmas Morning

On Christmas Day we awoke in Amsterdam to a darkness as deep as night. The sun didn't rise until nearly nine o'clock, so the children slept and slept.

"Mom, I miss Santa Claus," frowned The Scientist, as he shuffled into the living area and ascertained with a swift glance under our impromptu tree that there had been no surprise visitation by the special ancient holiday elf to our Dutch AirBNB.

"Yes, that's completely understandable. I feel the same way. We didn't know when we booked this trip that Sinterklaas comes to Holland on December 5th. How ironic that he returned to Spain for Christmas! Sweetheart, I truly believe you'll have presents waiting for you when we get home from this Christmas trip."

The Scientist and his Dad, with our Christmas stockings back in Barcelona!

"I know," he nodded. "It's just a little sad."

The Scientist had actually been the first to tell us that Santa Claus would not be coming to bring us gifts in Holland.

He's made a close half-Dutch friend who I'll call Sanne for the purpose of this blog. Sanne is a sixth grade girl whose mother is Dutch and father is Catalan and, like The Scientist, she is also new at school this year.

Sanne and The Scientist have bonded, so when he told her excitedly that we would be going to visit her native Amsterdam for Christmas, she was delighted but also swiftly informed him that Sinterklaas had already visited Holland earlier in the month.

The Scientist reported this to us at home so we looked it up together and learned that 'sinterklaasavond' (Santa Claus evening) or 'pakjesavond' (evening of the presents) had indeed already taken place in Amsterdam.

"We missed it!" fretted Little Angel.

So, we made sure to send our letters to Santa this year using our Barcelona address and specifying that we now live in Spain. The Aventura children wanted to make absolutely sure that Santa would know to bring any presents to them in Barcelona!

"Even if he brings coal, Mom," announced Soccer Dude. "I just want to be sure he knows where we are."

Before we left our apartment in Barcelona for Amsterdam, each child laid their stocking out carefully.

They also performed the ritual (and somewhat hysterical) practice of whacking our family's Cagatio (wooden Christmas log) to make it 'poop' candy on Christmas Eve while we were traveling. This is such a Catalan thing... they have a real obsession with poop in Catalunya! For almost three weeks our children fed the family Cagatio every night before bedtime.

Our family's holiday Cagatio. Yes, that does mean "pooping uncle".

Little Angel in particular was vigilant about making sure our Cagatio had enough crackers, cookies and orange slices! She also carefully covered it with a blanket to keep it warm. Cutie.

The last thing the kids did before heading out to the train station was give the Cagatio a good smacking and sing their version of the Catalan chant requesting gifts.

All this to explain that waking up on Christmas morning in Amsterdam... so dark and chilly... without our beloved extended family to celebrate with and no presents from Santa... felt a bit lackluster to the Aventura children. There were none of the usual overflowing stockings filled with candies and little gifts... just our sweet little green pine tree.

Señor Aventura and I read to the kids from the Nativity story and we discussed the true meaning of Christmas together as a family for a while.

"I do know that Christmas isn't about presents," nodded The Scientist after we'd finished reading and discussing the Nativity story. "I just miss our family traditions. Opening the stockings on Christmas morning. Breakfast and dinner parties with our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins... playing all day long and eating yummy food until my stomach hurts. It just doesn't quite FEEL like Christmas."

"We will have to make our own Christmas feel special this year!" we decided over breakfast pancakes.

"I wish we had decorations for the tree, Mommy," sighed Little Angel.

"Why don't you make some?" I suggested.

"That's actually a good idea!" pronounced Soccer Dude. "I can make decorations for the tree out of origami paper."

"I want to do that too!" exclaimed his little sister.

Soccer Dude and Little Angel spent the next two or three hours folding and cutting origami paper in different colors and patterns to make homemade decorations for their special Christmas tree. Their decorations were adorable.

We have a holiday tradition of naming our Christmas trees after characters from "The Peanuts Gang" cartoons by Charles Schulz... for example in the past we've had trees named Charlie Brown, Linus and Snoopy. This year we decided to name our tree "Lucy", to honor both our tradition and a special family member. The children spent hours decorating Lucy with hearts, stars and butterflies along with interesting origami ornaments.

After a little while, The Scientist and Señor Aventura decided to venture out into the cold day to explore the Vondelpark and find out when the ice skating rink might reopen for the week. I busied myself in the kitchen listening to Christmas carols sung by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby while assembling our holiday meal, which we'd agreed to eat in the late afternoon.

Putting together our standby holiday roasted poultry with lost of rosemary, butter and wine!

There's nothing like the aroma of rosemary, thyme, wine and roasting potatoes to fill a house with festivity. Pretty soon the children were singing along to the carols and excitedly showing me their decorations. Soccer Dude decided to translate the recipe for Dutch apple tart from Dutch into English to try to make a special dessert.

"I want to help too!" sang out Little Angel.

Señor Aventura and The Scientist returned with some pastries, stories of the empty city and photos of the park on Christmas.

My husband rolled up his sleeves and whipped up a delicious batch of roasted mustard-coated Brussels sprouts, and at last we sat down to count our blessings and appreciate a festive holiday meal together.

"I love Christmas, mommy!" said Little Angel. "I love Amsterdam!"

After dinner we spent an hour calling and video-calling our close family in California and New York, and it was lovely to see their friendly faces across the hours and miles. We loved hearing their voices and learning about what they were up to for Christmas. By the end of the final call we felt delighted and reconnected.

The most exciting telephone call was yet to come.

Soccer Dude had waited all day to share a special Christmas call with his best friend Mini-Muller in San Diego. It had been planned for a week and he'd been asking me about once an hour how soon we could call his bestie.

"I got a pretty great gift for Christmas this year," Mini-Muller told Soccer Dude casually as they began to talk.
"Here, let me show you..."

He then pulled out an airplane ticket from San Diego to Barcelona and showed it to Soccer Dude over the video call!

"Oh my gosh. OH MY GOSH!!! MOM! MOMMMMMM!!!!"

I came in to find out what the commotion was all about.
"MOM! MINI-MULLER IS COMING TO BARCELONA! HE IS COMING TO VISIT US!!!! HE IS COMING!!!!"

Soccer Dude looked like he might explode with excitement and pure joy.

This is what Soccer Dude looks like when he is incredibly happy!

Seeing him so happy filled my eyes with tears. It had been a long while since we'd seen Soccer Dude this full of sheer delight.

Of course, I'd planned this surprise along with Mini-Muller's amazing mother who is an incredibly dear friend to all of our family. To my own joy, she will be coming with Mini-Muller for a week to visit us in late March. Their visit isn't just Mini-Muller's phenomenal Christmas present... it's truly a gift to us too, and we can't wait to host them!

"I'll finally be able to join you to go to watch FC Barcelona play in person!" beamed Mini-Muller as he continued to chat with Soccer Dude.

No two nine year old boys could have been more elated. Soccer Dude and Mini-Muller spent the rest of their video chat talking about all of the huge fun and adventures they would have together.

"I've been saving up my euro," Soccer Dude confided.  "I've been doing a lot of chores for my parents. So now I will be able to take you to do really cool things in Barcelona!"

"That's great! I've been saving up too!"

Soccer Dude's dad and I exhanged warm smiles as we listened to our little man bubbling with enthusiasm. Christmas felt truly special now... it had made our middle child's very dearest dream come true!

Our little man spent the rest of the day singing, shaking his bootie and dancing around the house.

"Daddy," said Little Angel after that video call ended.  "Can we play a game? All of us?"

"Absolutely," nodded Señor Aventura.  "What should we play? We didn't bring any board games."

"How about charades?" I suggested.

"Sure!"

We spent the next twenty minutes writing down topics including song lyrics, child-friendly movies, animals, sports and more... and then a hilarious hour or so performing them for each other. What could be better than watching Señor Aventura crawl around the rug as a wild boar, or enjoying my unforgettable dance performance to the tune of "Don't Let Me Down"? Ha! The children laughed at us like crazy. We only spilled one glass of white wine in the process (oops, no biggie!) haha.

We followed charades up with dessert, more dessert, and a family viewing of the wonderful 1947 holiday classic "Miracle on 34th Street" starring Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood, a movie which the children surprised themselves by absolutely loving despite its relative age and black-and-white photography.

With the five of us curled up on the couch together after a relaxed day full of food and family it truly felt like the best Christmas we could have hoped for! While everyone truly hoped Santa had visited our apartment in Barcelona... it turned out that in the end toys and parties weren't necessary to make Christmas Day truly joyful and beautiful.

Sometimes a paper heart made with love is the best present you could ever want.

The Familia Aventura fell asleep happily; grateful for our many blessings. Full of laughter, hugs, delicious treats and exciting plans for Boxing Day in Amsterdam!

Merry Christmas from Amsterdam!

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Christmas Eve in Amsterdam

1/1/2017

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On the morning after our surprisingly difficult train trip from Barcelona to Amsterdam, our family woke in our hotel around 8:30 feeling fairly refreshed and very hungry. Señor Aventura is a morning coffee kind of guy so while he and The Scientist went out in search of a good coffee shop I busied myself repacking our bags to move to the AirBNB and getting Soccer Dude, Little Angel and myself ready to go with them to breakfast.

The Amsterdam weather forecast was very cold and rainy, but to the dismay of the children, no snow. We layered ourselves appropriately with long underwear, shirts, sweaters and jackets... two layers on bottom and about four or five on top. By the time I put on my jacket I was already plastered in sweat but I knew that the 4 degree Celsius morning temperature (39F) would make me grateful for the extra layers as soon as we walked outside the comfort of the hotel.

View from the Plaza Park Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam

To our extreme joy, we discovered that our favorite restaurant in Amsterdam (Pancakes Amsterdam) had opened up a new location right across the street from our hotel! When the children and I had traveled with my mother 18 months ago to the city, there had been only one Pancakes Amsterdam... but now there are three!

Dutch pancakes are definitely not the same as American pancakes, so I will try to describe the pannenkoeken.

Imagine a very large crepe... a little larger than a large tortilla. Instead of thin like a crepe though, it is a bit thicker and stretchier, about halfway to the thickness of a typical American pancake.

In Amsterdam you can buy boxes of this pannenkoeken mix at any Albert Heijn grocery store (which are everywhere, a lot like going to a smaller version of Vons) and the homemade pannenkoeken from mixes are surprisingly good.

However if you want the absolute best pancake experience (possibly in the world!) it makes a lot more sense to go to Pancakes Amsterdam. They make a wide variety of sweet and savoury pannenkoeken, and you can also create pancakes from your own list of ingredients. Soccer Dude, for example, likes to order pannenkoeken with spinach, mushrooms and bacon. My favorite pannenkoeken is gluten free and includes salmon, guacamole and creme freche. (Don't knock it til you try it.... amazing!!!) If you're really desparate for an American pancake, you can get those there too.

They also have delectable sweet pannenkoeken including pancakes with lemon, sugar and whipped cream... pancakes with oranges and chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and pancakes with apple crumble topping.

I could basically bathe in their pannenkoeken, they are so sinfully delicious. The only problem is that I can rarely eat more than one, because they are so generous in portion size! I almost never end up eating a sweet pannenkoeken for dessert because by the time I've finished my savoury one, I'm full.

If you're in Amsterdam, do yourself a favor and try a pannenkoeken at Pancakes Amsterdam!

"If only I had two stomachs," I laughed mournfully as I watched everyone else in our family devouring their dessert pancakes.

Needless to say, our day was off to a great start!

The hotel arranged a large taxi to come and transport us to our AirBNB which was located along the banks of the Amstel River. All hard feelings about the mistake in booking for AirBNB dates had vanished by now, and we were delighted to meet our host's sister who was cleaning the apartment as we dropped off our bags.

"If you need anything... anything at all! Please do not hesitate to call me," she told us kindly.
"What we mainly need right now are groceries," I explained, "because I suspect everything will be closed tomorrow for Christmas."

"Oh, if you want groceries you should definitely go to the market right now," she advised, "because the stores will be completely shut at five o'clock today for Christmas Eve and not open again until Monday!"

This is how our Familia Aventura's first big adventure in Amsterdam was a trip to the Albert Heijn grocery store, about five long blocks away. We walked along the river until we needed to turn right, and the Amstel River looked peaceful, cold and quite gray.

At Albert Heijn we quickly loaded up with all the food we'd need at home for the week, including all of the fixings for a grand Christmas dinner at home. Señor Aventura got about four different varieties of Brussels sprouts to try cooking and some fancy mustard to roast them with.

"Have I mentioned that we're very near Brussels right now?" he joked over and over. "Maybe we should try some of their special sprouts." He seemed quite cheerful and excited.

Christmas Angel

It didn't take too long before our cart was filled nearly to the top and we were in line to buy the groceries and lug them home. Just as we approached the register, Little Angel's eyes lit up.

"Oh look!!!!!!!!!!! Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHRISTMAS TREES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can we get one???? Please??????"

My husband and I looked to where she was pointing and noticed that the sign above the trees said "SALE" so I went over to inspect while Señor Aventura and Soccer Dude continued to unload the grocery cart.

Perhaps because it was Christmas and the store would be closing in three hours, they had deeply discounted their trees... which were actually very nice trees!

They were about four feet tall and quite green and lovely. At home we would likely have paid $25 or $30 for a tree like this... but these trees were on sale for.... one euro! That's right, just a tiny bit more than a dollar!

"Hon, I think we could do it actually," I called out to my husband.

"How much are they?" he asked.
"A euro!" I told him incredulously.

"How much are the stands though?" he asked, wondering where the catch might be.

"Let me check... um.... three. They're three euro."
"So we can get the tree and the stand for four euro?" he confirmed with the girl behind the checkout stand.

"Yes. Four euro for a tree and a stand."

"Okay. We can do it!" he smiled at Little Angel and Soccer Dude. "But who's going to carry it home? I have to help your mom bring all of these groceries."

"I will, Daddy!" said Little Angel. "I will carry the tree home!"
"Okay little miss," he nodded. "If you will carry it home, we can have it."

Our seven and a half year old daughter glowed as though she'd just swallowed the moon. We were in Amsterdam, well fed with delicious pancakes, and now we would actually have a Christmas tree!!! Little Angel wiggled and danced and went to pick out the perfect tree from the few that were leaning against the wall.

We returned home to our clean, empty apartment. It was a lovely apartment with three bedrooms and an excellent couch, great heating, a nice kitchen, and a washing machine. We had such a nice view of the Amstel river from both of the front rooms, and I particularly liked the way in which we were staying in a quieter part of the city where actual Dutch people live and not just tourists. It's nice to live like a local when you travel, rather than only seeing the famous hotspots, museums and so forth.

View of the Amstel River from our apartment!

Angel-sized car!

We threw the groceries into the refrigerator and were all a bit anxious to get out and explore the city while there was still daylight.

During this time of year there is very little daylight in the Northern European countries. The sun doesn't even rise until 8:30 or 9am and it sets around 4:30pm. So you have very limited natural light, and it feels good to take advantage of every second.

For this reason, we walked along the Amstel river toward the city center and paused from time to time, showing Señor Aventura some of the landmarks we'd discovered in the summer of 2015 when we'd last visited without him.

This was his first time ever to visit Amsterdam, and we hoped he would love it too!

We were headed to the Museumplein to inspect the ice skating rink and possibly skate.

The walk between our house and this district was about forty minutes, and by the time we arrived the children were hungry and it was getting darker.

As we ducked into the Richtsmuseum passageway, we saw a group of classical musicians starting up a little concert. There are a lot of buskers (street musicians that play for tips) in Amsterdam, and some very high quality ones too! This group was quite impressive and I actually checked Google images while we were standing there to make sure the violinist wasn't actually world famous virtuoso Joshua Bell... because I know he plays incognito in subway stations sometimes.

(A lot of big artists like to busk in the passageway outside the Richtsmuseum... possibly because its acoustics are wonderful!)

Musicians busking outside the Richtsmuseum.

After the children put some euro into their open case for the lovely Classical holiday music, we continued our walk to the outdoor ice rink. It was beautiful and crowded on the Museumplein, and very cold. White lights twinkled in the dark trees, and people passing by laughed happily seeming cheerful and festive. Sadly, the ice rink had closed already for Christmas Eve, and we watched a few people slide around the wet ice using only their shoes... which looked quite damp and less fun than skating.

Riding the tram toward the canals...

"I'm so sad!" said Soccer Dude. "I really, really wanted to ice skate." He grew a little bit glum, and soon I realized that he was also quite hungry.

"Well, what should we do?" I asked my husband. "Do you want to go to the modern art museum? It's open for another hour or so."

"I don't think I have a museum in me tonight," he said. "Let's do those after Christmas when we have the full day to explore and enjoy them."

"Okay. How about a boat tour? I read that the night tour around Amsterdam is really beautiful."

"Sure, that'd be fine. Then we can eat dinner at home."

So we set off on one of Amsterdam's many efficient trams toward the Centraal Station, where we'd see many boat tour offerings when we first arrived in the city.

"Mom, I'm hungry!" announced The Scientist.
"Me too!!!" agreed Little Angel.
Soccer Dude himself was so hungry now, he looked a bit miserable.

"We'd better get a snack before the boat tour, since its 90 minutes long," I told their dad... and Señor Aventura completely agreed.

"Mom, I saw a cool place that looked pretty good on the water called the Van Gogh Café. Can we go there for the snack?" asked The Scientist.
"Why not?"

At the Van Gogh Café we filled up very cheaply (by Amsterdam standards) on delicious Dutch cheeses, sausages, and thickly cut salty fries. (Señor Aventura also enjoyed a few tasty beers!) I also purchased two apple tarts for my husband and children to share. Wish I could have had them too, but being gluten free doesn't make apple tart quite as easy to find for me.

We all felt much more energetic and cheerful after this tasty snack and soon were on our way to buy tickets for the evening boat tour.

Revitalized after yummy snacks at the Van Gogh café!

It was time to take our canal tour to see the holiday lights. We ended up choosing the Water Colors Boat Cruise, and their tour really was spectacular!

Our tour guide explained that over five hundred artists from around the world apply each year to be part of this water tour art exhibition. The city of Amsterdam itself becomes like an open museum with artwork on display in the canals against the backdrop of the city's striking buildings. Out of those five hundred applicants they narrow it down to 100 finalist artists and then there are about 26 works we were actually taken to see on the tour.

Forgive the blurry quality of the images we took at night, but this tour was quite extraordinary. Some of the art was made with laser light, others with different types of billboards and plastics... all of it unconventional and quite striking. We were entranced.
"This is SO cool," Señor Aventura murmured again and again. "Really special."

Sitting there in the warm but darkened boat, gazing out its glass windows upon such spectacular displays of unique modern art as we cruised down the canals of Amsterdam, I felt such gratitude! All of yesterday's train misadventures were now long gone, as we settled deeply into the magic and majesty of this beautiful city that manages to be both ancient and modern at one time.

"This will be such an incredible memory in years to come," I thought to myself. "Someday we'll say, 'Remember the time we spent Christmas Eve in Amsterdam, cruising down canals to see those incredible works of art on the water? That was amazing! We were so lucky!'"

Even better, tomorrow would be Christmas.

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The Adventure Awaits!

More Amsterdam Treasures... with kids!

Amsterdam With Kids: Micropia, Anne Frank Haus & Indian Cuisine!

When Far From Home At Christmas...

Christmas Eve in Amsterdam

Meet Andrea

Destinations & Travel Tips​

Want More Adventure In Your Life?

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Have Travel Questions? We've Got Answers!

Past Adventures

Destinations & Travel Tips