Ottawa goes to Amsterdam (from France)

My friend Lori, the blond, is headed back to Ottawa this summer.  She decided that before she left we should have a little girls' weekend in Amsterdam.  She invited me, her good friend, Amy from Ottawa and Claire, also of Ottawa and currently living in Paris.

I am not sure how I will survive Paris without Lori, but I am glad to know she will be in Ottawa when we return.

Have coffee, will travel
3 hours on a high speed train and we were in Amsterdam.

Amy found a fabulous bed and breakfast on a houseboat.  We were on the edge of Amsterdam, an easy tram ride to the center of the city.  The owners lived on the other side of the boat with their family. 

Lori was a fabulous navigator and got us where we needed to go.  Here we are at the tram stop figuring out how to get to town.

We found a lovely canal side restaurant and stopped for lunch.

Bikes are everywhere.  Nobody wears a helmet and trams and bikes both go at about a hundred miles an hour.  Look at this blog to see some Dutch bikers in action.

 

Looks just like the Holland area at the Ottawa children's museum.

Look at all of those bells.

It was a beautiful day and everyone was out enjoying the sun.  I took about a billion photos that looked just like this one.  It is a very pretty city.

We took a boat tour to get a feel for the city.  This is a floating bike garage.  It is about four stories stacked with bikes.  It would be nearly impossible to drive a car in the city center.

Every house has a hook on the top of it so that furniture can be hoisted in and out.

Claire made our dinner reservation.  This was one of the best meals I have ever had.  We chose the chef's menu, which basically meant that we got whatever the chef decided to serve us.  The service was fabulous.  Everyone in Amsterdam seems to speak English as if they have stepped out of an American sitcom.  It is really quite incredible.  

Mark Bittman, NY Times food columnist, wrote an article on eating in Amsterdam and mentions this restaurant.

Wilde Zwunder

And we could walk back to the houseboat!