Oh, wham bam, oh Amsterdam (Yeah yeah yeah)

Hallo meine Lieben,

Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the whole wide world. I love the atmosphere of the city, the architecture, all the bikes, the Dutch language....When David came to visit me in Germany last year we weren't sure where to go. I wanted to show him my home state, Saarland. But I also wanted to show him a more exciting place. We narrowed it down to London, Rome and Amsterdam and I let David decide. I don't know why but he picked Amsterdam and so we reserved a room in a really cool hotel in the middle of Amsterdam. The Renaissance Hotel Amsterdam in Kattengat. 
Before we went to Amsterdam we stayed 3 days at the North Sea in Cadzand Bad, visited Bruges and other beautiful places and then headed to Amsterdam to spend another 3 wonderful days there. We parked the car outside of Amsterdam because we did not want to take the car with us. So we took the train to Amsterdam Centraal. It was so much cheaper than finding a parking lot in Amsterdam. 
We walked to our hotel which was only 3 minutes away from the Central station and then started to explore the city.
I want to share some of our pictures with you. 

This is one of the smallest houses in Amsterdam. It is not the smallest house though. In the past the property taxes were set on the width of a building and so people built houses like this one. I would love to be able to visit one of them, I am sure it's amazing inside. 

A gracht (canal). I just can't get enough of them. I already pointed out that I love all cities that have canals such as Venezia, Bruges and Amsterdam. David and I would love to own a boat house as our vacation home. Totally awesome. There is a boat house museum but we haven't been there. 

We tried to find some great restaurants in town and searched in the not so touristy areas. This Pizzeria was really good, I think we were the only customers though. I was very suprised that David ordered a tea with his pasta. 

More canals. I am not sure how many canal pictures we took but too many to show you all of them. We just did not get enough.

David in the Torture Museum. We saw some really cool torture instruments. The museum was pretty small though. I have been to a torture museum in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany and there was much more to see. We did not regret going, it was very interesting but I expected more for the entry fee.

This is the most famous sex shop in Amsterdam, Absolute Danny. It is located in the Red Light District and we got yelled at 2 seconds after we took this picture. It was not allowed but David could not resist. The sales person who was dressed in varnish and leather got pretty mad.

A dog in front of a boat house. So perfect. I would love to sit in front of my boat house, looking at the canal with a dog next to me.

We also visited the Van Gogh museum. I think it is pretty difficult for Americans to pronounce "Van Gogh" in the correct way. European languages can be mean.

We had an amazing time at the museum and stayed a couple of hours. 

Dinner at a great restaurant in China Town. We paid 12 Euros for two cans of Heineken though. Not really a bargain but the food was great.

Gracht. People always park their cars next to the canal. I am pretty sure something terrible would happen if I'd try to park my car there at night.

Red Light District. Very interesting place to look at people. I felt a little sorry for the poor ladies in the windows. Most of them looked not very interested and just typed something on their phones. I am sure it gets pretty boring to spend your time sitting in a window getting yelled at from drunken tourists.

Flowers market. I liked that market a lot, you can find all kinds of flowers there. But it is also a very touristy place.

I love the architecture in Amsterdam and can't get enough. The houses are all so beautiful and unique.

David and I had to take a boat trip on the canals. We chose the perfect time because it was getting dark when we started. Very romantic. Schatz, thank you for the wonderful 3 days in Amsterdam. I had such a wonderful time with you! You are my everything! I love you!

A parking garage for bikes. Located next to the train station. I love that Amsterdam is so bike-friendly. You can go everywhere by bike and you always find a place to park your bike. Plus the bikes always have the priority in traffic. Love it.

Our hotel room. The bed was so comfortable!

David and I had a fantastic time in Amsterdam and I hope we will be able to visit the city again as soon as possible. It has so much to offer and three days just wasn't enough time to see everything we wanted.

What's your favorite city? Have you been to Amsterdam? What's your favorite place there?

Have a lovely Saturday!