![\"The](\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/files\/2013\/09\/amsterdam-ann-frank-house.png\")
The Ann Frank House<\/p><\/div>\n
What I Didn\u2019t Love:\u00a0 If you hit Amsterdam during its peak tourist season, you\u2019ll likely stand in a lot of queues (what we Americans call lines.)\u00a0 Getting tickets in advance is very helpful \u2013 and sometimes a must!<\/p>\n
Amsterdam is a very walkable city, so if you stay in the city center, you can easily get around by foot \u2013 or on the public transportation. Another\u00a0 mode of transportation are the 65 miles of canals. Twenty-five percent of the city surface is navigable waterways, making Amsterdam the most \u201cwatery\u201d city in the world (source: Amsterdam.com)<\/p>\n
You can pack a lot into a weekend (or long-weekend) in Amsterdam. Here\u2019s what I did:<\/p>\n
Day 1:<\/p>\n
3 hour \u201chop-on, hop-off\u201d tour<\/p>\n
2 hours at the Anne Frank House (including 30 minute wait \u2013 and I even had a ticket w\/a specific entry time)<\/p>\n
2 hours at the Van Gogh Museum (you could easily spend all day here, but I had to pick and choose what I wanted to see)<\/p>\n
30 minutes for lunch on the lawn outside the Van Gogh Museum. There are plenty of vendors with all kinds of foods. There are tables (which are hard to come by) and plenty of space to picnic or just sit on a wall and enjoy the view.<\/p>\n
![\"Iconic](\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/files\/2013\/09\/amsterdam-sign-224x300.jpg\")
Iconic Amsterdam sign<\/p><\/div>\n
Day 2<\/p>\n
2 hour canal tour<\/p>\n
3 hours at Artis Zoo and Botanical Gardens (you could spend many hours here, there is so much to see.\u00a0 In 3 hours I saw a good deal and just enough to make me want to go back.<\/p>\n
2 hours at the Rembrandt house \u2013 you\u2019ll learn a lot of interesting facts \u2013 did you know that Rembrandt was his first name? And you\u2019ll see one of the largest collections of his sketches. The collection is housed in the home where Rembrandt once lived and worked.\u00a0 You\u2019ll also find a collection of Rembrandt\u2019s own art collection.<\/p>\n
![\"amsterdam-streets\"](\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/files\/2013\/09\/amsterdam-streets-224x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Where to eat: I had an amazing dinner at Keizersgracht 238, behind the Hotel Pulitzer. The restaurant has amazing views and equally amazing food. I had the 238 Burger, a Black Angus burger with onion, lettuce, bacon, cheese and fried egg and a Caesar salad. Restaurant Vinkeles is a modern-French Michelin stared restaurant with an out of this world menu (expect dishes with things like tongue, kidneys and sweetbreads).\u00a0 They also have perhaps the most indulgent Pommes Frites topped with Cr\u00e8me Fraiche and caviar \u2013 like noting you\u2019ve had before.\u00a0 \u00a0Prepare to spend a lot of money on food in Amsterdam, everything is pricy.<\/p>\n
![\"restaurant_hotel_pulitzer\"](\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/files\/2013\/09\/restaurant_hotel_pulitzer-300x157.png\")
Keizersgracht 238<\/p><\/div>\n
Where to stay: The Hotel Pulitzer, Amsterdam is a Starwood Luxury Collection hotel with a story steeped in history.\u00a0 Located just a block from the Anne Frank House \u2013 the famous attic where Frank hid during WWII and now museum \u2013 the hotel has a history of its own.<\/p>\n
Consisting of 25 historical canal houses \u2013 some dating back to the 1600s \u2013 the original houses were built more than 400 years ago.\u00a0 In the late 1960s, Herbert Pulitzer, a businessman, purchased the first 10 canal houses that would become the hotel. Over the years, additional canal houses are purchased.\u00a0 In the early 90s, Pulitzer decides to sell the hotel and it is first bought by an Italian chain and then in 1995 purchased by Starwood as a Sheraton hotel.<\/p>\n
![\"amsterdam-hotel-pulitzer\"](\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/files\/2013\/09\/amsterdam-hotel-pulitzer-300x225.jpg\")
Hotel Pulitzer<\/p><\/div>\n
Between 1998 and 2000, the hotel was completely renovated and upon the completion, joined the Luxury Collection. \u00a0The hotel fills several blocks and is in-between Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht with the entrance facing Prinsengracht and the restaurant on the backside facing Keizersgracht.\u00a0 The canal houses that face Prinsengracht were originally shops, warehouses and doubled as homes (the Anne Frank house is on Prinsengracht.)\u00a0 The canal houses on Keizersgracht were more grand and imposing as they were considered upscale when they were built.<\/p>\n
The first houses were built in 1615 and today house the restaurant, bar and bedrooms ending with numbers 60 & 79. The imposing mansion at 224 Keizersgracht was built in 1620, and named De Saxenburg by its owner, Hans Lenaertsz.\u00a0 You can still see the name on the building today.\u00a0 In 1630, the Lenaertz bought several more houses today those are guestrooms ending in 12 \u2013 19 and 31-57.\u00a0 I stayed in room 312 \u2013 pretty amazing to know that I was in a room dating back to the early 1600s.<\/p>\n
In 1796 the estate is sold to Pieter van Winter and he adds Prinsengracht 323 and rebuilds it into a coach house today is contains guest rooms ending in 10 and 30 and the ground floor holds the lobby.\u00a0 After Winter\u2019s death in 1807, the De Saxenburg mansion is turned into a chocolate factory and the rest is renovated into office and factory space.\u00a0 The residence was finally purchased in 1986 and became part of the Hotel Pulitzer.<\/p>\n
The hotel retains much of its original charm.\u00a0 There are original hard-wood floors in some of the rooms, Delft tiles in the bathtubs and the hotel is a virtual maze connecting all of the canal houses that today make up the hotel.<\/p>\n
In Review: Amsterdam is a unique and eclectic city \u2013 from the red-light district to the museum district, Amsterdam has something for everyone. You’ll fall in love with Amsterdam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week, a co-worker asked me if I\u2019d written a post about Amsterdam. Surely I must have, right? I’ve been a few times now, and can\u2019t imagine that I wouldn’t have written about it. Well, as it turns out, I’ve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"Amsterdam For The Weekend #Amsterdam #F2B","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[212,91],"tags":[288,477],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n