join the johnson journey: re-acclimating to amsterdam

On Friday July 15th, I caught a train from Bochum to Amsterdam and Nick flew in. We met up with my pals from Accenture from Houston, Stephen and Rowland. They had been on a whirlwind European tour before going to business school this next fall and Amsterdam was their last stop. It was just so great to see them both and some familiar faces. It had been over a year. On Friday, Nick and I both got in late so we just went and grabbed some grub then went out for a few beers. We spent the night catching up and hanging out.

On Saturday, we woke up "early" - this is a personal jab at Stephen and Rowland because we woke up at 10:30am and this was early for them. I did not mind because I had wrapped up my first week of user testing at work so I needed the sleep. We went to the best brunch place EVER. Mimosas & this amazing huevos rancheros dish at this place called Bakers & Roasters. It almost tasted like legit tex mex. The dish even had jalapenos on it... score! After a pretty long brunch we headed to the Heineken museum. I had not been the last time we were in Amsterdam so it was a new experience for all of us except Nick. It's actually a pretty informative museum and I was pleasantly surprised the entire experience was not just drinking. You got to learn about the history and the beer making process and even try some hops! *we may have personalized a beer bottle just for us...check out the last picture on this blog!* After the museum we headed to do a canal tour of the canals. We took the canal tour with Friendship Amsterdam. The boat was so awesome - equipped with a fireplace if you went at a colder time of year. It even had a bathroom (those who know me know this is how do i put it... well, essential)! After we wrapped up our canal tour, we headed out to eat and to just hang out for the rest of the night. Yet again it was so great to see some friendly faces in Europe and Nick and I were both so happy we could meet up with pals!

straight deliciousness ... even had jalapenos

gotta have those mimosas!

the best pals in the world!

entering heineken experience

straight up trippy

cool looking bridge

On Sunday, Rowland and Stephen headed out for their flight and Nick and I had the day in Amsterdam before we headed back to our respective abodes. We started the morning bright and early at the Van Gogh museum. This museum is awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone that goes to Amsterdam. Afterwards, we grabbed a bit to eat then went to the Anne Frank house. This is what I had been wanting to see the entire time I have been in Europe. Reading about this little girl really shakes your core. She was so brave and so full of life even though she was in the absolute worse circumstances. I was pretty obsessed with learning everything about this time when I was younger so it's been something I have wanted to do my whole life. After we finished at the museum we found a cool craft beer place and hung out then walked around for a bit then it was time to leave. I headed back to good ol Bochum for work and Nick back to Hamburg. What a great weekend in Amsterdam. This is a truly unique city and the ONLY place I've been to two since I moved. It definitely holds a special place in my heart!!