Amsterdam is my favorite place in the whole wide world! Catherine and I have spent the last three days here and we have had the most amazing time. On the first day we got here, we bought our public transit cards and explored the city a bit. Our flight landed around 10:30, but we couldn't check in at our hotel until 3... we felt like true European backpackers lugging around our incredibly heavy bags through the streets. From the second we stepped off the plane, we felt the "good vibes" of this city. There was so much going on all around us... and this was the first time we had seen the sun since we left Texas ;) We found a little farmers market full of things from local vendors. There were fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, handmade jewelry, baked goods, souvenir items and much more. He walked along a canal and peaked in the windows of the adorable little cottages along the water. Amsterdam is the city of bicycles... I have never seen so many bikes in my life. Catherine and I debated renting bikes, but biking in this city would require some mad skills and I was too chicken to do it. After walking around a bit, we found a little restaurant that served dutch pancakes, yum! Catherine and I both got our pancakes with Nutella, strawberry slices, and powdered sugar... oh my goodness, they were delicious. By that time we were exhausted from waking up early and traveling, so we decided to head to check in at the hotel. Our hotel was in Zandaam, a little suburb just outside of Amsterdam. The area our hotel was in was so adorable. It had a cottage feel to it, with two levels of restaurants and stores, and a waterfall/stream that flowed all throughout. All of the buildings were bright green, coral, and blue. We were grandmas and went to bed early the first night, but with good reason because we had a lot planned for the days ahead! Stayed tuned for more of our Amsterdam experiences :)