Hoi Netherlands: Day 3 -Amsterdam

I planned for an early start from Haarlem to Amsterdam, to leave our apartment at 7.30am. But we didn’t manage to get out until almost eight o’clock.

I slowly learned that traveling with children, means that it’ll take a much longer time getting ready. Not only that, a 20 minutes walk will take much longer with a child in tow. And a growing up child is always hungry.

ZE said that she’ll normally take 15 minutes to get ready, so she will wake up at 7.00am, with an additional 15 minutes buffer. That, as you know from my opening paragraph, wasn’t sufficient.

 We bought our first Rail Runner ticket at €2.50 for ZE. It is a day pass for train, for children aged 4-11 years old. In a haste, we forgot to check-in her card, when we board our train at Haarlem Centraal station. So, we alighted at Amsterdam Sloterdijk Station, check-in and then board the next train to Amsterdam Centraal station.

Luckily we did that, as Amsterdam Centraal’s station has exit gate that requires us to check-out, in order to exit from the station.

That added to our traveling time, in addition to a snack break at Amsterdam Centraal station, before we walk out.

From the tip that I read, it is advisable to arrive at Anne Frank House by 8.30am, and be in the line before their ticket counter opens at 9.00am.

At 10.00am, the queue was so long, that it just wasn’t worth. It was also drizzling.

 We decided to come back the next day, and as we walked around, we came across a cheese shop. ZE doesn’t like cheese, but she was brave enough to try. We were given sample to try, so we bought a small snackcup of young gouda with mustard dipping (€2.95). Well .. I ended up finishing almost 80-90% of the pack. Since I am a cheese lover, I was more than happy.

 We then went for early lunch break at a small pizza place we saw, which turned out to be really nice. Our margherita pizza (€8.50) was served in a pizza box. It was yummylicious.

 My lovely niece wrote a message on the pizza box, which brought a big smile to the owner’s face. He said “wow, what a big compliment. I’ll keep this box.”

 We then walked to Dam Square and Royal Palace, passing by Madam Tussauds. Magna Plaza was so beautiful and we walked in to take a break from rain.

Rain. Gosh. Amsterdam has not been kind to us. It was raining, raining and raining. That makes walking really hard. ZE didn’t even complain. 

 We then went back to Haarlem and cooked a pre-packed ravioli at apartment. We also managed to walk around our neighbourhood at Haarlem.