amster-DAM!: I'm not a tourist...

So we're just over two weeks into our new adventure. We've figured out the grocery store, we have a dutch bank account, and we've secured an apartment. We are definitely not on vacation. We were feeling a bit guilty that our first and only trip into the city (together) was two weeks ago. So today we decided we would spend the day further exploring our new home, despite the 8 degrees Celsius temperatures and constant threat of rain. There is a tram station which is a convenient five minute walk from our door, which has a tram that takes us straight into the Centraal Station in Amsterdam. We needed to go to the Centraal Station to pick up our Amsterdam Holland Passes, which we had purchased online last night. The Amsterdam Holland Pass is a discount card that provides free or discounted entry into museums and other attractions throughout the country.

Without fail we arrived among the hordes of tourists descending on the city for the weekend. What makes us different than these people we thought? Well, first and foremost we weren't packing bags and secondly, we were prepared for the rain (of course native Seattle-ites never leave home without a raincoat). Oddly enough, we have noticed that the Euros seem to love themselves suede and leather coats, despite the torrential downpour. After picking up our passes successfully and navigating the streets like seasoned veterans, the most important decision lay ahead. What museum would we visit first? Although many of the museums are spread throughout the city, the Museum Quarter, houses many of the city's top artistic attractions. The area houses five museums and a concert hall, all in very close proximity, including the Van Gogh Museum. We decided to dip our toes into the shallow end of Amsterdam's culture pool and visit the Heineken Museum first. Culture and drinks, sign us up!

Not surprisingly the Heineken Experience was well attended on such a dreary day. We were actually quite surprised by the length of the self guided tour. We spent a solid two hours drinking in, literally, the experience. The tour even included a view of the draft horses, which were used to deliver Heineken to the bars of Amsterdam until the 1960s. Horses two weekends in a row, fancy us! After the tour of the brewery we continued our Heineken adventure with a mini canal tour and a visit to the Heineken Company Store. They take their Heineken very seriously here.

It became evident the weather was not going to lift, so we decided to wander back to the Museum Quarter and grab a bite along the way. Our walk back took us along the Amstel River and past the most expensive hotel in Amsterdam. We were told rooms will cost you 2800 euro per night (breakfast is included). We also walked across the Magere Brug, the current wood bridge is a 20th century replica of the 17th century original, where the mechanical drive was only installed in 1994. As the rain truly began to come down, we ducked into an English Pub for some sandwiches and a beer. We've taken to drinking Palm, although we mistakenly called it Paul upon our first order a few weeks back. Clearly we had not picked up on the Dutch accent yet.

As we exited the pub and headed for the tram stop to head home, it didn't take us more than a block or two to realize that we had wandered in a giant circle and were right back in front of the Heineken Company Store. We're blaming it on the concentric circles the streets run in here, not the three and a half Heinekens before lunch. However all is well that ends well, we found our tram stop and hopped back to head home, warm up, and dry off!

Have we become full-on locals? Not even close, but the tourist in us is starting to wear off. Next week will take us back to the city and deeper into the culture pool.