Look Who We Found !

The Sufrinkos! 😊

And they were here for 9 days of Shwitastic European fun!

The trip was split into three parts. We started in Groningen, jetted off to Rome for a few days in the middle, and ended in Amsterdam. I’m going to take The Netherlands portion of our adventure. Shane will continue with Rome in another post.

So, like I mentioned we started the trip in Groningen. They got to experience a particularly fun train ride up. First, they started some weekend construction on the route we usually take. Our 2h 15min non-stop train was discontinued for the weekend, and instead we had 2 trains with almost a three hour total travel time. To top it off, we were later than expected because someone cough:shane:cough left for the bathroom then came back on a different escalator. Naturally, he didn’t see us and assumed we were on the train. Do you see where this is going? He watched us standing on the platform through the window of the train as he left for Groningen.

It is beside the point that another someone forgets that they have a functioning phone here in The Netherlands and missed 4 calls and 2 texts.

So, he got off one stop later & caught the train back to us, all before our next train to Groningen arrived!

Here are a few things we did!

(Public Service Announcement: I’m attempting to get fancy with this post. Groups with 4 or more pictures you should be able to click on to view larger and scroll through all at once. Fingers crossed this actually works!)

Gave Brian a Welcome Package

All we’ve heard about for months is how we better have a large stock of Kinder eggs waiting. I think 30 was sufficient. And no, he didn’t make it through all 30.

Rented Bikes

Shane and I decided renting bikes here in Groningen was better than in Amsterdam. Here, people actually know how to bike as opposed to Amsterdam where (at least where we would have been biking) it would have been mostly tourists and a complete mess.

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Ate Pannenkoekens on a Schip!

Obviously they needed a Dutch pancake, and where else better than on a ship! It did come as an unfortunate surprise to Alicia that the ‘Dutch Baby’ pancake she loves at home is absolutely nothing like actual Dutch pancakes.

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Drank Fancy Coffee

Climbed the Martini Tower

Shane and I were pretty excited to take them to this since we had been saving it for their visit! The tower has been in the city center for more than 500 years, but the one we have today is actually the third version. We learned that the first collapsed, and the 2nd was struck by lightning. 311 steps later we made it to the top!

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Now, hop in your time machine and hold on tight. We’re traveling three days in the future….

…to Amsterdam!

We stayed in the same hotel that Shane and I stayed in during our trip in January, and so we were about a 15 min walk from everything. We…

 Ate Delicious Brunch!

at Bakers and Roasters.

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Saw Some Famous Paintings at the Rijksmuseum

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Got the Full Heineken Experience

Kind of surprisingly, this was awesome! I guess we assumed that it was going to just be a brewery tour, which it kind of was, but there was a ton of things to do! You start out learning the history of the Heineken brand, then you see an example of the brewery, taste the various parts of the brewing process, and go on a 3D “Be the Brew” ride! Towards the end there were at least 3 different rooms full of ‘Heineken themed’ games or activities.

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Alicia Wore Cloggs

Got Sherlocked!

This was seriously awesome. It’s an escape game called “Sherlocked“. It’s set in Amsterdam’s old stock exchange building. After you’re briefed on the history of the building & the story you’re locked in a room set up with a series of clues and puzzles. The goal? To escape in an hour! Which we did by the way. Well… sort of. We made it to the point where we had the exit key, but none of us thought to put that key in the door marked ‘Exit’. It still counted though.

Walked (a lot)

A trip to Amsterdam wouldn’t have been complete without a little canal walking. This was actually really enjoyable because the weather was fantastic after 5 days of non-stop greater than 100°F/40°C heat. I know, I know, if you’re in the U.S. reading this then you’re rolling your eyes at me right now. I can’t help it! I’ve adjusted to cooler temperatures!

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Overall, this was a fantastic trip! We were excited to finally show off Groningen and get some quality friend time! We’ve been here by ourselves so long you forget nice it is to be with old friends.

Stay tuned for Rome!

Tot Ziens,

Whitney