It’s our last day in Amsterdam and Zaq and I started it out visiting CrossFit Amsterdam.
There location has so much space and is right on a canal. The WOD was a nice engine burner.
5 sets of:
- 5 Strict press
- max effort pull ups
- rest 3 min between sets
12min AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
- 15 box jumps
- 12 Toe to bar
- 9 push press
They welcomed us so warmly, we felt right at home.
Afterward we hopped on our bicycles to shower and check out of our hotel. We left our bags on the luggage check so we could still adventure more freely the rest of the day.
First stop was some brunch. We couldn’t stop thinking about De Bakkerwinkel, but we thought we should try other places while we’re here to get a more full experience. Then we argued, that if we wanted there food again this would be our last chance…ha ha ha. So we bee lined straight there and had a feast! When the waitress brought our food, she said “Now if you don’t finish it, we have to go bags.”
I must say, it was a lot, but we also ate every last crumb!
Since we learned so much about Amsterdam’s role in the East India Trading Company, we went to check out the National Maritime Museum. It was great to see old atlases and the slow development of the geography of the world. Plus the evolution of ships at sea; as well as beautiful paintings that captured sailing and its tales.
These were recovered wooden sculptures from ships dating back to the 1600-1800s
Zaq in the navigation room, sailors use to use constellations and various tools to map there journeys in open water.
This is an exact replica of the Amsterdam trading ship, we were able to go inside, it’s three stores tall and massive inside.
The main deck housed the cannons and sleeping quarters for most the crew.
Here is some of the bunking area.
Down in the hold, the very bottom of the ship, we learned how pulleys can make life a lot easier when lifting heavy objects. They had stations that started with more pulleys and progressed to less. I couldn’t even budge the 1 pulley box, ha ha ha.
Captain dinning area.
Zaq at the helm.
We then exited to quite a windy rain storm, as I’m sure you can see by the last picture on deck of the Amsterdam. So we threw on our rain jackets and braved it to make sure we got some lunch before we had to return our bike rentals.
Here are some pictures we took along the ride, Amsterdam is so compact and beautiful in its own way.
By the time we found a cafe that was open (Europe restaurants close mid day and reopen for dinner,) we were drenched. First thing I wanted was a hot cup of tea. I love how they always bring me a busicut with it here.
Photo curtesy of Zaq. I look like a drowned rat…ha ha ha.
We returned our bikes and realized very quickly how much faster it is to get around Amsterdam on one. Plus walking feels like your always in the way; bikes and cars moving everywhich way. Zaq and I couldn’t figure out how locals knew when it was their turn to go or not. We tended to just follow the flow of traffic.
It was a fairly short day as we started making our way to the airport for our final leg on this Europe adventure – Iceland!
We’re beyond excited for this last stop, can’t wait to update you with all our outdoor adventures.
~A&Z
A & Z 