A Weekend at the Berardi Bed & Breakfast (Amsterdam)

We had one amazing weekend at the Berardi Bed and Breakfast! I recommend staying there to anyone traveling to Amsterdam within the next 3-5 years! They will pick you up from the airport, give you a tram pass, and even work as a personal tour guide!

Having Aunt Erin and Uncle Matt to tell us our must sees AND exactly how to get there is a blessing, then they were able to take us to all of their favorite food places!

Night one we were reunited in the airport and from there hopped in the car and headed home for the grand tour of the house! Their house is so neat and has so many quirks to it since its older! Its an upside-down house which is something you see now with beach houses since they want a good view of the ocean, but their house is right on the canal so the best view would be from the first floor, but it is so unique! The top floor is another bedroom which is surrounded with windows so it has a beautiful view of the canals. After our grand tour, we headed out to grab some food even though it was now like 9:30 because Anna and I couldn't get food before the airport because our cab was SO late picking us up, Aunt Erin and Uncle Matt met at the airport and they were running a bit late so they to didn't eat. So, everything worked out great and we went to a little bar and restaurant which will now be known in my head as the barrel toilet restaurant! This place had you walk through these barrels to go to the bathroom! That night Anna and I separated for the first time in a long time into our separate rooms for bed! Not only did I have a full bed to myself, it was the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in! There was an amazing mattress topper that is unfortunately a European brand so I can't find it at home, but I slept like a baby!

Friday morning, we got an early start so we could go get a dutch pancake for breakfast! We went to Pancakes Amsterdam, and I ordered a savory pancake which had zucchini, peppers, spinach, onion, and was topped with pesto! It was scrumptious, and we ordered a regular sweet pancake which was lemon and butter for us to all share just so we could try a sweet one! We then were off to the central station where we got tickets for our Canal Tour! That was a cool experience seeing the city from the canals! We traveled around seeing popular attractions and the history of the city! Something I learned about Amsterdam this weekend is that it has the most inconsistent weather conditions ever! One second the sun is out shining, and the next its down pouring! We never left the house without an umbrella because it didn't matter what the sky looked like when you left, somehow a huge black cloud would appear and it would start pouring! So right when we got on our covered boat it started raining outside! So we definitely made it just in time! Our tour was an hour long then we hopped on the tram and went over to the Van Gogh museum. The museum was pretty cool, but I was a little disappointed about the amount of drawings/paintings in it that were actually done by Van Gogh. They told us right in the beginning of the museum that he produced 200 paintings and 500 drawings doing his time, but so much of the museum was filled with famous french artists. After this we headed home for a MUCH needed nap before dinner! For dinner, this night we made tacos because Aunt Erin asked us what we were craving back in September when we were in Poland together, Anna and I both answered Mexican. SO when she went home she brought back to Amsterdam some taco bell seasoning! We planned on waking up and making the tacos so they would be ready right when Uncle Matt got home from work... well let’s just say I woke up to Uncle Matt going HELLO? when he walked in the door! So i got up and hustled up stairs where Aunt Erin had just started cooking and I was there to help! To say the least Taco night was a success and tasted just like home!

Saturday, we woke up and had DUNKIN DONUTS for breakfast, and that was quite a piece of home! They had some pretty unique flavors to and some which were tied in the traditions and customs of Amsterdam! So, after our donut Anna and I went around exploring the city for ourselves in the afternoon. Prostitution is legal in Amsterdam, so we put the sex museum and the prostitution museum on the list of must sees. Our first stop was the sex museum. That was quite an experience, but was even more comical to witness others walking around giggling! From here we went straight to the prostitution museum which was so interesting to me. The museum was filled with frequently asked questions that were then answered by a prostitute. Some of them even told their stories about how they got into the business and that it wasn't what they were expecting. But you got to then see the layout of a typical motel room and learned all the facts about prostitution in the area. Such as how much it costs to just get a room, how much they make a night, how many people work in this business in the area, and much much more. After our educational part of the day we went shopping because Amsterdam has some great shops, and MANY places to go! I ended up finding an adorable light pink coat that I purchased for only 50 euros! Then along the way I found an ornament for my collection! Aunt Erin had pointed out to me this sculpture of Dutch children kissing that are all over Amsterdam, she told me she had been on the hunt for a set of them that were salt and pepper shakers! Well after numerous souvenir shops I hit the jackpot and was so excited! So after our shopping we went home so we could drop off our bags before going out to fondue for dinner! The fondue was delicious, you got to pick an appetizer which I took uncle matts recommendation and got the spicy shrimps which were so tasty! Then we got a typical cheese fondue for dinner and a chocolate fondue for dessert! I was stuffed by the end and after we went to buy tickets for the ice bar for the following night! We purchased them at a tourist stop and got a discount on the ticket and a scheduled time to get in! On our walk home Aunt Erin asked if we had seen any salt and pepper shakers when we passed a souvenir shop, the anticipation i had to give them to her was unreal so in that moment I decided I would give her her birthday present that night instead of waiting 2 more days! So was so excited and they were instantly unpacked and put in the kitchen!

Sunday, we got up and went to the Anne Frank Museum! That was very interesting and definitely a must-see place especially considering we Aunt Erin got our tickets in September! So, since that was a little depressing we instantly followed up that tour with a trip the Heineken Experience! That was awesome! We 3 free beers with the price of entry, a wristband, a bottle opener, and a cup, all for FREE! There was even a station where you could design your own label! It was definitely cool to be there the weekend right after I was at the Guinness factory! It was neat to compare the two... I definitely like Heineken beer more than a Guinness but the factories were each a complete different experience! Since Anna and I had the ice bar that night, we ordered some pizza in to the house, then we were off! The ice bar was a lot of fun. We got three free drinks included with our entry fee! Our first drink was called the Amsterdamned and it was honestly one of the best drinks I have ever had! Then in the actual ice bar you got to choose between a thing of Heineken or a shot. So I decided to try the Nutella shot instead of having another Heineken which I had had several of that morning, and it was delicious! Its only recommended that you stay in there for about 20 minutes or so since it’s so cold in there, it was -9.4 degrees Celsius (I’ll let you convert that!) After the bar we decided to walk the red light district because how could you be an Amsterdam and not see the red light district! That was pretty cool and it was crowded even though it started raining there were still so many tourists walking the streets to see the girls in the window! We came back home to Erin and Matt on their last episode of Stranger Things (they binge watched the entire season that evening) and once it hit midnight I wished aunt Erin a happy birthday and was off to bed!

Monday we were up again and out the door because we wanted to see several things since it was our last day! We went to the Fault in our Stars bench and to the tallest windmill in Holland! We also tried to go to the Canal House Museum to get some architecture in on our trip but unfortunately that is closed on Mondays! We went back home after a few hours and took out the garbage and did some homework! We decided to get dinner at one of Aunt Erins favorite places for dinner before heading to the airport! Unfortunately, there was only a bad ending to the weekend from this point forward, I fell down the steps when I was leaving the house, luckily nothing on me or the house is broken but I have some VERY nice bruises forming! Then on our walk to dinner I thought I could throw up my ankle hurt so bad from the fall! We made it to the airport with ample time, but security was intense here! Both of my bags got searched and it took about 20 minutes just for that process, the second we got through security we were notified that our flight had been delayed 2 hours! Which meant we weren’t landing in Florence till 1:20 am! So I am now annoyed sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to come.

UPDATE: Once again, Thank God for Aunt Erin and Uncle Matt! I am now back at their house because our flight got cancelled! Instead of our direct flight to Florence, we are taking a flight out of Amsterdam laying over in Barcelona for 2 hours then Going to PISA where they are providing us ground transportation back to Florence. To say the least im very annoyed, but I have an amazing aunt and uncle who came and got us from the airport and brought us home! So im now off to go to sleep so I can get up for my early flight, but I get another night in my amazing bed!