One of my buddies over at Dallas’ Duralee showroom, requested that I do an Amsterdam trip post to follow my Paris one (Hey Robin!), so I figured that I shouldn’t disappoint her!

Going from Paris to Amsterdam was like night and day.  I describe Amsterdam as Paris’ very laid back sibling.  While both had stunning views, beautiful architecture, and great food, Amsterdam still felt like another world.

We stayed in an apartment (through Short-Stay Group) on a very nice canal called the Brouwersgracht, and we ended up loving this experience! We really felt like true “Amsterdammers” (well for three days at least!)  The apartment’s larger size and contemporary feel was a nice change from the teeny tiny traditional Paris hotel that we were in.  The first thing I said to our Short Stay guy when i walked in was- “isn’t the TV stand from IKEA?”  Apparently, it all was! (so they can change it out pretty often)

The funniest part of this whole thing was watching Ben and I try to trek up three flights of stairs to get to our fourth floor apartment.  I’m totally out of shape, don’t get me wrong, but that wasn’t the funny part.  The stair treads were so shallow that we literally had to step up the stairs with our feet facing sideways.  The stair’s risers were so steep (much steeper than the house I grew up in- and anyone that has been there knows those stairs are STEEP!) that they fell into a whole new category of stairs. They felt so foreign to me, that I almost  had to wonder if they were safe/legal?  But of course, what isn’t legal in Amsterdam!

Here’s a photo of the stairs- (the photo doesn’t do the steepness justice).  I’d never seen anything like it in the states!  It was, as my friend Meghan would say- “ridonculous”.

My fiancee Ben trying to make his way down the impossible stairs. He’ll love me for posting this one!

After we finally made our way down all the stairs and out the door….

We could finally enjoy ourselves and stroll along the canals…

I was actually very surprised at how many design/home decor shops I stumbled across when shopping in Amsterdam.  I don’t know why I was so surprised- especially since Dutch Design Week was going on there that same week!

Had to get some photos in Kartell of course!

Even the movie theatre was gorgeous (and clean)!  I can’t say the same about ours back home unfortunately…

Of course we had to do as the Amsterdammers do, and see “The Town” in Dutch subtitles!

The Anne Frank House and The Van Gogh museum couldn’t be missed either and were both pretty amazing.

I wish I had gotten to take even more photos of Amsterdam to share on here.  I was pleasantly surprised at what a beautiful city it was- rich in history and design.  I would go back in a heartbeat! Dutch Design Week 2011 anyone?