Like many of her blog readers, I really connected to Michelle’s post last week about keepin’ it real in the blogosphere. Particularly in the Italy expat blogger universe it can be hard to tease out what’s reality and what’s a carefully crafted public image.

A few years ago I was like a lot of my readers. From 9-5 I was sitting in my office at work, bored out of my mind and going through the motions. One of the only things that brought some much-needed lightness to my day was reading a small group of Italy expat blogs. Well before Rob and I actually hatched our plan to move here I was just a girl that had studied abroad in Florence, missed it desperately and lived vicariously through the people (strangers) whose lives I read about online.

Their lives seemed so perfect.

I mean, how could living in Italy not be perfect, right?! It’s that attitude that, quite frankly, has exhausted me lately — this assumption that our life in Florence is easy or painless or hassle-free. Don’t get me wrong — I know I’m very fortunate to live here. Fortunate to have a mother-in-law that basically just furnished our new apartment. Fortunate to have work that I love to do. But a perfect life? What does that even mean?

Rob and I are just like everyone else. We have moments when life seems too great for words. We have long moments when everything seems to go crazy at once. Maybe one day I’ll write about all of the stress we’ve faced in the past few months, but suffice to say that a lot of bullshit was thrown my/our way in a very short period of time. It feels like only in the past week — yes, the past week — that we are now on the upswing.

The stress of the apartment/move was a big piece of that. I’m so excited to move to a place that we can craft into a home for ourselves and one in which I can be proud to raise our little family. I’m excited to firmly commit to a few more years (at least) here. But, to say that our life here in Florence isn’t hard would be a lie. It’s been really hard lately. Life is life, whether you are in Florence, Italy or Small Town, USA.

I guess the moral of this story is to know that in this blogsophere we “live” in, it’s possible to craft an image that does indeed make life look perfect. But, to me, that’s the easy way out. Life is messy. It’s hard. It’s a challenge. But it’s also really damn fun. It’s surprising. And it’s a joy.

Perfection is overrated anyway.

The post On Keepin’ it Real appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

So, here’s how to follow my blog now:

Option #1: Subscribe via Email

Option #2: Add My RSS to Your Reader

Whether you use Bloglovin’ or NewsBlur or Feedly or one of the other gazillion blog readers out there, you can now use this feed to include my blog: http://feeds.uri.lv/lavitaebella.

Unlike my old FeedBurner feed, this one will actually work. I’ve confirmed it in Feedly and NewsBlur. Both of these options will now be available in my top drop-down bar area, as well.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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For the first 18 years of my life I called Levittown, PA home. It was a nice place to grow up and I was always surrounded by my huge, ridiculous and crazy family. I encourage you to read the Wikipedia entry on Levittown as it’s a pretty fascinating place.

Fun fact: for the first 13 years of my life I thought everyone lived in houses that looked just like the house next door. The idea of having to ask where the bathroom was in a house was a funny notion to me because all of my friends lived in houses that were just a variation of mine.

As I got older and learned to appreciate mid-century architecture my trips home always caused me pain because 98% of houses have been remodeled and don’t include some of the amazing mid-century details that they once did. Nonetheless, it’s still a fun place to drive around and get a little insight into what life used to be like. Neighbors, kids on bikes, walking to school. That type of thing.

Michael Sokolove, who grew up in the same “section” as me, is a contributing writer for the New York Times and written a few insightful articles on the place I grew up:

• The Math of Heartbreak in Levittown
• The Transformation of Levittown
• Change Makes a Call in Levittown

I knew pretty early on in high school that I wanted to get out of Dodge, so I started researching colleges on the East Coast. The first moment I stepped on campus at G.W. I knew that Washington, D.C. was the city for me. Choosing to head south to D.C. is the decision I credit with setting me on the path to where I am today.

It’s weird for me to think about, but Washington, D.C. is actually (to date) where I’ve lived the longest as an adult. It feels like a lifetime ago that I was there, yet I was there for 5 years. And, I really lived there — even though they were my college years I actually lived there year round for all four years of school and one year after. I never “went home” for summers. I loved D.C. so so so much and it just became home for me very quickly.

I still love Washington, D.C. In many ways it’s my “dream city” and what appeals to me about it is a lot of the same things that appeal to me about Florence — walkable, good public transport, museums, culture, an appreciation for intellectual conversation. But, we left for a very simple reason: it was just so damn expensive to live there. Even with two good jobs it was month-to-month living there. I’d love to end up back there someday. I miss Dupont Circle, the neighborhood I lived in for three years and absolutely adored.

When we decided to leave Washington, D.C. (right around the time we got engaged) we had no idea where to go. So, we did what any rational couple does: pulled out a map and started flagging cities that would be fun to live in. On paper, I was convinced that Nashville would be the spot and we tacked on a visit to Louisville almost as an afterthought during the trip to Nashville. Well, we ended up loving Louisville. We had a crazy UHaul journey from Washington to Louisville, but made it in one piece.

Here’s what I remember about Louisville quite fondly: our small, but adorable apartment in Old Louisville, our super cute house and fantastic neighborhood, really nice parks, a beautiful downtown with lots of great architecture, our wedding, very friendly people, good restaurants, Heine Brother’s coffee, the few friends we made were amazing people.

Here’s what I remember about Louisville not so fondly: everyone was obsessed with basketball (but, they did win the championship this year, so it’s for good reason), you had to drive everywhere, hard to meet people with diverse backgrounds, it never felt like home, limited cultural options, a no-good-very-bad apartment situation after we sold our house.

I’ll always look back on our time in Louisville with positive thoughts. We got married there. Found Winston there. Decorated our first home there. At the end of the day, I think we both learned a lot about just how important our surroundings our to our happiness — and, what our city dealbreakers are. Being honest about what did and did not work for us about Louisville really helped us be rational about the next move.

Back to L-town for 7 months. When you have the “dream expat story” a lot of people assume that you floated here on a cloud and magically landed under the Tuscan sun. In reality, we lived in my childhood bedroom for 7 months while we go our finances in order and dual citizenship figured out.

That, of course, leads us to Florence, Italy. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for 2.5 years already! It seems like just yesterday that we arrived, but so much has changed. We now have our daughter and are getting ready to move to a new apartment — one that has a very “permanent” feel to it — or, at least as permanent as anything can ever be for nomads like ourselves.

Florence is such a good fit for us right now. Part of the reason we’ve ended up in a city that works so well for us is our experience living in these other places. You just learn what does and does not work for you. Florence works.

The post My Story: The Places I’ve Called Home appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

Working alongside four amazing women — Georgette Jupe, Birgitte Brøndsted, Michelle Tarnopolsky, Emilia Mugnai – I updated the Design*Sponge Florence city guide. The new version went live today and I’m so very proud of it. I think our approach to highlight suggestions and top picks for different types of travelers is a really smart way to break down the city…particularly if you only have a day or two to check things out!

The post What to Do in Florence: Florence City Guide appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

Can you believe it’s halfway through 2013 already? Like, seriously, where has this year gone? I look back and know that 2013 included a trip to the U.S. and an epic roadtrip to Amsterdam, but it seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye.

To be honest, I’ve been exhausted lately. We’re planning a move, having drama with our current apartment, busy with lots of work and have our little lady to take care of — although, I must admit, Livia has been one of the easiest pieces of the puzzle lately…even with new teeth on the horizon!

I’m pooped. Once we’re in our new place, I’m determined to take it easy just for a bit. Lately, I find myself exhausted by other people, too. I’m realizing more and more that I need to focus on me, Rob, Livia and a handful of people that really matter in my life. Goal for the rest of 2013: cut out the bullshit.

Yesterday, Livia and I joined a few of our gal pals for a Sunday potluck brunch. It was nice to just relax for a few hours, eat, catch-up and take it easy.  It was nice to spend time with people whose friendships I value, stories I love to hear and opinions I take to heart.

One of the things I worried about most when we moved abroad over 2.5 years ago(!) was making friends. Honestly, it was something we struggled with in Louisville and that factored into our leaving. Suffice to say, Rob and I have both made really amazing friends here (both mutually and independently). I feel a common ground here with people that I haven’t necessarily experienced before. It’s nice and refreshing.

Sorry if this post has downer undertones, it can just be so exhausting when you are forced to put up with stuff that is totally out of your control.  Rest assured we are working hard to keep this from happening in the future.

The post Exhausted. appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

There is an essential aspect to living in destination city like Florence that most people never talk about: that tourists inevitably become part of your daily existence. There is no getting around the fact that you will interact with tourists on a daily basis whether you want to or not.  As a college student studying abroad in Florence 8 years ago I was oblivious/ignorant to it because I was essentially a tourist on an extended vacation.

But, as a resident of Florence for 2+ years that has seen a few tourist seasons come and go? I am very aware of the tourists. 

I am not one of those people that finds joy in excessively mocking or complaining about people on their vacations. Quite honestly, I think it would be rude to do so. But, there is no denying that most tourists exist in their own little world in which they are 100% at the center. It can be fascinating to watch it unfold in front of your eyes.

Rob and I call phenomenon ”once-in-a-lifetime-trip syndrome.”

I kid you not, something psychological happens to people when they head out on big trips — the kind they will talk about for years — that makes them certifiably insane.

Most notable among the changes? Any access to the order, decency and humility portions of the brain fly out the window.

The extreme end of the syndrome spectrum was highlighted in spectacular fashion a few days ago at the grocery store down the street from us. We were in to pick up ingredients for lunch when we spotted the guy in front of us plop bananas and apples on the conveyor. Without a sticker.

We both sighed. In most grocery stores here you need to weigh your own fruit and veggies in the produce section and bring them to the register to be scanned. We sighed because we thought it meant we’d be in line an extra 3 minutes while he figured out. But, what happened was unexpected.

The cashier told him he needed to weigh the fruit himself and he got indignent. For those of you not familiar with Florence city center groceries let me emphasize that they are teeny tiny. The weigher is probably 15 paces away. He tossed the fruit aside and yelled, in English:

“I’m not weighing anything. I’m on vacation.”

Naturally, he was American so Rob and I were hanging our heads in shame and apologizing (in Italian) for our countryman. We tried to explain to him that it was really quite easy, but he just repeated it: I’m on vacation.

This man literally wanted the the cashier, the store, Florence and Italy to cater to his every wish. Because – he was on vacation.

Now, Rob and I are avid people watchers so it was fun in that respect, but the scene was just as horrifying as it was fascinating. What is it about vacation that makes a grown man (with a charming Southern accent) act likes he’s in Disneyland? The brief bits of small talk he made with us while he paid told us he wasn’t a really bad guy, yet here he was acting like everyone owed him something.

And, I will tell you that this man is/was far from unique. Every May – September we see this behavior on a daily basis — from the old and young, West Coasters, Easter Coasters, men, women, seemingly rich, seemingly budget. It’s pervasive.

So, my question is this. About your vacation…

You do know we’re not on it with you, right?

If anything, I should thank tourists for making me a much more aware traveler. During our trips to Paris and Amsterdam I tried to stay keenly aware of how our behavior was being perceived and adjusting as needed to what I saw locals doing. I don’t claim to be perfect, but I do claim recognition that when I’m on vacation that doesn’t mean everyone else around me is, as well.

Anyone else witness this syndrome in action lately?

The post About Your Vacation… appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

Livia has just passed the 8 month mark and I find myself wondering how it is possible that this little girl is growing so fast. It’s crazy town! I decided that it’s finally time to share the little photo project we undertook while I was pregnant: monthly progress photos.

I admire those ladies that somehow manage to take a weekly photo, but in that state — in the heat of summer — it was challenging enough to find one day where I didn’t look like a total hot mess.

If you’re wondering how we accomplished this project it was actually pretty darn simple:

1. Once a month (typically around the 15th for consistency) we took a photo in front of a solid white wall.
2. Using PhotoShop, I edited out the background and inserted a fun solid color*.
3. Each month I would add the photo to the master collage above.

God bless month 5 when I finally transitioned from fat chick to dignified pregnant woman Also, God bless pregnancy hormones that gave me shiny, healthy and thick hair. I would *almost* get pregnant again just for the hair. Fun fact: I think this is the first time I’ve ever worked in PhotoShop and tried not to make myself look skinnier.

Honestly, I LOVED taking the monthly photo and watching the master collage above slowly fill up with photos. It blew. my. mind. to think that the final photo would include a baby. We’re doing something similar for Livia’s first year (that does include weekly photos) that I’ll eventually share, too and it’s so cool to see how much she’s changed over 34 weeks.

*Sadly, my pale skin against the white background meant that the magic background eraser tool in PhotoShop was useless, so I had to use my Bamboo tablet and pen for most of the editing. After month two I got pretty good at it and editing only took about 20 minutes.

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I guess the big news around these parts is that we’re moving to a new apartment in a few months. It wasn’t a decision that we made lightly — we love our current apartment. It was our first place in Florence, the place we brought Livia home from the hospital to and where we’ve made a lot of memories (cue House Hunters International intro music).

But, after the last year we’ve learned that a different space really was necessary for two mains reasons. First, because we work from home we spend a lot of time in our apartment. This apartment has many redeeming qualities, but natural light is not one of them. That makes work days in the winter and on rainy days really dismal and dark.

The second reason is that the space plan for this apartment isn’t ideal for us anymore. Our office is set up in our living room — which is fine when you don’t have people staying with you, but with so many visitors and a baby, the room starts to feel really, really cramped.

We started casually looking for places about six months ago and actually checking places out about 8 weeks ago. We didn’t expect to find a place so fast, but we did. And, it’s kind of perfect.

Never in a million years did I envision us moving more central in Florence. If anything, I thought we’d move further out where you typically get more bang for your buck. But, we saw a fantastic, newly redone place in an immaculately-kept building in centro and simply couldn’t pass it up.

In fact, we saw two very similar apartments in centro at the exact same price, size and building type. We ended up going with the aforementioned “perfect” spot because it had been completely redone, whereas the other just superficially fixed up.

So, expect a bunch of furnishing-the-new-apartment posts. I’m am scoring some seriously amazing stuff on Ebay.it. I’ve always loved Ebay, but using it in Europe opens up an entire new world of options. Danish modern furniture shipping from Germany? Check. Amazing modern Persian rug from Corsica? Check. Seriously you guys, Rob and I are pinching ourselves at what we’ve found. Can’t wait to share!

xo,

Kate

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You may have noticed that it’s been a bit quiet on the blog lately aside from the Amsterdam posts. That’s because I’ve been trying to figure out how to adapt this blog to fit my current life.

You see, when we started this blog nearly three years ago we weren’t even in Italy yet. But, we were happy to talk about “the dream” and Italian dual citizenship and Italy. All. The. Time. For the past few years I’ve kept it up, feeling the pressure to be this superstar expat blogger covering the same topics over and over again.

It dawned on me lately that if I really want to continue this blog I need to refocus on what I actually want to write about — style, design, parenthood, travel and, yes, sometimes Italy. But, I want my visually-focused posts to be juicier and my content-focused posts to pack more of an essay punch. If I pressure myself into posting one more dreamy photo of Florence I might hurl.

I love Florence. It has been our home for 2.5 years and is set to be home for at least that much or more. I love writing about this gorgeous city. I hate feeling pressured to be the expat blogger that people get to live vicariously through. I hate feeling like I can’t do a post on beautiful collections of things I’ve found online because I’m afraid my audience won’t like it.

A little over a year ago one of my favorite bloggers, Joy from Oh Joy! decided to totally switch things up. I remember it being a bit controversial at the time — this big blogger totally refocusing her editorial and getting rid of contributors. I also remember being amazed by her for having the cajones to do it. Guest what? I still love her blog and I’m almost certain her readership hasn’t suffered. Being true to herself simply worked.

So, here’s the deal:

• This is officially my blog only…no more “we.” I love my hubby, but all of our friends and family have known that this is really my blog. I do 99.9% of the posts, take the photos and write the content. It’s my voice and my internet baby.
• As such, the blog may get a tad more feminine now that I’m no longer trying to keep the we-ness of it in check. To the few regular male readers this blog has, I apologize.
• It’s going to be an experiment for a while as I figure out how much of our life to really put out there. I’d love to be one of those bloggers that feels comfy slapping baby photos all over the place, but it’s not been me so far.

So, there you have it. After 320 posts(!), I’m making the editorial decision to switch things up a bit. Oh, and I may have totally taken a sledgehammer to the design and simplified it like woah.

I hope you all understand and enjoy the new style of content.

xo, Kate

The post It’s time for La Vita e’ Bella Version 2.0 appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

Ever since I started posting about having a baby here and a few tips for visiting Florence with kids, we’ve been contacted more than a few times for additional advice and insight. In an effort to provide a “one-stop-shop” post for those that need the info, I’m listing below all of the kid, pregnancy and childbirth-related posts right here.

Kate and Livia’s Birth Story at Ponte a Niccheri from the Maple Leaf Mamma blog

Before emailing with any questions related to what it was like to have a baby here, use the Italian healthcare system, choose a hospital, find an OB-GYN, etc., I kindly ask that you read this extremely detailed interview!

Visiting Florence, Italy with a Baby

We receive a lot of questions from fellow Americans about visiting Florence with a baby and what to expect. This post is my attempt to answer questions about strollers, changing stations and car seats in Florence. This city is baby-friendly in some ways, but definitely not in others.

FAQ: Everything You (N)ever Wanted to Know About Cloth Diapers

When someone finds out that we use cloth diapers they are always intrigued — including people who have no interest in kids! In this post, I outline (in detail) exactly how we make these diapers work in our casa. The biggest surprise? We’ve found it all rather easy.

Baby Abroad: First Steps

I think it’s valuable information to share for current and future expats that find themselves pregnant in Italia. Having a baby in Italy as an expat is definitely a unique experience. In this post, I outline the first steps you need to take to get on the baby-mamma healthcare track.

Baby Abroad: The Home Stretch

This post covers the “next steps” to take later in your pregnancy as you prepare to actually give birth. I cover topics like choosing a hospital, getting the final tests done and what decisions you can and can’t make about the actual delivery.

For those that are interested, we’ve also rented baby equipment in Paris and Amsterdam and you may find those posts helpful when planning your own visits to those cities.

The post Pregnancy and Childbirth in Florence, Italy appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

I’ve been working on a bit of a special project lately and found myself in need of an apartment for a single day — not to actually sleep in, but for photography and video purposes. Florence has no shortage of amazing apartments, but finding one that was available for one day and that had the “look” that I needed was a bit of a tall order.

Thankfully, I found Windows on Italy, a holiday rental company that not only rents apartments here in Florence, but all over Italy. In fact, I confess to checking out rentals on the Amalfi Coast and the Lake Region (clearly someone is dreaming about an August vacay). Back to Florence, I found an apartment that looked great in the photos, is furnished beautifully and had amazing natural light — which was a big reason why I couldn’t work on this project at home…our place is a bit of a cave.

Full disclaimer: they gave me the apartment for the day (minus a cleaning fee that I paid) in exchange for this review, but I’m telling you the honest truth when I say how nice it was to work with them. Even when I was initially inquiring I was impressed with how quickly they responded via email. Anyone that’s planned a trip to Italy or tried to reserve things from abroad knows how difficult it can be to get prompt email service, so this was huge! Also, the staff speaks great English.

I found the apartment’s photography very true to what was actually there. If you’ve ever rented a place you know that this is not always the case. Somehow, apartments always look better online. I think the high-end nature of most of the Windows on Italy apartments is the reason you actually get what you see. I also love that their descriptions of each apartment are so detailed. They do a great job of capturing the personality and unique character of each place.

I may have spent extra time on the site collecting ideas for how to furnish a potential new apartment (no news now…maybe soon) and found these great rooms that really got me dreaming. You can click any of the photos to see the entire apartment:

Long story short, I would highly recommend Windows on Italy to any of my readers that are planning a trip to Italy and are looking for great rentals from a great company, Windows on Italy.

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One of my favorite things about Amsterdam was all of the neat logos, hand-lettering and fonts used around the city’s businesses. It was a designer’s dream to be surrounded by so much creativity and inspiration.

The post A Post for the Nerds: Fonts in Amsterdam appeared first on La Vita e Bella - An Italy Expat Blog - Americans living in italy, Italian Dual Citizenship and Living in Italy.

After our success with renting baby gear during our trip to Paris in December, it seemed like a no-brainer to try the same thing in Amsterdam. With fingers crossed I googled “baby equipment rental Amsterdam” and was super excited to find Travel Baby Amsterdam. Not having to lug our stroller across Europe was a huge relief!

We rented the Classic Stroller and a highchair. Livia is pretty attached to sitting in a high chair during meals, so we knew it was a must for the trip. I was nervous that a different type of chair might not be comfortable for her, but she loved the one that we rented! She was similarly comfortable in the lightweight stroller, which was a dream for navigating around a crowded city like Amsterdam.

I’m getting quite attached to having baby gear rental options in the cities that we travel to. Being able to travel light and not worry about who is lugging what baby stuff where is a huge relief during the actual travel process. Just like the company in Paris, the folks at Travel Baby Amsterdam deliver and pick-up the baby gear — all you need to do is tell them where and when to deliver and it shows up on your doorstep. After three long days driving from Florence to Amsterdam, it was nice to have this taken care of for us.

Planning a visit to Amsterdam with the kiddies in tow? We highly recommend Travel Baby Amsterdam - www.travelbabyamsterdam.com

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One morning as Rob and I headed out to work for a bit in a nearby cafe we passed by Mint Mini Mall. Naturally, I went all “work, what work?” and ran inside. Die. If shops like this existed in Florence I would be Broke with a capital B.

Mint is an adorable little boutique that just opened this past month. The aesthetic and the products were so refreshing. I love shop owners that take time to properly curate and style their stores. Everything in Mint has so much thought behind it and it shows. In one store we were able to buy Rob a watch and Livia a stuffed elephant. Bigger selection does not always equal better. Quality are thoughtfulness are always best.

If you are in Amsterdam and looking for a special gift for the stylish man, woman or baby in your life be sure to check out this little gem! Mint Mini Mall, Runstraat 27.

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We totally lucked out with the timing of our trip to Amsterdam. The Rijks Museum opened back up after 10 years during our stay here. On the Saturday it reopened there was free admission, so Rob and I joined about 10,000 of our closest Dutch friends in waiting in line to see the artwork.

While certain parts were closed to foot traffic during the free admission period, it was still amazing to see what the museum had to offer. We saw classics like Night Watch and The Milkmaid. The building itself is something to be seen, as well. We obviously never saw the museum before, but I can tell you it’s beautiful now.

If you are visiting Amsterdam soon we highly suggest checking it out!

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Since arriving in Amsterdam we have not had Dutch food at all. Not once. Instead, we’re gorging ourselves on all of the ethnic food that is available to us here and hard to find in Florence. Something else that’s hard to find in Florence? Brunch, of course!

A little internet sleuthing led me to G&T’s Really Nice Place, just a few minutes from our apartment and tucked away on a little side street. We had to wait for a table, but it was totally worth it. It’s definitely not a spot that sees a lot of tourists — the waitress says she knows just about everyone that comes through the doors and immediately asked where we were from. That is a good sign, in my mind.

My dad stuffed his faced with french toast, I with a club sandwich and Rob with eggs benedict. All were delicious! Rob was more than excited to see Pimm’s on the menu (his very British summer drink of choice) and I had one of the best soy cappucinos I’ve had in a very long time! Rob and I may have snuck a piece of banana chocolate cake, too

Looking for a great place for a weekend brunch in Amsterdam? Check out G&T’s Really Good Place, Goudbloemstraat 9.

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Our tour guide Ashley was funny as hell. It was refreshing to go on a tour that didn’t try to be too formal — it’s Amsterdam, after all! We peddled through the the city center (Red Light District included…that was an experience) and learned a few bits about the city as we rode. Mostly, we just had fun and laughed.

Rob and I immediately came back and unlocked the bikes that came with the apartment and went for a ride. We’ve been out a few times since and are kicking ourselves for not embracing the local mode of transportation earlier in our stay.

Visiting Amsterdam and have a good sense of humor? Take a bike tour with Mike’s Bikes.

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This post isn’t as glamorous as our other Amsterdam posts, but it does cover an essential part of visiting the city: where to park in Amsterdam when you drive here.

We priced out one-way car rentals, but the difference in cost was absurd — think $1500 ONE WAY. Crazy right? It was obvious that a long-term, standard rental (picking up and dropping off in the same location) was our only option.

The parking garages in the city center were ridiculously high. On street parking for six days was similarly expensive. A little research brought me to Amsterdam’s Park + Ride. The result? Amazing, efficient parking.

Here are the main points about the Park + Ride system:

• There are seven Park + Ride garages in the immediate outskirts of the city.
• You can park in these lots for up to four days (as such, we had to move our car to two different lots over the course of our stay).
• You get a FREE public transport ticket to use to get you back into the city and then to get you back to the lot to pick up your car. You can only use the free public transport ticket for those two journeys.
• To get the special P+R rate (and the free metro ticket), you take the ticket you get when you initially enter the lot and bring it to the front desk.
• The daily parking rate is only 8 euro.

That’s it…it was that easy. You can tell we’ve been in Italy for a while because all we kept saying throughout the entire process was “can you believe how easy and straight-forward that was?”

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After driving through Italy, Austria, Germany* and the Netherlands and “touring” rest stops in the process, our first full day in Amsterdam was all about finding a light, organic meal to start cleansing our systems of roadside fare. As luck would have it we happened upon Letting on Prinsenstraat after only 20 minutes of exploring the area immediately around our apartment. Wondering where to eat in Amsterdam? Letting is a must!

The menu may be small, but the portions are healthy. The ingredients are superb and the service friendly. Letting reminded me of some of the charming little cafes that you can find in the South — Charleston and certain neighborhoods in Nashville come to mind. Amsterdam seems to be full of these small cafes/restaurants run by folks that really love what they do and that have their own unique take on specific cuisine.

Where to Eat in Amsterdam: Letting, Prinsenstraat 3  1015 DA Amsterdam, Netherlands.

*I feel it is only right to state that the rest stops in Germany we ridiculously nice. In fact, I’m pretty sure one of the stops was the single nicest highway rest stop that I will ever see in my lifetime.

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I used to think that I just wasn’t a big city type of gal, but after my trips to Paris and now to Amsterdam I may need to rethink that belief!

Amsterdam is one of the cleanest, nicest big cities that I’ve ever been to. The architecture is fantastic, he public transportation is easy and on-time, the people are insanely nice…I could go on forever. Amsterdam has definitely wooed us!

Did I tell you that our trip to Amsterdam is part of a home exchange? A lovely couple is staying in our apartment while we use theirs. This has been such a fun experience that I’m dying to figure out our next exchange.

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