This Just In: Amsterdam is Gorgeous.

Once we'd lugged our luggage to the station, we boarded an hour-long train to Harwich International Port to catch our overnight ferry to the Netherlands. In full disclosure, I've never been on a cruise ship before, but our Stena Line ferry felt like a junior cruise to me. It was awesome and the perfect mode of international travel. Wheat and I had our own personal cabin (with two bunk beds, a window, a TV, and a bathroom) and the ship had more amenities than most hotels.

Seriously, it had a cinema (which was showing The Boss), a cafeteria, a duty-free shop, a fancy sit-down restaurant, an arcade, a news room, a coffee shop, an internet cafe, slot machines and an actual casino dealer, an outdoor bar, and an outdoor, caged-in basketball court. I was completely blown away. Plus, Wheat could dunk on the rim, so he was more than excited. We spent our evening playing in the arcade and toasting to an incredible time in London before beginning...

Day 6

Amsterdam, Netherlands

14,350 steps

Highlights: I amsterdam sign, Canal cruise, Leidseplein

After waking up with Holland outside our window, we showered, gathered our things, and hopped on two different trains (totaling about two hours) that took us to Amsterdam. It was a drizzly day and, after taking the tram toward our hotel, we found ourselves stumbling around, completely lost. While trying to get our bearings straight, my backpack toppled off my suitcase and onto the uneven, cobblestone sidewalk. Concerned, I checked my camera immediately and let out an agonized sob when I found what appeared to be a shattered lens. I was absolutely devastated.

Eventually, we found our precious hotel, Hotel La Boheme, but we weren't allowed to check in yet. We explained my heartbreaking predicament to the woman behind the desk and she immediately jumped to action - calling camera stores in the area. With directions in-hand, we set off into the rain to buy a replacement lens. I'll spare you the details, but we ended up getting lost again and absolutely no one in the area had ever heard of the Camera Warehouse. Thanks to a Dutch good samaritan with a cell phone, we finally tracked down the store (well over an hour later) and found out that the lens hadn't shattered, only the protective cover. Unfortunately, when the camera fell, it bent the rim of the lens, so I wasn't able to replace the cover, but I was relieved to avoid buying a brand new lens. Soaked to the bone and exhausted, we had a quick lunch before heading back to the hotel to check in.

Our room was on the fifth (and top) floor of the hotel and I cannot stress to you how steep the stairs were. Pictures simply do not do it justice. At one point, we were basically crawling up the stairs, using our hands to help us balance with our bags. However, once we reached our room, we found two free drink coupons awaiting us as a reward for the climb.

After a nap and some freshening up, we put the coupons to good use in the lobby/bar area of the hotel. The hotel, which had a live-in cat named Mimi in the lobby and cat-related decor, was so comfortable and quaint. Throughout our stay in Amsterdam, we spent a lot of time resting our feet in the lobby, mostly to use the wifi and avoid climbing the stairs unnecessarily. Every day, the hotel would host a free Dutch cheese tasting and there was always free coffee, hot chocolate, and treats to enjoy while relaxing. It was an absolute dream.

That evening, we decided to take a canal cruise to orient ourselves with the city. We had some time to kill before the cruise, so we walked over to the Museumplein to see the outside of the Rijksmuseum and the famous i amsterdam sign. Upon arrival, we heard loud music and cheering emanating from a gated garden at the Rijksmuseum. A couple hundred people were dancing while fireworks and streamers flew through the air. An older gentlemen sang classics like "Sweet Caroline" and "I Can See Clearly Now." With my curiosity piqued, I had to ask what was going on and quickly learned it was the annual employee party at the Rijksmuseum. The singer, Lee Towers, is a Dutch celebrity of sorts, who Wheat and I liken to Wayne Newton, so we spent a little while enjoying the music and party atmosphere.

As expected, the Museumplein was crowded with tourists and locals alike who draped themselves all over the massive i amsterdam letters. Once we'd had our fill of pictures, we made our way back and boarded our boat. The cruise, which wound through the gorgeous canals of the city, came with a free drink and trail mix and we enjoyed the incredible views while listening to an audio tour of what we were passing. We wound through the Red Light District at dusk, admired the awesome houseboats filled with locals going about their daily business, and learned about the history of the city while laughing at the cheesiness of the audio guide. It was an incredibly romantic, perfect way to start our time in the city.

After the cruise, we made our way back to the Leidseplein, the nightlife district where our hotel was located. It was bustling with people eating at restaurants, smoking at "coffee shops" (which is what they call the bars/shops where marijuana is dispensed), and congregating outside of bars to watch the Euro soccer game. We wandered along the square, stopping to watch Portugal beat Poland in penalty kicks and devour fries with ketchup and mayo, before calling it an early night.

Can I live in the Harrods toy department?

On our last day in London, it was drizzling and chilly in the romantic, typical London way. I was pretty bummed our time was already coming to an end when I could still list dozens of things I wanted to see and do. I suppose that's the beautiful thing about falling in love with a place: You leave with special memories and an even deeper void to fill next time. We did our best to have one final hurrah on...

Day 5

London, England

18,231 steps

Highlights: Buckingham Palace, Harrods, Hyde Park, British Museum

We filled up on our final British breakfast (eggs, ham, toast, and fried tomatoes) before hopping on the tube and making our way to Buckingham Palace. By the time we arrived, the area was already super crowded with tourists hoping to see the changing of the guard. Rookie mistake. We spent about half an hour craning our necks and standing on tiptoes in hopes of seeing the guards in action behind the gate, but there were simply too many people. Eventually, we decided to give up and make our way across the street, but a police officer stopped us at the crosswalk to let the guards pass. By sheer luck, the cop stopped us in the front row of people and we had a terrific view of the guards marching past and playing their instruments. 

Once the guards reached the palace, we were allowed to cross to the massive Queen Victoria fountain. I took some pictures of the palace and as we were leaving, we were stopped again as the guards marched by. Incredible timing. Fun fact: When the Royal Standard flag is flying (the red, yellow, and blue one), that means Her Majesty the Queen is home. Another fun fact: While waiting, the band actually plays contemporary music. We heard Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" while waiting. Ha!

Once we'd had our fill of the palace, we began walking to Harrods, the world's most famous department store. Along the way, we passed Wellington Arch, an awesome Ferrari store, and an incredible artist carving a dog out of sand on the street. Harrods, as always, was overwhelming and awesome. You could seriously spend all day wandering through the seven floors of merchandise, but Wheat and I have our priorities straight and headed straight to the toy department. Guys, it's basically wonderland for kids and adults. We played with fake snow and remote control cars, saw a replica of Harrods made entirely from Legos, played the piano and pretended to be Barbie, and convinced ourselves we didn't need one of everything.

Eventually, we pried ourselves away with the promise of food, which we found at Coffee Shop Tom Dixon on the third floor. I know this sounds strange, but this was honestly one of the best meals we had on our entire honeymoon. I had a roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce while Wheat devoured a caprese fold-over pizza and we marveled over finding such a treasure unexpectedly. After lunch, we ventured down to the basement to see the memorial for Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed and sign the remembrance book.

In order to walk off lunch, we ventured over to Hyde Park, where we strolled along a wooded path and watched groups of campers play football soccer. (Maybe they were better than the national team?) It was still raining, so our plans to see Kensington Palace were foiled. Instead, we filled the time by checking out the Princess Diana Memorial in the park (which is just a simple, circular waterway) and marveling over the beautiful flowers and dozens of swans that surrounded and filled nearby Serpentine Lake. Not sure why, but we also experienced a somewhat Hitchcockian moment when we were surrounded by what felt like hundreds of pigeons.

Frustrated by the rain, we decided to head back toward our hotel and check out the British Museum. Wheat had been before and he was also a Classics major in college, so he gave me some lectures on Ancient Greece as we admired the Elgin Marbles, the remaining marble sculptures from the Parthenon. The museum, which was surprisingly free, is home to some of the most important artifacts in human history, including the Rosetta Stone (which allowed scholars to finally translate Egyptian hieroglyphics for the first time)...and I'm telling you - that thing was popular. I barely pushed my way through the crowd to snap a picture of it.

We spent a couple hours checking out mummies, sculptures, tools, and an Easter Island head before heading back to our hotel....but not before drooling over the gorgeous ceiling in the lobby and posing with the awesome lions outside.

Resigned to the fact I wasn't going to Wimbledon and probably wouldn't catch a glimpse of a Game of Thrones cast member, we packed up our bags, hopped on the tube, and headed to the train station.

A Proper British Birthday!

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, we celebrated Wheat's birthday during our glorious honeymoon. Leading up to our trip, I stressed a lot about whether or not to bring a gift for him (which would have been nearly impossible to cram into my stuffed luggage). Ultimately, I decided that our trip together was the best birthday present I could ever dream of giving him, but we still did a few special things to celebrate on...

Day 4

London, England

10,392 steps

Highlights: St. Paul's Cathedral, River Cruise on the Thames, The Lion King

The day began with a proper British breakfast (eggs, ham, toast, and bangers this time) before we set off for St. Paul's Cathedral. I didn't explore this gorgeous Baroque church on my last visit to London, so I was excited to do the full tour and finally see inside the iconic dome. Just like Westminster Abbey, pictures are not allowed inside the cathedral, but take my word for it: It was just as stunning inside as it is out. Although I enjoyed the history of Westminster more, I found St. Paul's to be more beautiful with its gorgeous paintings and breathtaking dome.

We wandered around the cathedral floor, admiring the altar and stopping periodically for prayers that were given by a priest on a microphone. Although I wasn't sure I could make it, we decided to venture up 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery, the interior vantage point in the dome. It was well worth the effort to see the cathedral floor from that high up. From there, we made the decision to go to the Stone Gallery, the outdoor viewing gallery on the dome. This was up another 119 steep, narrow steps - so narrow that once you decide to go, you aren't allowed to turn back. I was huffing and puffing by the time we reached the top, but the incredible views of downtown London exceeded my expectations. I decided to forego the 152-step trip up to the Golden Gallery and Wheat was also forced to skip it once he saw the huge school trip making the climb.

After the dome, we made our way to the crypt to see the tombs of Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Christopher Wren (the architect of St. Paul's), and Arthur Sullivan (composer of Gilbert and Sullivan fame). We were starting to feel hungry at this point and the crowd of professional Londoners enjoying their lunch break on the cathedral steps confirmed it was time for lunch. We stopped at a nearby cafe for a quick bite and some Wimbledon on the TV (Serena happened to be playing).

With full bellies, we ventured across the Millennium Bridge, which must have been rebuilt after the Death Eaters destroyed it in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Seriously though, the bridge, which led us straight to Shakespeare's Globe Theater, provided another gorgeous vantage point of St. Paul's.

Much to our dismay, we didn't have time to catch a Shakespearean play at the Globe. Instead, we bought a couple tickets for a quick river cruise on the Thames and laughed at the guide's commentary along the way. He pointed out the real London Bridge before talking about the Tower Bridge, the iconic one that everyone mistakenly refers to as the London Bridge. Guilty. We hopped off at the Tower of London and took a short stroll across half of the bridge and around the historic castle before taking the tube back to our hotel to freshen up.

Weeks earlier, I made birthday dinner reservations at Hawksmoor Seven Dials, a swanky steakhouse in the West End. Getting there proved to be an adventure in and of itself because, instead of trusting our gut and taking the tube, we decided to follow the advice of our hotel owner and take a double-decker bus. It was raining, we got stuck in traffic, and I decided to wear the most slippery flip-flops known to man. Once we got off the bus, we couldn't find the restaurant, so we wandered around in the rain for a bit before finally asking for help. I abandoned my shoes and decided to walk barefoot rather than fall and break my face and/or camera. It sounds romantic to walk barefoot on the rainy streets of London, but I assure you - it's not.

Fortunately, dinner was wonderful. The steak was delicious, even by American standards, and you can't beat two potato sides. I told the staff we were on our honeymoon and they gave us free prosecco to celebrate. The atmosphere was great with low lighting, candles, soft music, and the most handsome guy in the world sitting across from me.

For Wheat's birthday, we bought tickets in advance to see The Lion King in the West End. We had some time to kill before the show, so we busted out our ultra-attractive ponchos and made our way over to the Lyceum Theatre. We stopped for gelato along the way, of course. What's a birthday without ice cream?

The show was incredible. Somehow, I'd never seen it and I was absolutely blown away by the set, the "animals," the voices, everything. It kind of defies explanation, but if you're ever going to see one Broadway show, I'd definitely recommend this one. Of course, I loved the popular songs from the movie, but I was enthralled by the original music for the stage production. I was amazed every time they brought out a new animal and got chills several times. Hello, "Circle of Life." We were seated in the upper level, but the view was great and it felt like the perfect way to celebrate both Wheat's birthday and our honeymoon.

After the play, we made our way back to the hotel, only to find a little surprise in our room left by the hotel owner. I'd emailed him a few weeks earlier to arrange it and I felt good about doing a little surprise something for Wheat. If it were up to me, I'd celebrate him every single day.