Day 3 - Orange Is the New Black: Netherlands v. Chile

One of the main reasons we came on this trip - this time of year and to these cities - was to be here while the World Cup was going on. Heading to Brazil for the actual World Cup was a bit pricey and out of the way, so we figured the next best place would be Europe.

Monday was a big day all over the Netherlands, and especially in Amsterdam as the beloved Dutch national team played their third and final match of the FIFA World Cup group stage. They needed a win or a draw against Chile to win their group and advance to the knockout stage as a top seed. We did what we could to dress the part (as much orange as you can find), cheer the team on and be Dutch for a day.

The streets, bars, cafes, restaurants and public areas were all lined and decorated with soccer balls, orange and blue flags, lights, signs, TVs, and more...soccer fever was in full effect.

All orange all the time...Hup Holland Hup!

But first, breakfast. These quick stop-and-eat spots are an Amsterdam staple. It's basically a vending machine with hot food.

Even the street cleaners were orange today...okay, it's orange all the time, but it felt like everything in the city was orange on Monday

Orange buses...

Even the scaffolding tarp was orange...come on, a coincidence?

The Dutch even had neon orange cars for game day

We started our festivities at Hanneke's Boom, a fun outdoor bar/restaurant on the main Amsterdam harbor

We popped in for a pitcher, made friends with a few locals and then headed to the Red Bull Amsterdam office for the special game-day viewing party.

On the ferry to the Red Bull office across the IJ, Amsterdam's waterfront area, you could see some of Amsterdam's modern buildings such as this space ship looking structure which is the EYE Film Instituut of Netherlands

I'm sailing...

Red Bull Netherlands headquarters

Hup Holland Hup!

Red Bull helmet lamps, sweet!

Game time! About 20-25 people from the Netherlands office shut off their computers at 5:30pm and gathered in the main area to take in the match

Beers, booze, food, football, and a bunch of orange Nederlanders, what a perfect setup

Heineken bottles in Amsterdam, and all over Holland I assume, have special orange caps during the World Cup

Along with a fridge full of Heinekens, we also had a special Netherlands Red Bull cocktail which consisted of the Silver Edition and Aperol, an orange liqueur...tasty

Goal celebrations consisted of jumping into the bean bag chairs

Carina from the Red Bull Amsterdam office was the hostess with the mostess

After the big 2-0 victory for the Dutch, we relaxed at the office and mingled a bit...see how social we're being

After the game we headed back into downtown Amsterdam. Still can't get enough of the beautiful canals, especially at sunset.

We grabbed a few post-game beers outside the famous Waag building in Nieuwmarkt Square in the heart of Amsterdam. The 15th century building originally served as the city gate and part of the city walls.

A great day all around with beers, food, football, colleagues, friends, a victory for the Dutch, and of course lots and lots of orange 

It was a fantastic game day in Amsterdam. To no surprise, the Dutch get after it when their team is playing, and pretty much all the time to be honest. It was exactly what we were hoping for when we booked a trip to Europe to enjoy some matches Euro style. Tuesday is our final full day in this great city. We have some actual site seeing planned such as museums, parks, etc. so the soccer viewing will take a day off, but only for a day.