Amsterdam
This may be a year and a half overdue, but I stumbled upon some notes from our trip to the Netherlands and Belgium in September 2013 and wanted to organize them here for future reference.
Day 1 (September 14, 2013): We had left Philadelphia at 6:35pm on September 13, and arrived in Brussels around noon on the 14th. From Brussels, we took a local train to Antwerpen, then a high speed train (Thalys) from Antwerpen Central to Amsterdam. Talk about a long day+ of travel. We arrived at our airbnb apartment (the Crow’s nest on Van Noordstraat) in the evening. It was a small, but very clean studio on located on Van Noordstraat on the “third floor” (what Americans would consider the fourth floor). The apartment was conveniently situated above a low-key bar/restaurant, Café de Walvis, which was very convenient for an easy dinner.
Day 2 (September 15, 2013): After 13+ hours of sleep following our exhausting day+ of travel, we were ready to explore. First stop was to visit the location of the big IKEA Amsterdam print we have. We were able to track down the location of the photo (along the Herengracht canal) via the handy-dandy internet. At first there was a man sitting on the bench there who must’ve been wondering why the heck we were taking pictures of him, but we ended up roping him into taking our picture for us. We now have our photo tucked in the bottom right corner of the IKEA print in our dining room.
After snapping a number of pictures, we grabbed a slice of apple pie at a restaurant across the street and soaked in the view a bit longer.
Next, we explored the Prisengracht, which is one of the three major canals that shape Amsterdam, and the boutiques and restaurants that line the Prisengracht. In addition, we walked around the Jordaan neighborhood, which is like Amsterdam’s Greenwich Village, with narrow alleys, leafy canals lined with 17th-century houses, quirky speciality shops, cafes, and more. We were planning to visit the Anne Frank House, but, after checking out the long queue to get in, decided to book tickets instead and visit another day. Our last adventure of the day was a visit to the Reypenaer Cheese tasting rooms. We learned about and tasted some of the finest Dutch cheeses, which were paired with different wines. The cheese was so tasty, we couldn’t help but buy some for breakfasts in our flat.
Day 3 (September 16, 2013): After a leisure morning and breakfast in, complete with mimosas, we walked a few miles to Mike’s Bike Tours on Kerkstraat where we were happy to trade in our walking shoes for a pair of wheels. In Amsterdam, bicycles essentially have the right-of-way at all times and in all scenarios, so it is, by far, the best way to travel. We took our new bikes to the Van Gogh museum (we got e-tickets in advance to avoid any queue) and explored all the museum had to offer. I thought it was really neat how the lay-out of the art followed the timeline of Van Gogh’s life and you could see how different experiences and circumstances in his life were reflected in his artwork over time.
Next, we headed to Vondelpark and rode around for a bit, exploring the park.
We stopped at a pop-up cafe in the park for an afternoon snack and a delicious drink (prosecco, vodka and lime sorbet – yum). After a few hours of biking, we rode back to our apartment for a nice siesta and to catch up on some emails and trip planning. Later, we hopped on our bikes to head to a restaurant near the Prisengracht, but it started raining, so we decided it would be easier to go to the restaurant downstairs instead (Café de Walvis). I had lifeman’s fruit beer for the first time, which basically tasted like juice (or Fruli). For dinner, we shared an assortment of nachos, pumpkin soup, pumpkin ravioli and salad.
Day 4 (September 17, 2013): In the morning we rode our bikes to grab a slice of apple pie and some mint tea (the two most popular items on the menu at Winkel’s. We then headed to Openbare Bibliotheek (Amsterdam’s Central Library). It’s a neat building and atmosphere with a cafe on the top floor and views of Amsterdam. We also checked out the Concertgebouw, which is a historic concert hall known for outstanding acoustics. I wanted to see a performance there, but, unfortunately, we weren’t able to squeeze one in. We also stopped by Tuchinski theater, which is Amsterdam’s most famous theater for cinema. The theater was built in 1921 as a “movie palace” in art deco style.
Next, we toured the Ann Frank House (Anne Frankhuis). The tour was really neat. We got to see the hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her diary during World War II. For more than two years, Anne Frank lived secretively with the other people hiding in the back of her father’s office building along the Prisengracht:
Last but not least, we had to fit in time for a slice of apple pie at Winkels near the Prisengracht. Apple pie is a big deal in Amsterdam, and Winkels is known for some of the best apple pie in town.
Day 5 (September 18, 2013): Our last day in Amsterdam, we went to the Pancake Bakery for brunch. I had an apple cinnamon pancake with whipped cream and cinnamon ice cream and Rob had a chocolate banana pancake. They were almost like crepes because they were more thin, but they were huge and delicious.
Before we left Amsterdam, we tracked down a Christmas tree ornament from Amsterdam to add to our growing collection of ornaments from places we’ve visited. We then dropped off our bikes, picked up our rental car, loaded up and headed off to our next destination: Utrecht.
