Amsterdam
Reading: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante given to me by Celeste. Based in Naples, about two friends growing up together in the 1950s
We flew from Shannon, Ireland, through Heathrow Airport without any hiccups, with Air Lingus first, and then British Airways. We had good experiences with both airlines, but especially British airways (Air Lingus had no in flight beverage service on the first flight, luckily we had brought our own water, British Airways had free beverages and snacks). We got into Amsterdam at around 8 pm, took the train into the city train station, and got a cab from there to our hotel since we had a bunch of baggage with us. We were staying at a place Josh had stayed at previously and liked, called the Amsterdam American: Hampshire Hotel, Leidsekade 97. It's a really beautiful old building, with a huge dining room where they serve breakfast.
We were super hungry when we got into the city, and asked for recommendations for good Indian food. We ended up at an amazing, slightly upscale Indian restaurant called Mayur, located on Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 203. I had a great cocktail called the penicillin (weird name, I know) with whiskey, lemon, and ginger syrup. Josh had been sick so I thought it might be a good call... It was really good, and wasn't too sweet which I liked. Definitely a little on the pricey side though. The restaurant has a great ambience, and you can see through a glass pane into the kitchen, to watch the cooks prep and put together the different dishes. We had veggie samosas and shared two veggie dishes, with garlic naan. Both super tasty. We went back again when we returned to Amsterdam after Italy, and got the Vegetarian Menu, which gives you a tasting of all of the vegetarian dishes that they have... it was good, but for us it was too much food. Highly recommend this restaurant, if you're willing to spend a little bit more than usual for Indian Cuisine.
Breakfast at the hotel was a grand affair, you've got lots of options to choose from, everything quite good quality. You can order coffee, tea, or a cappuccino or espresso drink if you please. (It is not included in the price of the room, which was one thing that annoyed us about this hotel, but I'd recommend trying it at least once, just to get to enjoy the spacious dining room with enormous windows and grand decor).
That first day we spent getting acquainted with the city on foot, walking the canals and cobbled side streets mostly on the western side of central Amsterdam, through Jordaan neighborhood. It is such a beautiful city, and has a very quaint and cozy feel, also very international. Everywhere you go you pass places that serve food from all over the world! There were tapas places (Spanish and Portuguese), Kebabs, Indian food restaurants, Thai places, Greek, you get the point.
We decided to save a little money the second night and eat at Wok to Walk, pretty self explanatory. It's a great, inexpensive, healthy (depending on what you order!) fast food place that they have a few of around the city, and it's actually pretty good. You can watch them make your food out of all fresh ingredients. You choose the type of base (rice or pasta or veg) and sauce, and veggies and protein, and there you go, a great dinner. It's very popular, especially among young people, and gets quite busy at meal times.
The second day, we had lunch at a little burger to-go place called Burgerlijk , on Runstraat, where you can choose your burger combo- there are veggie, chicken or beef burgers, and you can choose from a variety of toppings. They have a little counter in front of the window where you can eat your burger and people watch. Super affordable and really tasty as well!
The following day we walked through De Pijp, near the old south (location of a lot of the famous museums in Amsterdam) and down to the Albert Cuyp Market. This is where a lot of the good ethnic foods in the city are, on our way to the market we passed some great looking kebab, Indian and Thai restaurants. The market has various stalls selling pretty much any type of food you could want, and also crafts and cheap bags and clothes. We had actually gone there with intention of finding a cheap duffel bag to store some things in at our hotel so we didn't have to carry everything with us to our next destination, Italy. It proved very easy to find one for a very good price. It probably won't last that long, but will make our lives a lot easier!
They have great mint tea in Amsterdam, be sure to try it, they have it in pretty much any little cafe you stop into, and you won't be disappointed. Fresh mint leaves in hot water (with or without honey) is a perfect way to keep warm on the nippy winter streets. Accompany it with a piece of homemade cheesecake or apple pie (more like cake with large pieces of apple), another specialty.
A couple of nights into our stay in Amsterdam, we'd arranged to move into an Airbnb apartment in the northwest corner of the city. It turned out to be quite a nice little place, with a few quirks. There was no bathroom door, so the toilet and shower were completely open to the bedroom, which was pretty much open to the rest of the little flat. It was also three flights up some of the steepest stairs I've ever seen in a building. It was very sunny though, and did the trick of helping us to save some money, and get to know a new area of the city. It was right near Harlemmerstraat, a very hip street that runs through the northern part of the city, through Westerpark down to the train station and Red Light District. There are lots of vintage shops and boutiques, little cafes and coffee shops. There's a great Spanish shop that sells little Jamon Iberico sandwiches of various sizes, and other restaurants and cafes, offering pretty much any other type of cuisine you could want, from Pho, to classic Dutch, to wine bars. It starts to get a little tourist trappy and seedy the closer you get to the train station and red light.
There is a great little movie theater on the western part of the street called The Movies, where they play movies in English with Dutch subtitles, and have a bar inside. The seats are super comfy, and the theaters are small, so make sure to book your tickets at least a few hours in advance, more on busy nights. They have a restaurant partner as well, and if you choose to go to dinner and a movie you get 10% off both, a pretty good deal. We went to see the new Star Wars, how could we miss that on the big screen?!
A great thing to do up in that northern area is to walk through the small Prince Island. It's just northwest of the main part of Harlemmerstraat, and consists of a couple of beautiful little bridges, and quiet quaint residential blocks. We got lucky and the sun came out the morning we walked through and it was a beautiful stroll.
After which, we went back down to Jordaan, an old neighborhood of Amsterdam (the Tulip Museum, Cheese Museum, and Anne Frank Huis are here) with countless cafes and restaurants and shops and lots of history. We stopped at the Winkel Cafe for the recommended slice of apple pie... and inside the cafe about 80% of the people were eating apple pie with cream. It was delightful, very tasty with a cappuccino. They also have sandwiches and snacks.
Many of the locals in the city bike around, and it's a very bike friendly city. You better be careful though, and make sure you know the traffic rules and where you're going! There are also trains, buses and cars, and pedestrians in this bustling city. As a pedestrian you really have to watch out for bikers as well.
On the saturday that we were in the city, we went to Nordermarket, to the farmers market to check it all out and get some produce and some cheese. This is a must do- they've got a lot of great looking produce, flower stalls galore, cheese, fish, meats, and our favorite stop of all, was around lunchtime when we found the hot dog and bratwurst stand in the center of the market. Best I've ever had, and you can choose what you'd like on top. Great value for money also. Fresh, juicy, great bun and kraut! Must do if you like hot dogs!
Afterwards, we ended up walking by a romantic, delicious looking sweet shop called 't Goede Soet, Keizersgracht 95 that has chocolates, cookies, and my favorite of all, little mini florentines. Go by this place if you're craving a sweet bite.
A memorable dinner was one we had at a place called Burger's Patio on Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 12. Contrary to what it sounds like, it's not a burger joint. It's got great French-Italian cuisine at a good price, and sources most of its ingredients as locally as possible. Josh had a really good piece of beef, and I got the Partridge, with cavolo nero (kale), and chestnut mushrooms. Really, really good. Kind of like chicken but more tender, it was cooked to perfection. It was two tiny breasts and two tiny wings. There are also quite a few other good restaurants in the same area, including some italian ones, which we were tempted by, but decided against since we were going to Italy in a few days. Reservations recommended, but not always necessary on weekdays, or earlier in the night.
There are so many great museums in Amsterdam, it is hard to choose which ones to tackle. All of them (but maybe not in the same trip)! In terms of art museums, I had been to the Van Gogh Museum in the past, so decided this time to visit the Rijksmuseum, where they've got works by Renoir, Vermeer, Van Gogh, among many other stunning pieces of art and sculpture. It was well worth the visit, and is in a beautiful building to boot. (If you are in the city for awhile and plan to visit a few of the museums, it is probably worth looking into a museum pass).
After going to the museum in the morning, we were in need of some sustainance, and stopped by Soup and Zo Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 54 or Jodenbreestraat 94, another place that came recommended by my dear friend who used to live in Amsterdam. This place was just what we were in the mood for. It has a great selection of soups for various dietary needs (gluten, and dairy free and vegan, or with meat). They come in small, medium or large sizes, and come with bread. They are all made fresh, with the best local ingredients. They also had a great looking selection of salads to choose from, all at a super reasonable price. It's healthy fast food, so you can be in and out pretty quick, with a nice warming cup of soup to get you through the afternoon. They also have really good little cheese bread sticks.
Since Amsterdam has such a great selection of worldwide cuisine, and back home we don't really have any, we decided to try another Indian restaurant later in our stay, but this time more traditional. We went to Balraj Indian Restaurant on the Harlemmerstraat, touted as the first Indian restaurant in Amsterdam. It is a little narrow, long room, with just a handful of tables. We had a great meal, and the price is more affordable than Mayur, would definitely recommend! Reservations recommended for here as well.
We spent a lot of time walking around this beautiful city, admiring the houseboats, canals, beautiful architecture of narrow buildings with multicolored shutters, and makeshift gardens consisting of potted plants that were struggling through this cold part of the year. It is a very cozy, friendly city, with a ton of good food, shopping, culture, history. There is plenty to do for everyone!
We of course had to do the walk through the Red Light District, beginning just south of the train station, where there is actually a great food and drink scene. Some of the best Thai and Indian restaurants are located here. It's pretty entertaining to walk through at night. Definitely pretty touristy and trashy in some zones. Check out The Bird Restaurant and Snackbar (a cheaper more casual affair than the restaurant) for some of the best Thai food in the city.
There are, I'm sure, countless good restaurants and cafes in this city, it would be impossible for me to try them all (although I'd like to). A few other good ones that we tried were, Juice Brothers at Van Woustraat 151, for an Acai bowl (basically a thick smoothie made out of various fruits, nut butters, veggies, and also acai, an antioxidant containing berry native to Central and South America, topped with fruit, granola, nuts, and any number of other tasty things) they have a handful of flavor options, and they are super tasty (and healthy!) and I had been craving one for some time so it was really exciting to find this among the little streets. It's a good thing to have for breakfast or lunch, if you feel like you've been eating too much, or not enough nutrients. They also have some good little balls made of dates, oats, coconut, and other tasty things, which I bought as a snack for travelling. And, of course, fresh juices.
A few blocks down from here, there is also a really good little place called Frietsteeg, at Heisteeg 3, to get french fries with various toppings like ketchup, spicy mayo, relish, mustard, etc. to go (some of the best I've had, and nice to walk around with and eat on the cold streets). Small and large sizes. We'd often get an acai bowl and fries, one ofter the other, they kind of cancel eachother out... maybe? The surrounding area is pretty cool to walk around, with lots of shops, cafes, and a few good bakeries with typical treats and cookies.
There are also a ton of things you can do in the city that we didn't get around to- like take the ferry to the northern part of the city and explore, many other museums as well!
Before going to Italy, we walked across the city in the pouring rain to drop some stuff off at our previous hotel, very nice of them to store some stuff while we travelled through Italy, we got soaked!
We also revisited Amsterdam after Rome, it being kind of a home base for our trips overseas this winter. It was a beautiful sunny day, the likes of which we had not seen there this year, it was perfect. We had arrived around noon, strolled around got some fries and an acai bowl. The people of the city were appreciating the nice weather, sitting in outside cafes having beers and coffee. It was almost like spring, that feeling of warm anticipation in the air. It felt nice to come back to, as it's kind of an international city, is very manageable and comfortable, and you can get any type of food you want to, and most of the creature comforts that you want. We got some Indian food for dinner, revisited some of our favorite quick food places, and got our stuff together for Indonesia. Our hotel was a lifesaver, and agreed to hold a bag of our cold weather clothing until we return through Amsterdam in the spring.
