Amsterdam Adventures

As promised this is the first of my travel series posts featuring the lovely city of Amsterdam. I will try not to over share on the photos & ramble on aimlessly. My travel series will be brief encounters of each country & I am more than happy to answer any questions you have about that city/country.

Amsterdam was our first stop on our Euro-tour & we had planned only a couple of things. We later found out that we ended up having the most fun in the cities/countries in which we planned nothing & had a chance to explore for ourselves with no timed agenda :-)

The first night that we were in Amsterdam we ditched the 'Red Light District' as that is not our thing (not that I judge-each to their own) and explored the back streets. We visited in April (Spring) and the sun didn't go down until around 9.30pm. Amsterdam by night is a beautiful place. We walked along the backstreets that were beautifuly lit with street lamps and sparkling lights.

Midnight was approaching & it came time to get back to the hotel. We were instructed to find the 'Dam' station. We waited at Dam station, not knowing that there were 6 other Dam tram stations! We spent about an hour walking about trying to find the station. We asked hotel reception and they would keep pointing us to the another Dam station, but it was always the wrong one. We eventually just jumped on a few trams and tried asking the tram drivers, but to no avail....Two lovely local ladies asked their tram driver where the right station was & it turned out that the right Dam station was hidden behind the Royal Palace. We were so close, yet so far! Mr. B & I still joke about not being able to find the Dam (Damn!) station!!! lol

The next morning we traveled out to the beautiful fishing village of Edam. I was so in love with this place-I want to move there one day! We did a morning bike tour through the village and we even saw a elderly couple (about 70yrs old) out for a morning bike ride. You can see from my ski jacket and ear muffs that it was a freezing cold morning!

Back in Amsterdam we grabbed lunch at Vleminck X-a tiny hole-in-the-wall establishment that makes the best fries in Amsterdam. They have been cooking up delicious hand cut fries since 1887, so you know they are good. This is a well known spot for locals & is off the main streets. But it is well worth the short walk. I had the traditional serving-fries with mayonaise and Mr. B had fries with curry sauce. I recommend the mayo :-)

Fries with mayonnaise, fries with curry sauce.

It is a hole-in-the wall place with no seating. These fries are made for eatin' while walkin', or you can stand in the pedsetrain street & watch others devour their delicious fries.
Vleminck X
Voetboogstraat 33
1012 XK Amsterdam
Read the reviews on TripAdvisor

I was definitely in my realm in Amsterdam: there were so many vintage shops to explore, too many for one afternoon. Perhaps I will return one day.... ;-) I will be doing a separate post detailing my vintage finds shortly, but here's a sneak peak at a beautiful 1950s dress that I found:

Next up we did the touristy thing & saw the famous 'I Amsterdam' sign, that's me posing like a fool....

Much to our surprise behind the sign was a beautiful park with a pond and garden. Because it was such a long and cold winter the tulips were only just starting to bloom. We got to see some of the 1st tulips of the season, which I thought was pretty special :-)

 Please note: I am not urinating behind the tulips! :P

Mr. B & I chilled with the locals on the grass. There were lots of dogs & frisbies-very entertaining :-)
This was a lovely picnic spot as there is a big Aldi-style supermarket at the end of the park near the road. 

Hauntingly beautiful house near the park-this is my dream home!

After the park Mr. B & I spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the back streets seeing locals in cafes, playing scrabble and drinking on their balconies soaking up the Sunday sun. A man passed us fully dressed as Mario (from Super Mario Bros.) We smiled & turned back to stare & he smiled & waved. I wish we had got a photo with him...For dinner we went to a pancake cafe/restaurant appropriately named 'Pancakes!' Pancakes! had gluten free options, super friendly service and if you flip the menu over it's entirely in English :-)

Mr. B had a smoked salmon pancake for 12.80 Euro. 

I had a buckwheat pancake that normally comes with goats cheese & roasted veges, however I opted for fruit on mine. I also had the most amazing pear juice that I have ever had & I even ordered a 2nd bottle-it was that  good. My meal was 10.50 Euro for the pancake and 3 Euro each for the juices. Well worth every cent!

It's no wonder that the food tasted so great: Pancakes! uses sustainable fruit & veges and organic meat & juices. When paying I was eyeing up a cute Pancakes! wooden clog keyring on the counter and the lovely waitress said I could have it :-)
Pancakes!
Berenstraat 38, 1016 GH Amsterdam
http://www.pancakesamsterdam.nl/

Now extremely full, we walked along to Anne Frank House. Visiting Anne Frank House is essential when you visit Amsterdam, not only out of respect, but to open your eyes to the everyday life of a family in hiding and to truly appreciate the world we live in today. Took about 1.5 hrs to walk through with watching all of the videos and looking at the fascinating documents and artefacts. It was a very moving experience & something that I feel is a must see for everyone when visiting Amsterdam. Book online prior (you have to choose a day & time) otherwise there is a wait of around 40minutes. Photography is not permitted inside.

Anne Frank House
Prinsengracht 263-267, 1016 GV Amsterdam
9 Euros entry fee.
www.annefrank.org/

Statue of Anne Frank, by Mari Andriessen, outside the Westerkerk (Western Cathedral) near Anne Frank House

Amsterdam was our favourite city of our entire Europe & Great Britain trip. If you are apprehensive about visiting because of what you have heard about pot smoking & debauchery, don't be. Amsterdam is a truly beautiful place that is filled with so many wonderful streets to explore-day or night. There was a little bit of smoking down the main street at night, but this was mostly tourists trying it out or groups of men on bucks parties. If you stay away from the main street & explore the back streets you will be pleasantly surprised! We never felt unsafe in Amsterdam at any point, in fact it was one of the most friendly & safe places we went to in Europe :-)

If you would like me to go into further detail on anything, please comment in the comments section below. Don't be shy to post questions :-)

miss_tash x