Amsterdam

Amsterdam outdid Copenhagen, and I’m shocked that it did. I had done a day trip to Amsterdam on my family European adventure in 2016 so I was prepared for the charm to have worn off, but Amsterdam had me researching English universities in its area and taking the latest train available to my next location in order to soak up all of my time in the city. You can’t beat watching kids and adults alike biking home from work and school everyday, the canals all around, stroopwafel stands everywhere and for lack of better words, vibe. 

Now when I’m asked my favorite place Ive been on my travel is have a new set answer ‘everywhere is so different but I’d have to say Barcelona and Amsterdam, which sounds contradictory but I loved them both’. 

Location, I’m learning, means everything to me. I would much rather stay in a okay hostel in an amazing location than an amazing hotel in a bad location, and my hostel, as crammed as the room was and as loud as the music was all night long the location (and the unlimited free earplugs) was a great example of how important location is to me. But being near the tourist attractions isn’t enough to make it a great location, it has to be in walking distance (1.5 miles) of all of the sights but also far enough from all the sites that you have to walk through quiet streets and loud streets alike to get there. So far, but not too far. Far enough that there are cafes filled with locals and close enough that there’s a supermarket next door. The hostel I stayed at in Amsterdam had Vondelpark as a view from the window which I took full advantage of. I’m learning to love parks. On the first leg of my trip I learned how to cafe; the right amount of sugar, picking the right place, people watching and wasting hours. After mastering the art of ‘cafe’ I’m now I’m learning how to park. How to soak up all of the relaxing energy and reading or write for hours without the coffee or croissant, and also being cold outside. It is hard, but I’m learning to love park.

With this new appreciation of parks I’ve been reading a lot more. I finished ‘The Bell Jar’ that gets better every time I read it, and set out to find my next read. I explored a couple English bookstores before finding a four story Waterstones and spent over an hour in their book nook with a great view before picking up Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, whose show I watched and enjoyed, but shamefully watched before I read it. After some wandering I found myself in another bookstore, and was surprised to find one of my favorite authors newest novel for sale (days before the release date), Dolly Aldertons “New Material”. Which I had to pace myself through, because I did not just spend 23 euro to finish it in two days.

I made sure to find Amsterdams best bakery to satisfy my need for at least two sweet bakery treats a day routine I’d formed in Copenhagen and I think I found my favorite croissant in Europe (so far). At Saint Jean, where it was picture perfect, got my fingers oily with butter, with enough crunch on the outside, and sweet fluffy inside that resembled the sweet taste of a beignet. Skip ‘Amsterdams oldest bakery’ Hans Egstorf, and head on over to Saint Jean, which is just enough off the beaten path, in a local and scenic neighborhood worth the walk, as well as the ‘Back to black’ coffee shop for a good cup of coffee and great ambience that reminded me of home.

I did not one but two bike tours in Amsterdam, one city one countryside. On the city tour we were met with fierce rain and strong wind that we braved through in order to see the sights. In the city of bikes, I found the bikers themselves to be fine, just snobby as warranted by oblivious tourists, but the cars and pedestrians where the worst, and had to snarl at a couple of drivers as they did not comply to Amsterdams confusing right of way laws. But I made it out. The countryside bike tour took us to a cheese farm + clog making worship and a windmill, both of which I visited on my day trip from over 7 years ago. We biked a total of 15 miles through wind and rain (again, but not as bad as the first day)

Van Stapele is a cookie shop with only one cookie on the menu. I’m not sure if it was the chocolate chocolate chip cookie filled with gooey white chocolate inside that reminded me of a much better version of Subway cookies, or the line forming outside, or the interior itself, but I did go three times for my afternoon treat of a single cookie. A perfect snack.

Another snack I found myself getting most days were the stroopwaffels, freshly made to order as well as packaged.

I was also lucky enough to snag one of the remaining spots for the Anne Frank house at 7pm on my last day (I was not able to get tickets to the Van Gough museum, which is booked out for over a month!). With that, I have to add that The Anne Frank house was so well done, the audioguides where advanced and informative, it was paced perfectly, just disheartening and blunt enough to educate and be heart wrenching.

It was on and off raining all three days I had, which seems like a common theme throughout Europe in November, which I’m getting used to. I learned to always keep my umbrella on me, no matter what the weather app may say. But even being from drought ridden California I honestly don’t mind a rainy walk (until my socks get soaked, then its time to go home) but overall its a nice change from what I’m used to, and though I don’t have any current plans to move to a place with all four seasons, its refreshing to experience it and prove myself wrong, that I can’t survive the cold. But it is hard to survive the cold without a cute outfit, so I still did some shopping in Amsterdam.