I couldn't have asked for a better day yesterday! The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky (except for when it rained for 15 minutes around 2 pm), and the city was buzzing (haha, literally and figuratively). I did a total of about 20,000 steps, give or take a few and thought I'd capture some of the highlights.
I got up early and took a nice stroll in the sunshine over to the Noordmarket, a Saturday fruit/veggie/cheese/everything market. I love to wander the local markets when I travel and pretend I have a kitchen and fridge to be able to buy whatever looks fresh and exciting. Just as at home, it's strawberry season and I picked up a pint of local ones, which were quite smaller than I'm used to, but so sweet and flavorful. I also grabbed a handful of cherries, literally, and the man behind the stand probably laughed at me because I only wanted about 30 of them. I figured I'd at least start with the healthy stuff as I proceeded to the bakery stalls. Oh how wonderful the breads and pastries looked. Lots of seeds and brown breads and spelt and whole grains, I was in heaven! I opted for a multigrain croissant (who knew?) and a cinnamon scone. Mmm....
After purchasing a couple of skirts and ogling at the apple pie everyone was eating for breakfast, I wandered along the canals for another hour or so, meandering through the neighborhoods. People were biking back from the markets with their bags full of bread and flowers and fresh fruit and veggies. Or hanging out at the cafes reading the paper and drinking their coffee and chatting with their neighbors. I had to remind myself I was in a big city, not a small town, but that's how it felt. I knew I had a ticket for the Anne Frank house at 2:20 and had a couple of hours before needing to make my way over. I decided that it was time to eat again and I found a great cafe/pub on a boat (supposedly the only one in the city?) and had a hummus sandwich and a white beer. It's so easy to order beer - it's beer, white beer, or brown beer. Fine with me :-) I sat on the boat, in the sunshine, in the middle of a canal, in the middle of Amsterdam with a white beer, people watching and admiring the amazing architecture, life really couldn't have gotten better at that point.
I dropped my stuff back at the hotel and walked over to the Anne Frank house. I had bought my ticket online before (they have limited numbers they sell for specific times), and was glad I did as the normal wait was about 1.5 hours, with a quick sun shower to dampen things. I buzzed the little door I was supposed to and was let in right away and entered the exhibit.
Immediately I'm reminded that the happiness and warm vibe of the city wasn't always there, and that Amsterdam wasn't always a welcome place for all. Had I been Anne Frank in 1942, I too would have been forced into hiding, hoping for one day being able to walk back out into the streets and not be persecuted for my religion and family heritage. I walked through the house, thinking about how hard it would be to not be able to go outside, to stay quiet all day for fear of being found out, to know that people were allowed to be free. I thought about how the family must have had such hope and trust in the Allied Forces and how D-day is still very real to a lot of people in France and Europe. Unfortunately, Anne never knew about freedom as their cover was blown and she died in a camp 1 month before she would have been liberated. It's a very humbling, emotional experience.
I walked out of the museum a bit drained and in search of a cup of tea. Somehow instead I ended up at Wynand Fockink, a 300 year old distillery of spirits and liqueur. They have this gorgeous old tasting room, with a wall of about 40 different flavored liqueurs for you to try. (Not my picture btw)
A bit overwhelmed and still feeling the drain of the museum earlier, the bartender (is that what you call him?) started me off with a sample (half a shot) of their oranje liqueur. He gave me the history of the company, continued to let me sample 4-5 flavors and two full shot glasses later (these I paid for, passion fruit and oranje) I walked out feeling grounded again, warm and toasty and with a recommendation for an off the beaten path place for dinner.
I got on the tram, as instructed by Hans (the bartender) heading towards the zoo, got off at the Artis stop and walked to the left over the bridge to the restaurant. Not really sure how the paper coaster directions got me there, but I found a quaint little outdoor restaurant in a newer development area overlooking a canal, but it was full of locals and very quiet. I continued my vegetarian diet for the day with refreshing gazpacho and a beet risotto with feta and chickpea/lentil falafel type things. And of course a white beer. It was so good and refreshing. Just the clean eating feeling I needed after a day of lots of steps, heavy thinking and just enjoying the wonderful city.
By this point I was getting tired and ready to call it a day. I walked back to the tram stop, and saw it pulling away, I missed it by 10 seconds. The next one was coming in 12 minutes so I decided to walk and follow the line until the next stop. I noticed a supermarket on the way and stopped in for some water and remembered my friend Simona telling me to look for smoothies in the glass bottles. I picked up a pineapple/orange/banana one for the morning. I started following the tram line again and plugged in the hotel to my GPS. It was 1.6 km away and I just figured, why not and I walked.
By the time I got to my room my body was tired, my feet a bit achy (9 miles in new flip flops isn't recommended) and I thought to myself, damn, that was a good day, I sure saw a lot in 20,000 steps!
I got up early and took a nice stroll in the sunshine over to the Noordmarket, a Saturday fruit/veggie/cheese/everything market. I love to wander the local markets when I travel and pretend I have a kitchen and fridge to be able to buy whatever looks fresh and exciting. Just as at home, it's strawberry season and I picked up a pint of local ones, which were quite smaller than I'm used to, but so sweet and flavorful. I also grabbed a handful of cherries, literally, and the man behind the stand probably laughed at me because I only wanted about 30 of them. I figured I'd at least start with the healthy stuff as I proceeded to the bakery stalls. Oh how wonderful the breads and pastries looked. Lots of seeds and brown breads and spelt and whole grains, I was in heaven! I opted for a multigrain croissant (who knew?) and a cinnamon scone. Mmm....
After purchasing a couple of skirts and ogling at the apple pie everyone was eating for breakfast, I wandered along the canals for another hour or so, meandering through the neighborhoods. People were biking back from the markets with their bags full of bread and flowers and fresh fruit and veggies. Or hanging out at the cafes reading the paper and drinking their coffee and chatting with their neighbors. I had to remind myself I was in a big city, not a small town, but that's how it felt. I knew I had a ticket for the Anne Frank house at 2:20 and had a couple of hours before needing to make my way over. I decided that it was time to eat again and I found a great cafe/pub on a boat (supposedly the only one in the city?) and had a hummus sandwich and a white beer. It's so easy to order beer - it's beer, white beer, or brown beer. Fine with me :-) I sat on the boat, in the sunshine, in the middle of a canal, in the middle of Amsterdam with a white beer, people watching and admiring the amazing architecture, life really couldn't have gotten better at that point.
I dropped my stuff back at the hotel and walked over to the Anne Frank house. I had bought my ticket online before (they have limited numbers they sell for specific times), and was glad I did as the normal wait was about 1.5 hours, with a quick sun shower to dampen things. I buzzed the little door I was supposed to and was let in right away and entered the exhibit.
Immediately I'm reminded that the happiness and warm vibe of the city wasn't always there, and that Amsterdam wasn't always a welcome place for all. Had I been Anne Frank in 1942, I too would have been forced into hiding, hoping for one day being able to walk back out into the streets and not be persecuted for my religion and family heritage. I walked through the house, thinking about how hard it would be to not be able to go outside, to stay quiet all day for fear of being found out, to know that people were allowed to be free. I thought about how the family must have had such hope and trust in the Allied Forces and how D-day is still very real to a lot of people in France and Europe. Unfortunately, Anne never knew about freedom as their cover was blown and she died in a camp 1 month before she would have been liberated. It's a very humbling, emotional experience.
I walked out of the museum a bit drained and in search of a cup of tea. Somehow instead I ended up at Wynand Fockink, a 300 year old distillery of spirits and liqueur. They have this gorgeous old tasting room, with a wall of about 40 different flavored liqueurs for you to try. (Not my picture btw)
A bit overwhelmed and still feeling the drain of the museum earlier, the bartender (is that what you call him?) started me off with a sample (half a shot) of their oranje liqueur. He gave me the history of the company, continued to let me sample 4-5 flavors and two full shot glasses later (these I paid for, passion fruit and oranje) I walked out feeling grounded again, warm and toasty and with a recommendation for an off the beaten path place for dinner.
I got on the tram, as instructed by Hans (the bartender) heading towards the zoo, got off at the Artis stop and walked to the left over the bridge to the restaurant. Not really sure how the paper coaster directions got me there, but I found a quaint little outdoor restaurant in a newer development area overlooking a canal, but it was full of locals and very quiet. I continued my vegetarian diet for the day with refreshing gazpacho and a beet risotto with feta and chickpea/lentil falafel type things. And of course a white beer. It was so good and refreshing. Just the clean eating feeling I needed after a day of lots of steps, heavy thinking and just enjoying the wonderful city.
By this point I was getting tired and ready to call it a day. I walked back to the tram stop, and saw it pulling away, I missed it by 10 seconds. The next one was coming in 12 minutes so I decided to walk and follow the line until the next stop. I noticed a supermarket on the way and stopped in for some water and remembered my friend Simona telling me to look for smoothies in the glass bottles. I picked up a pineapple/orange/banana one for the morning. I started following the tram line again and plugged in the hotel to my GPS. It was 1.6 km away and I just figured, why not and I walked.
By the time I got to my room my body was tired, my feet a bit achy (9 miles in new flip flops isn't recommended) and I thought to myself, damn, that was a good day, I sure saw a lot in 20,000 steps!
love descriptions of your travels. why don't you become a travel writer!!!
ReplyDeleteShar, I totally agree. I love reading your travel tales. I do have one question, Sacha. Do you WORK? Actually, what are you doing for IBM in Amsterdam.....in a few short sentences?
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, I actually work! I was in Paris for some meetings and Monday was a public holiday so I decided to take a long weekend and go to Amsterdam. I just try to cram as much in as I can in the short amount of time. :-)
DeleteOh, and Sacha, I'm proud of you for going into Anne Frank's house and expressing your feelings about the experience. I am taking an incredible History of Jews course, college textbook, at our synagogue and bought the PBS DVD by Simon Shauma on the The Story of the Jews. I am also learning Hebrew. I am really immersing myself in coming back to my roots. It's quite an extraordinary experience! It has been a long time coming. Love you!
ReplyDelete