When you mention you’ll be making a stopover in Amsterdam, you get a reaction I can only describe as semi-collegiate. A knowing look … as if there can really only be 2 reasons you’d go to this lovely little city of canals.
Anthony Bourdain
Amsterdam has always been at the center of world trade and travel. The canals, once designed to transport goods into and out of the city, now give the city a romantic atmosphere.
Heavily influenced by outside traders, Amsterdam now boasts an incredible array of international cuisine. Nobody comes to Amsterdam for the Dutch food. As I overheard one tour guide joke, “have you ever heard of a Dutch restaurant in other countries?” Here, some of the top cuisine is Indonesian, influenced by Dutch colonization there. Our first night we made sure to go to one of the top spots, aptly named Indonesian Kitchen, and ordered the rijsttafel (rice table). Rijsttafel are tasting menus developed by the Dutch to sample a wide variety of Indonesian cuisine. Our rijsttafel came with chicken and lamb skewers and multiple different curry dishes ranging from mild to spicy (beef rendang (spicy), mild coconut beef, spicy and mild coconut chicken) plus steamed cod, garlic shrimp, stir-fried vegetables, and, of course, rice.
Along with sampling Indonesian cuisine, another must-do while in Amsterdam is a cruise along the canals. We chose a small six-person historical saloonboat by Leemstar Cruises complete with champagne and some cheese and meat nibbles. We both had a rough week at work, so just as we were saying forget work and enjoy the weekend…
…one of my colleagues from the Broad Institute in Boston hopped on the boat!! What are the odds…she just happened to be in Europe for a conference and booked the same small boat cruise on a Friday night?!?!! We’d actually never met in person but just had a conference call earlier that month together. Luckily, she’s really cool and didn’t want to talk about work either, so we had a lovely boat trip along the canals.
Our captain/tour guide was entertaining, and this 1.5 hour excursion was definitely one of the highlights of our weekend in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is also known for being a city that you visit, drop your inhibition, and do whatever you want. Where else would you find a beautiful, old church with provocative bronze artwork in between the cobblestones of its walkway?
You have to decide what kind of Amsterdam visit you want to have. For example, one Dutch specialty that I was excited for was the stroopwafel. Of course, we had fancy ones dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with caramel or cookie pieces.
However, we had to have stroopwafels multiple times, and at one neighborhood bakery, I asked for a stroopwafel and was surprised with the response: “traditional or with marijuana”.
It really is just out there for all to enjoy….just like the women…oddly standing behind glass doors. That is not really our thing, but we were all about the fried treats behind the little glass doors at the FEBO.
One of the few Dutch food items that all visitors must try, these fast-food vending machines hold delicious specialties like fried sausage and various croquettes filled with gravy and some sort of meat. They reminded us of the famous bitterballen, which we managed to try at our first lunch stop of the trip.
I also can’t skip a mention about the Dutch pancakes. They are a unique variety somewhere between an American pancake and a French crepe. We had a savory one topped with cheese and a sweet one topped with nutella and bananas.
Oh…and you can’t forget about the impressive Dutch cheese. We also did a wine and cheese tasting.
Our primary reason for visiting Amsterdam in the spring was to experience the famous tulip season. Naturally, one of the other highlights of our trip was a day spent at Keukenhof. This garden is the largest spring flower garden in the world. One of the most interesting facts that we learned was that tulips actually originated in Turkey. The savvy Dutch took a gift from their visit and started to cultivate them in the 1500s, and the perfect soil and weather for them in Holland led to tulip mania. More breeding led to unique varieties and even a tulip “bubble” that burst and contributed to the decline of Amsterdam’s golden age. The Netherlands is still the largest exporter of tulip bulbs in the world. Enough chat about tulips, I think I’ll let the pictures do the talking here. Keukenhof is just gorgeous and words would not do it justice.
Every year, Keukenhof has a new theme, and this year was a Flower Power theme.
In addition to wandering the gorgeous gardens at Keukonhof, a boat ride along the canals through the tulips fields is also possible.
Amsterdam is one of those perfect weekend get-away kind of cities. There aren’t necessarily a lot of iconic, must-see sites and museums. Although I must say, we actually really enjoyed the Van Gogh museum and the church in the attic.
But, the best part of Amsterdam is just strolling the beautiful streets and canals while nibbling on cheese, pancakes, stroopwafels, and French fries with crazy sauces like peanut satay, curry, or garlic mayo. No ketchup here, folks.
Amsterdam is just a quick 45 min flight from the UK, so I do hope we get a chance to make it back again. The weather didn’t cooperate and was unseasonably cold with freezing sleet, rain and even some snow at one point, so we missed out on a bike ride through the gorgeous Dutch countryside. Strolling through Amsterdam and sipping cocktails along the canal will be even better when we aren’t bundled up for winter in the spring!
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