We had the best Dutch pea soup ever with wonderful bread and even butter! At the Uptown Meat Club. We don’t know what aspect of it made it specifically Dutch and I haven’t eaten butter in years but this was fresh I think and very good.
Interjection here, I hope I don’t come off as a food snob. At least I don’t think I am but do like access to fresh markets and well prepared food.
Found another market on the net, http://albertcuyp-markt.amsterdam/?lang=en oldest in Amsterdam and walkable to, we’ll be going there for sure.Other things we want to do, flower market, a hop-on-off bus, as above picnic, that’s about it really. We are in the museum district but having seen the line ups and the hordes of tours going and coming, not for us. I would like to take a closer look at the Rijksmuseum, which is very close, just to actually look at it, not to go inside necessarily. Okay, admittedly I’m missing out several wonders of the world, well considered so, but I truly cannot abide long queues, crowds and the selfie sticks that come with, (although I think they are a great invention).
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| This fellow is holding a flute and wearing "winged" shoes, can't remember his name but liked it. |
Walked up to the Rijksmuseum which holds many important past Dutch painters.
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| Currently they have an installation named "Who's That Girl' |
We walked around the grounds but didn’t go in. There are rather strange, to me, sculptures around it depicting stories they said of people, they are cubist in design and white, with painted black and red lines on them, not for me. There was a different sort of fountain on the grounds though, people could walk inside the circular water shoots and stand right inside the fountain!
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| This is a Greek Triton, merman, there were several statues that came from the city gates when they were torn down. |
The "I Amsterdam" sign is in front of the Rijksmuseum and people were climbing the letters and generally fooling around it, site of many more selfie sticks.
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| Outdoor large chess set, one of a few in Amsterdam |
Walked up to the Heineken brewery, original one, didn’t go in that either, sat along the river and watched the tour boats go by under gigantic willow trees with leaves dripping into the water.
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| The bridges are lined with petunias, really festive. |
Had lunch at a restaurant called Small Talk and it wasn’t really very good, but we are usually so lucky in our choices that one dud out of so many can be expected. This was chosen due to my being tired and hungry rather than a really good look at the menu, so I should just suck it up and continue to a better choice!
We went to the floating flower market (which doesn't free float, it is moored to a dock) on Tuesday, crowded tram there, many people with large pieces of luggage going to the Central Station, but it was only three stops so not too long at least. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloemenmarkt One thing to note, this is not the best time of year to go to the flower market, there are hardly any real flowers available, best would be to go in spring when the real tulips are in abundance, not the wooden painted ones or plastic. Still it was a sight to see and on a previous trip we had seen it in the Spring so know what’s missing this time.
Bruce wanted smoked edam cheese but I was kindly informed it’s smoked gouda they have here, doh. Proprietor came to the door, shop is three steep steps down, with samples for Bruce, so we bought smoked gouda, creamy smooth and, yes, smoky. There is a Chinese import store along there also and I’d been thinking to upgrade my sad cotton bathrobe for something nicer, maybe silk. So walking by this shop I see a nice one outside and go in to check it out. Bruce liked one and I liked another so we compromised and bought both, why? I can’t say, but they are both beautiful indecision reigned here and cost wasn’t a factor, not expensive, store was called TA HWA, The canal is called Singel. https://www.amsterdam.info/shopping/flowermarket/
We walked back over three canals which is pleasant in itself. Streets are really crowded with tourists, of course, and again, so many cyclists, some are obviously new at it and it must be a pretty scary experience for them.
Great post from Laurie Mitchell, and her dog Mango in Amsterdam
I’m reading "Amsterdam, A brief life of the city" by Geert Mak I found in the closet, Bruce and I are still sharing my laptop so wanted something to read while he uses it. Interesting history of the city author seems to have researched from the archives.
There is an organic market close by so we went to check it out, unfortunately stairs prevented Bruce from coming in, we’re finding that frequent here. In Paris you could ring a bell and they would bring out a ramp, but here not so. Trams are good though. Anyway back to the market, nice, good selection of everything but didn’t get the vibe we did in Brussels where you walked in and immediately felt at home and welcomed. This one is more like a supermarket, I think Brussels was an anomaly, although I feel at our local Bio store in Rieselfeld, some of the same feeling as the one in Brussels.
Wandered the streets after, found a card/post office/cigarette shop and bought a card, postage and cigarettes, very handy. The area we walked through seems to be mostly sporting goods stores and health shops; then walked back to the Uptown Meat Club where we had the Dutch pea soup before, not available today so I had the Chicken coconut curry soup which wasn’t available last time, not worth the wait honestly. Bruce had the highest BLT we’ve ever seen, had a steak knife stuck in the middle, really, I should have taken a picture! He said it was very tasty.
Muggy today so our plans to go to the Albert Cuyp market shelved for a cooler day but we wandered the streets and found a used book store which sold English books, I bought one for 4 Euros, bargain! Then we went back to the Seafood Bar and I had a lovely sole over cooked vegetables covered with a delicate mustard sauce, really good! Bruce had fish and chips again which he enjoyed. The couple who sat next to us, she’s from Jamaica and he’s from the Netherlands ordered the seafood combo grill which was huge when it arrived! Artfully arranged but just so large! Looked good.
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| Beautiful building, note the top, the hooks are still used for moving goods in and out of the buildings. |
We did make it to the Albert Cuyp market on Friday and it wasn’t too crowded http://albertcuyp-markt.amsterdam/?lang=en A real mix of cheap items and expensive ones along with food, as said, a real mix. Many stalls are extensions of real stores so there is much to investigate if willing. Stretches across oh, guessing, 10 blocks and visited by locals and tourists both. Many stalls of thin crisp pancakes and crepes of every description, would be worth another visit to get a savoury crepe and Bruce found good dried apricots and some Stilton cheese, okay Ryan, know we are in Holland, with another 200 kinds of local cheese and he’s still buying British…
After we were informed Apple would not cover the cost of repair of the motherboard on Bruce’s computer we decided to buy him a new one. Apple store here in Amsterdam is really close to the flat so we went Saturday, soon as possible after hearing the news on the non-repair. Met an older fellow named Peter who was good to us and now Bruce has a computer again, backup from the previous one will go to Freiburg and that’s fine too. Peter said it is best not to get a computer repaired that has had water damage, it usually affects something other than the keyboard, good to know.
We had Indonesian food, a first for us, at Samo Sebo, a small family run restaurant we have stopped by for a drink at. We asked the fellow what was good since the menu is 90% written in Indonesian so he gave us a sampler plate each, food brought home again, but it was impressive in light spice and wonderful taste. It even included a cooked plantain which is different but similar to a banana, honestly I was prepared not to like it much but did.
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| Outside the WCs, says it all! |
Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi Cat
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