Amsterdam Adventures – Edition 7: Dad visits Amsterdam, WHERE DO WE EAT?

August 29, 2019

Dear Friends and Family,

DAY ONE:  My dad visited T and I for a few days.  He was working in Budapest, so the plane ride to Amsterdam was only a few hours.  I was excited to see my dad considering that I have not seen him since June.  The Littles remembered him immediately and were all over him.  We participated in a “typical” tourist activity, a Canal Tour!

 

In the photo above, I am carrying the Baggallini Everywhere Handbag.  This is “my go-to” handbag and I have it in various colors.  It is light-weight and great for everyday use or for traveling!

We chose to take an open boat canal tour.  The open boat is smaller than some of the other tour boats, so we were able to explore more of the canals and go under more of the bridges.  One bridge was so low that we had to duck, I was too busy ducking, so there is not picture of that bridge – ha, ha!

The “Dancing Houses” and Houseboats

There are 2,500 houseboats on the canals.  Some people live in the houseboats and other houseboats can be rented on Airbnb.  All houseboats are connected to sewage.

As you can see in the picture above, these particular houses are not straight, so they are called “Dancing Houses” because it looks like they are “dancing”.  The wooden pillars of the houses have started to rote which causes the houses to “dance”.  Other houses on the canals do not “dance”.  

Throughout the canal tour, my dad referred to the movie, The Hit Man’s Bodyguard, which was filmed in many areas where our canal toured.  (We watched the movie later that night and recognized a lot for our tour.)  

For dinner, we ate at VAN ‘T SPIT.  I absolutely love this place and their food!  They serve 100% Dutch chicken and everything is served family style.  Their rotisserie chicken, corn, and french-fries are my favorite!  In in Netherlands, french-fries are served with mayonnaise instead of ketchup.  Dutch mayonnaise is a little spicier than American mayonnaise.  T does not like mayonnaise, so he still eats his french-fries with ketchup.  I do like mayonnaise, but when I eat it with french-fries, I think of all of the extra calories I am consuming.  What I typically do is eat only a few french-fries with mayonnaise and the rest of the french-fries plain, it all balances out – right?  

DAY TWO:  My dad, the dogs and I went to Bagels and Beans for breakfast.  I enjoy going to Bagels and Bean and ordering the Good Morning Breakfast which consists of a bagel, fresh juice, and a coffee.  I ordered a gluten-free bagel with jam and cream-cheese, fresh orange juice, and a cappuccino.  I like the atmosphere because you can sit outside and “people watch”.  Also, the wait staff is always very friendly.

After breakfast, we went to the Albert Cuyp Market, which is a few blocks from my apartment.  The market is open Monday – Saturday and is the largest market in Europe with 260 booths.  Each booth is assembled and taken down everyday.  The market consists of fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, and souvenir items, etc.  I bought lemons and cherries.

This is what the market street looks like on Sunday, completely empty.

This is what the market looks like on a typical day.

After the market, my dad and I (without the dogs) walked 3 miles (5 km) round-trip to Vondelpark.  We enjoyed pizza and Dutch beer at The Blue Tree House for lunch

T, my dad, and I enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner at Impero Romano.

The chef is mixing the noodles with cheese.

Yummy!

My dad said his dish was it was a bit rich, but he still cleared his plate – ha, ha!  

After dinner, we walked around the canal and enjoyed the views.

DAY THREE:  I took my dad to Coffee and Coconuts for breakfast.  Coffee and Coconuts used to be a movie theater in the 1920’s, so the atmosphere is pretty relaxed with three floors.  I ordered the french toast, which was yummy!

My dad’s visit was short, but we loved seeing him!  We DID eat at A LOT of restaurants, but my dad does LOVE to eat – ha, ha!  We were sad to see him go.

Anchored in Hope in Amsterdam,

JW

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