Our last two days in Amsterdam were a lot of fun. Our hotel was mind blowing - all sleek and modern with a community hostel feel. But instead of grungy college kids there were hot professionals in suits.
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| Part of the lounge area in part of the lobby |
The room was tiny. There was no closet, no desk, no bathroom, no counter space and practically everything in the room could be controlled by a single remote, the lights (on and off as well as color), the blinds, the shades, the temperature, and the TV. It was like Ikea and Apple had a baby. The bed was its own super cozy cubby. We loved it.
After checking in, we found a recommendation in the guidebook for typical Dutch food and took two trams to get there. It was packed with locals, mostly 70 year old men, but we found a small table for two near the door. Ryan ordered stewed beef and I ordered Grandma's meatballs, which turned out to be a single giant meatball that was fan.tas.tic. Also, the side of fried potatoes....a moment of silence that such wonderfulness exists in the world.
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| Clean plate club |
The difference between our hotel and the little place where we ate dinner was stark. It was high-tech v. down home but we felt that neither the old nor the new was out of place. They both felt right and typical Amsterdam.
We started Wednesday at the Albert Cuypsomethingsomething market, which was recommended to us for people watching and oh, boy did we see some interesting people. The rest of the market was fruit and vegetables, fresh seafood, cheese and junk. Not even interesting junk. Just junk, cheap clothes, shoes and electronics.
Then we took a tram up to Station Centraal and wandered around. It's the busiest, noisiest, dirtiest, most touristy part of town. And my least favorite. We found Chinatown and the Red Light District and paid €5 to see Oudekerk (old church). Or rather, we paid to see some very creepy art installations that they had on display while the church was being renovated. Scary looking human figures covered in black plastic breaking out of a 50's style TV? A breastplate of armor covered in little clay penises? Gimme back my 5 euro!
We had Dutch pancakes (like crepes) for lunch and went to the Waterlooplein fleamarket. This market had cool junk. Vintage buttons, tableware, medals, postcards, books, shoes and some handmade crafts. It covered several blocks and made for some fun browsing.
Then we had some coffee. We discovered that a Funky Monkey Bambino is a smidge of espresso, a lot of chocolate milk and even more whipped cream. So, we found a lot of excuses to duck into coffee shops to warm up and enjoy whipped cream a hot drink.
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| Two Funky Monkeys, please |
Thus concluded our last full day of sightseeing in Amsterdam! Good times.
I'm glad we scheduled our time so we were able to approach everything as vacation instead of a speedy sight oriented regimen. I'm also glad that we left the city for a few days to see Maastricht. It provided some context for Amsterdam and it was a nice foil to the hustle and bustle of the big city.
One more travelogue coming up!
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