Amsterdam Adventures

Amsterdam, the Venice of the North

At last, the true nomading adventure really begins! With a whole month in Amsterdam, we truly got the feel of what it is like to live in this vibrant, unique, and sometimes really crowded city. Joanne and Ken came along with Brad and I from London to kick off our first week, yay!

The City Center

Almost everywhere in the city center is walkable, and we sure did walk. We also took a canal cruise to get a closer look at the tall, skinny, and often leaning, houses.

Outside the City

An ebike tour quickly got us outside of the city and along the canals and waterways that make up a majority of the Netherlands. Our tour took us to the historic village of Zaanse Schans and its many working windmills. We also made a quick photo stop at the Inntel Hotel in the town of Zaandam. It is otherwise known as the House with 70 Facades and is apparently very popular with the Instagram crowd.

Haarlem

On another day trip, the four of us hopped a train to the town of Haarlem. It's a bit like a smaller version of Amsterdam full of canals, windmills, and tall houses, but not nearly as many tourists. It had a fabulous Farmers' Market in the center of town in the shadow of a fancy church. Of course, no Dutch Farmers' Market is complete without a whole row of cheese counters!

Nature

Our AirBnB was a 20 minute tram ride from the city center which allowed us to escape the crowds and even to enjoy some of the natural beauty of the area. The surrounding area had plenty of canals and open spaces. Our trail to the supermarket took us through a sheep grazing area. We always had a water view from our balcony, with an occasional rainbow dropping in!

Changing of the Guard

After a week of fun and adventure, we had to say goodbye to Joanne and Ken as they headed back to Minnesota. Fortunately, we didn't have time to get lonely as our niece Sarah and her friend Leeanne arrived just hours after Jo and Ken left. Sarah and Leeanne had much to celebrate as they had both just graduated from college. We celebrated their accomplishments with a Rijsttafel, Dutch for "rice table." This food extravaganza features many small dishes of Indonesian food. We all agreed that it was fun to try, but none of us found a dish that we thought was amazing. Still, a great adventure with great company.

The Food

Speaking of food....the Dutch are not really known for their exciting cuisine, but we did manage to find and try some interesting dishes:

1) Brad with Pannenkoek, a Dutch pancake that can be either savory or sweet. Brad went with both and had his with bacon and apple.

2) Sarah and Leeanne bravely trying the Dutch favorite of pickled herring.

3) Close up of the pickled herring with accompanying sides of pickles, onion, and tartar sauce.

4) Side-eye from Brad as I interrupt him eating a hot dog from a cart in the Dam Square.

5) Viral sensation cookies from Van Stapele. We waited in a 15 minute line in the pouring rain to try them. Worth it. They make only one cookie - chocolate with white chocolate center, and they always have a line down the block.

6) Brad's favorite food find from the Farmer's Market, Chicken Sate.

The Sabich

Earning its own category is my favorite food find of our adventures so far.....introducing The Sabich! It's apparently an Israeli Iraqi invention, but I just call it heaven in a pita. It's warm, messy, soft, crunchy, chewy, a little bit spicy, and incredibly difficult to eat without getting it all over yourself. You can see the list of ingredients in the sign pictured below, but it also has a bunch of sauces (curry? tzatziki? cilantro pesto??) as well. It is my new obsession, and I will need to find it again out in the world.

The Arts and Museums

Though this was our third time visiting Amsterdam, it was the first visit where we had enough time to explore the museums. We spent several hours each at the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Who knew there was a whole library inside the Rijksmuseum (not me!)???

Though we have visited before, we went again to the Anne Frank House and Museum. Anne Frank is a personal hero of mine, and I will never pass up the opportunity to visit and get a pic with her lovely, but fierce, little statue. Another thing you literally can't pass up is the Stumbling Stones (Stolperstein). They are all over the formerly Nazi-occupied places of Europe, outside of houses and apartments where Jews were known to have been taken. They are slightly raised from the level of the sidewalk so you purposely stumble over them, never to be forgotten. They are all over Amsterdam.

Giethoorn and the Closure Dyke

Our last adventure outside of town was to visit the canal town of Giethoorn and the Closure Dyke. The only way to get around in Giethoorn is by bike, boat, or foot. Somehow, this tiny little village of less than 3,000 people has a two-star Michelin restaurant. At €160 to €225 each, we decided to give it a pass. The last picture is Afsluitdijk, or the Closure Dyke. This 20 mile dam closes off Amsterdam and other harbors from the North Sea. It doesn't make a very impressive picture, but it was amazing to drive (ride a bus) the whole way across this feat of engineering.

Goodbye to Amsterdam

And finally, it came time to say goodbye to our wonderful Amsterdam apartment. Our first nomad trial was everything we hoped it would be. We got to live like the locals do, grocery shop at the local markets, cook meals at home, but also see the sights in a non-rushed, non-touristy way.

Our AirBnB: "The House with the Curl"

Next stop, Balestrand, Norway!

Sheri & Brad