It has been way too many years since I've been to Europe. The last time I visited my favorite continent was our 3 year anniversary trip to France. A fantastic trip, but I did not know it was going to be my last trip to Europe for almost 7 years :( But here we are, a global pandemic, a retirement from the airline (and going back as a consultant) and this time I was able to enjoy the trip with Matt plus my parents and brother. This was my Mom's first trip ever to Europe and we spent a weekend exploring the country of her heritage (her father was half German and half Dutch). It was February and it was bitter cold, but the city was fascinating, the architecture was mind blowing, and we had a lot of laughs (mostly at how badly I planned the visits to the tourist sites).
Matt booked a great hotel, the Kimpton Dewitt, which was in a location central to the canals and historic downtown. The hotel had a decent restaurant, a really good cocktail bar, and plenty of space for us all to lounge around together when we needed a break from walking around in the cold.
The cocktail bar, Super Lyan, was one of my favorite places we visited in AMS and I recommend it whether you are staying in the hotel or not. Most of the drinks had a story and they were broken down into classic cocktails (Heritage and Generations) or new inventive cocktails (Lyan All Stars). They also serve light bites and here is where we tried our first Bitterballen, a deep fried croquette stuffed with veal ragu and a creamy roux.
We spend a couple hours a day relaxing in the hotel lounge, eating breakfast pastries, enjoying a happy hour glass of wine, or just relaxing together rather than spending time individually in our rooms. I appreciated all the comfortable seating areas that made hanging out at the hotel enjoyable.
The architecture of Amsterdam is almost unbelievable. How are these buildings still standing up after 300 years and all that lean? And the canals intersect the city in a grid pattern which gives so many buildings a canalside view. I could photograph every single inch of this city. It's so old and beautiful.
While there was a plethora of coffee shops in the historic downtown area (and I mean real coffee shops, not "coffee shops") we visited Sango every single morning. It was the first place we stopped after dropping our bags at the hotel and the first place we brought my family when they landed the next day. The espresso was great, the service was wonderful and I loved the space....as you can see from the 100 photos I took inside & out. Sango was also the only place we indulged in the famous Dutch Apple Pie. Some of the famous apple pie cafes that we had tagged to visit had lines out the door and we liked the Sango pie so much, we didn't feel the need to wait in the cold.
Another aspect I really loved about Amsterdam were the houseboats lining the canals. Some were more souped up than a luxury penthouse and some looked like modest fishing boats. Thanks to the numerous canals, Amsterdam has a vibrant water culture and the houseboats originated long ago after WW2 when the city had a housing shortage. There was a surplus of old cargo ships and a shortage of undamaged houses, so residents returning to the city converted the boats into homes. Maybe I'll rent one with Air bnb one of these days!
If there was one area where the city didn't blow me away, it was the food. With the exception of some cute little bakeries and sandwich places with lines out the door, we only saw fried food and burger restaurants lining the streets and it was a struggle for us to find places to eat. One restaurant were we actually were blown away, was a Spanish tapas place called El Pimpi's Tapas Cafe. The food was delicious and extremely reasonably priced. The ambiance was dark and moody so we didn't get photos of all the food we ate, but I especially enjoyed the garlic shrimp, iberico ham, and patatas bravas
Because I hadn't been to Europe in so long, I didn't realize that we needed to book all the tourist destinations well in advance. We were visiting on a Monday in February and the Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum were both sold out so we were not able to explore these top AMS sites. I honestly want to cry if I think about it too much, but hey, we made due with the experiences that were available to us. We saw the royal palace, explored Body Worlds, toured the old Heineken factory and wandered the canals.
After a day spent exploring the Heineken Experience, we found this adorable pancake restaurant Pannenkoekenpavijoen De Carrousel (Carousel Pancake House). The waitress was friendly and helpful and we indulged in Dutch pancakes (as big as a pizza!) and poffertjes (mini pancakes with butter and powdered sugar). Nothing could have been better to soak up the Heineken.
While Amsterdam was spectacular during daylight hours, the canalside view were magical at dusk. A perfect way to say goodbye to this attractive city. Since we missed the best museums in the city, we'll definitely be back again to see all that we missed.
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