Amsterdam: Beers, Snacks & Canals

Our next and final stop on our honeymoon was Amsterdam. This was the place we were most excited to visit. Beard had been there once before in college so he knew what to expect but Broad had only read and heard about it. We scheduled three full days for this city, but it was clearly not enough!

DAY 1
Since we went to bed early our last night in Brussels we woke up extra early to get the train to Amsterdam. The travel time was around 2 hours and of course, we packed essential train snacks for the 8:00 a.m. journey.  We picked up champs at a beer store and picked up snacks at the market in Brussels around the corner from our hotel.

We arrive in Amsterdam and found the nicest taxi driver who took us to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel NH Amsterdam Centre which is located in the cultural center or museum quarter of the city. It was walking distance to everything we wanted to do.  We decided on the train ride that the first thing we wanted to do was get pancakes. After dropping our bags off at the hotel (our room wasn’t ready), we made the mile stroll to the Pancake Bakery. This was a great way to get acquainted with the city. The Pancake Bakery is adorable and has a large assortment of pancakes to choose from. As per usual, Beard chose sweet while Broad chose savory. They were to die for!

After stuffing our faces, we walked to…you guessed it, the local cat cafe, Kattencafé Kopjes. It was advised to make reservations (luckily we were able to score some), as this place is really quaint and cozy. We enjoyed coffees and snuggled some kitties before deciding to get some beers.

One of the biggest attractions in Amsterdam is the Heineken Experience. As most of you may know, Heineken has its roots in Amsterdam.  The Heineken Experience is a large museum and home of the first Heineken brewery, where you can learn about the history behind this famous beer. It’s a self guided tour that lasts around one and a half hours. With the basic admission you get a sample on the tour and two beers on the amazing rooftop bar. Now listen, we are not Heineken fans and we rarely drink it but we just had to visit this museum. Guess what? The Heineken tastes so much better in this city, IT REALLY DOES. We could have drank Heineken all day while hanging out on the amazing rooftop bar.

After the museum, we decided to explore the city and head for more beers. We made our way to the Red Light district (obviously) and found Brouwerij de Prael. This place is unique in that it offers employment to those that face major obstacles entering the job market. They can work at brewery or brewpub and learn a new trade; such an amazing idea. The employees were so happy working there, which made our experience even better as patrons. The atmosphere was lively but cozy (tables, couches, comfy chairs) with delicious beer. We then made our way to Proeflokaal Arendsnest, a bar the exclusively serves Dutch craft beer.  They have over 50 beers on draft and over 100 in bottles, all from breweries in Holland. It was exactly the type of place we look for when traveling.

We couldn’t believe we were still not passed out the from the long day of traveling and exploring so we made our way back to the hotel. We then discovered the reason our room wasn’t ready, the hotel staff was busy decorating it for us! They were the cutest.

DAY 2
We woke up early and found a little restaurant for breakfast. We had time to kill before our snack tour, so next we visited the Sexmusuem. It was funny and informative and actually pretty extensive; a must-see if you’re in the Red Light District. After that little tour we needed a beer (again) so we made our way to the snack tour meet up spot a bit early to enjoy a beverage. This would be a good time to note that in Holland and Belgium, Rosé Hoegaarden is a thing. It also happens to be delicious. So, make sure to grab one next time you’re in Europe.

After a quick beer, we met our guide Tyler from Urban Adventures for our Amsterdam Food by Foot tour. Amazingly, it would just be us for the day! Score, private snack tour! Here’s how it works: we walk around the city stopping for famous dutch snacks while learning about history and culture of Amsterdam. It lasted around three hours since it ended up just being us, Tyler made the tour a little more booze centric and catered it to what we wanted to learn.

• First stop: a frites shop, Vleminckx. He recommended one of us get mayo and ketchup (already on top of it, pros); and the other get andalouse, a heavenly mixture of mayo, tomato paste and peppers. Highly recommend.
• Second: HEMA for smoked sausage. HEMA is a chain superstore (almost exactly like Target), but they’re also known for the quick delicious smoked sausage. You know when you walk into Target and smell popcorn and immediately need it? That’s how HEMA is with sausage.
• Third: FEBO for croquettes. FEBO is a chain of Dutch walk-up fast food restaurants of the vending machine type. Yes, vending machine snacks and holy smokes it’s amazing. There’s a guy behind a bunch of tiny windows prepping food, and he just slides snacks into the little slots as soon as they’re ready.  America needs these.  Everywhere. Now.
• Fourth: Frens Haringhandel for traditional smoked herring. This is something we normally wouldn’t choose to eat but something about the fish smothered in onions and pickles…it was out of this world.
• Fifth:  Lanskroon for stroopwafel cookies. Stroopwafels are famously delicious Dutch treats made by sandwiching two thin crispy waffles together with a gooey caramel.  This place is unique in that they use freshly baked thin cookies instead of waffles. Broad’s not even into sweets, and she agreed they were amazing.
• Sixth: De Pannekoekenkelder for poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes). Something about foods in mini form just makes them even better.
• Seventh: Reypanaer Cheese for gouda. We tried various ages of gouda and it was some of the best cheese we’ve ever had. We’ve never done a cheese tasting where you get to try a single cheese, just aged for different periods of time. Truly amazing and delicious.
• Eighth: our very last stop was not food, but for jenever at De Drie Fleschjes. Jenever is traditional Dutch gin and you are supposed to always take the first sip with no hands (see pic). This bar made some pretty delicious cocktails with it too. Jenever cocktails are actually made in super tiny glasses that fit around 1.5-2 ounces of liquid.  So, imagine making a cocktail…but then scale all the ingredients down to milliliters.  So much skill involved in making these tiny little booze bombs.
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We cannot recommend doing an Urban Adventures tour enough, especially if you’re in Amsterdam. It’s best if it’s earlier in your trip, as it helps you to understand the city and culture, and know where the cool spots are. Our guide was so helpful and nice and spent a lot of time giving great suggestions for the rest of our trip. (Thanks Tyler!)

After the snack tour, we did a canal cruise. A MUST! There are so many different canal cruises you can book and so many different ticket options. We chose an hour long cruise that was all you can drink beer and wine. We loved our cruise guides, they were super knowledgeable and down to earth. Canal cruises also help you become more familiar with the city and its surroundings.

We had a little bit of energy left so we decided to make the small hike to Brouwerij ‘t IJ, the windmill brewery! Brouwerij ‘t Ij was formed in 1985, along with a couple other breweries around the Netherlands as a response to the need for tastier beer in the area. It was so crowded, people were spilling out of it everywhere. It felt like a great happy hour bar. But it was well worth the walk and the wait. Would you pass up a chance to have a beer in a windmill, in Holland? I think not.

DAY 3
The one thing Broad just had to have was a bloody mary. They aren’t a big thing over in Europe yet, but she read about a brunch place in Amsterdam that was known for them. So, we made our way to G’s a Really Nice Place right when they opened. G’s had two locations and a bunch boat (which we attempted to do but got lost and missed the boat, literally). This place is very cozy and eclectic. The food menu was fantastic but the bloody mary list was out of this world. We ordered the blood mary ridiculous and made it slutty (adding an oyster). The drink is a meal in itself and it was so damn good. The mix was amazing and the snacks were perfect. Oh and our meals, were phenomenal. If you’re in Amsterdam, go to a G’s location!

After stuffing our faces we went to the Van Gogh Musuem. We had to wait about an hour to get in but it was worth it. The museum district is a very cool area. If we had more time, we would have ventured to more art exhibits.

Obiviously staring at paintings makes one hungry so we went to the Foodhallen next. The Foodhallen is a large open indoor food market. The stands serve a selection of small signature dishes that the locals and tourists enjoy. This is definitely the foodie-hotpot. We suggest doing one lap around the place before you stop at the first stand you see. After our lap we had to get bitterballen first. Bitterballen are basically croquettes, but smaller. We could do a whole post on the simplicity and deliciousness of bitterballen but trust us, its so good. Then we ordered a taco platter, then a meat cone filled with charcuterie and olives.

Final Thoughts

• Amsterdam was our favorite city. The people were so friendly and so welcoming (and beautiful, not in a creepy way, everyone was just so good looking).
• Buy an Amsterdam city pass to get discounts, admission into museums and attractions, and special offers.
• Do a canal cruise or walking tour first thing when you get to the city so you can get aquainted.  Amsterdam is a very walkable city.
• Eat all the food. Try everything. We stuffed our faces with things we normally wouldn’t try and enjoyed every minute of it.
• Don’t be afraid to wander the Red Light District. It’s not scary!
• The Dutch (in Amsterdam at least) learn English as children so it’s easy to communicate and get around!
• The dutch have a saying that loosely translates to, “don’t be weird,” which is kind of their philosophy on life. It doesn’t mean “don’t be yourself,” but very much the opposite. As long as what you’re doing and how you’re living your life doesn’t personally affect me, that’s ok! This is the main reason marijuana and prostitution are legal, and why they were the first country to legalize gay marriage.

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