Amsterdam
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The Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place was such an ideal location. On Friday morning we walked out the hotel’s front door and were steps from the escalator down to the tram system. The tram took us to South Station (Gare du Midi), where we boarded this Eurostar train. Here were are having just arrived in Amsterdam.
We decided to stay in Haarlem, which is about 11 miles due west of Amsterdam. We had to take another train from Amsterdam to Haarlem. While on board the train, we figured out that the 300 bus delivered us from the train station nearly to the front door of our rental—which beat the heck out of 15 minutes of lugging suitcases down uneven sidewalks.
We were early for check-in, so we stopped by Mama’s Soup for some, well, you guessed it, soup. My broccoli soup was served in the green tureen and you might be able to guess the flavor of Amanda’s soup.
The owner graciously allowed us to check in a bit early. We popped in a load of laundry and then headed out for groceries. As expected, the steps were steep and narrow—very Dutch.
Here we are in Will’s favorite part of AH Grote Houtstraat (Translation: Albert Heijn, the largest grocery chain in the Netherlands, located on Grote Houtstraat street. Grote Houtstraat means Big Wood Street. Yikes! The kids are going to have fun with that one.)
Look Pam: broccoli! Nearly everything was labeled in Dutch, and we don’t speak “freaky deaky Dutch” (Austin Powers Goldmember), so you better believe we were using Google Translate on the regular. Now this will blow your mind: How do you say father in Dutch? It’s vader. I guess we shouldn’t have been so surprised when we heard the line, “Luke, I am your father.”
When you’re finished at the self-check register, a tiny stub of paper like this one pops out.
As you try to exit, you must scan the barcode so the security bars swing open and allow you to exit the store. One final stop at Boulangerie Oscar (Oscar’s Bakery) for fresh bread and we were all set, Dutch style.
Back in our apartment I captured this image on Find My after Dave had just landed in Rio de Janeiro—wild!
On Saturday we took a train back into Amsterdam.
The original idea for this trip was to visit Amsterdam, so it was great to finally be in the city.
Tulips in front of our coffee shop. Across the street is the neo-Gothic Magna Plaza shopping center, which faces Dam Square.
We wandered along the streets and the canals until we arrived at probably the best-known building in Amsterdam—Otto Frank’s business premises at Prinsengracht 263. This was a private home built in 1635 between two warehouses. Recall for later that the front of the building contains three doors.
In October 1938, Otto Frank took over Pectacon—a German pectin and spice company—from its founders. In 1940, Otto rented this building for his company.
The building Otto rented included the main house (which you see in our photos) and its annex. The land along the Amsterdam canals was in high demand, which is why many of the properties are narrow and long. In order to create more living, working, and storage space, so-called “annexes” were built in the backyards of existing houses. As with many such houses, the first and second floors are connected by internal stairs; however, the third floor and attic are often separate residences reached through a different front door.
To allow daylight into both houses, the main houses and the annexes were separated by a courtyard. Here the courtyard is covered by a peaked, white roof (below the yellow oval). Along the far side, a narrow corridor connected the house and annex. However, only the first and second floors were connected. To reach the third floor and above, you had to go outside and use a separate staircase. At the landing (yellow oval), a door led to the house, but a bookcase was placed in front of the entrance to the upper two floors and attic of the annex.
Less than a block away is Westerkerk, the church whose bells Anne Frank mentions in her diary. Rembrandt is also buried inside. Surveying the swarms of people outside the museum, it’s startling to realize the impact of Anne’s young life. The Secret Annex, the chestnut tree, the church bells—all known the world over because of one ordinary person who wrote a journal. We will be visiting the Anne Frank House on Wednesday.
“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” —Anne Frank
It would be hard to pick a favorite canal view, they are all so captivating in their own way. This is the view to the front of the Anne Frank house.
On Reestraat bridge over Prinsengracht canal, looking back on Anne Frank’s Westerkerk.
The same bridge as above with Amanda standing near the red sign.
Houseboats were once the poor person’s way to live in Amsterdam. They are now prime real estate and quite expensive. This owner really chose to spruce up the place.
These guys have got the right idea on a warm and sunny day.
Everywhere you look, it’s just so beautiful. We did a canal cruise, but our boat was bigger and did not go on inner canals like this. We recommend looking for the smaller boats so you can cruise the interior waterways.
Much like the famous Dancing Houses nearby on Amstel, this place on Spiegelgracht is also quite crooked.
Much as we prepared well in advance, many of the museums filled up before we could book. This is the Rijksmuseum, which houses many Dutch masterpieces.
The gorgeous little Rijksmuseum garden.
Mercury and Psyche
We feel like the tiredness is showing on our faces here. After a lot of walking and being in the sun all day, we were thrilled to find Vegan Temple Bar for dinner.
Amanda had pesto pasta and I had the Smoky Temple Burger. The balls are a vegan take on bitterballen—a Dutch snack consisting of a very thick meat stew that is refrigerated until it firms, rolled into balls, breaded, and fried. Poor quality bitterballen is made with horse meat—yummy! As with our haggis, we’ll stick with the vegan bitterballen, which turned out to be super crispy and delicious!
A lovely German beer to go with my burger.
We’ll be back on Wednesday for more Amsterdam.
