via Eurostar, concentrating on food1
Thursday night, London -- Spaghetti House, just off Tottenham Court Road. As usual reasonable but not memorable, bar the immense group of American students from Butler University (sometimes I can't resist web-browsing on my phone).
Friday am. Breakfast at a small cafe near North Lambeth police station rather than the hotel. Opened at 0700 as we walked past, rapidly filled with bleary-eyed builders. Bought some of their sandwiches for lunch, too (we've seen the prices on Eurostar!).
Friday just after lunch. Mad dash on foot wearing 35litre backpacks full of all our clothing, books, coats, etc, to la Place du Grand Sablon (or something like that) to buy stuff from Wittamer. I had intended to check the bags before the dash, but we decided it was too much hbuttle. Oh, the *smell* in Wittamer. Pure, delicate chocolate. Oh, wow. The window display featured beautiful marzipan funghi (various, identifiable mushrooms) with dead leaves, all coloured with different chocolate powders. I can't possibly transport one to Amsterdam and back to London safely, then expect it to air mail safely to my mother in Canada... So I bought a bag of marron glacˇs instead. I wanted one of the sweet (literally, no doubt) small white (chocolate?) hallowe'en ghosts, but restrained myself. We've a whole weekend before us...
Amsterdam. We stayed at the Hotel de Filosoof, near the Vondelpark, about 15 mins walk from the station. More than adequate, we'd stay there again. Dinner was rijstaffel at de Orient, 25.50 euros each. 19 dishes plus two kinds of rice, fascinating and most of it delicious -- our first experience of Indonesian food. Flavours I've never experienced before, and the Indonesian beer was a perfect accompaniment.
Saturday. Booked the candlelit cruise :-) Lunch was 'belgian' (vlaamse) chips from Vleminckx Vlaamse Fruithuis('Since 1958") on Voetboogsteed. Mmmmmm. Couldn't decide whether they were the nicest or the second-nicest chips I've ever eaten, but they could well be (as described) the best chips in Amsterdam. We decided mayonnaise is fine on chips, but these didn't need it. Followed by ice cream from the Australian Chocolate company on Spui :-) Later we enjoyed a plate of traditional Dutch snacks with beer at In de Waag (Niewmarkt). Bitter balls (small deep-fried balls of vaguely curry-flavoured mashed meat and potato), deepfried breaded something vaguely cheesy, what looked like tiny patties of mince but turned out to be ham, Gouda, and some sadly boring liver sausage, all served with mustard dipping sauce. Healthy? Us? We spent the entire day walking around the centre of Amsterdam, finishing through the red light district at about 2030 as we went to catch the boat. It was a good trip; they don't take coach tours so we too ended up with three bottles of wine between the two of us, plus all the cheese and crackers we could eat. Sadly only water by the glbutt, though, unless you want to drink the canal.
Sunday... we found a nice deli on Waterlooplein, just past the bridge with lightstands balanced on Neptune's head with a boat through it (well, that's what I thought it looked like). Choose your bread, filling (salami, roast beef, ham, cheeses), more cheese, pickles, salad, strange dessert (what looked like thin layers of cake or pancakes layered on on another, glued together with sugar syrup, or that's what it tasted like) and take the whole lot to the top of Nemo to enjoy a view over all central Amsterdam while you eat. Then gird loins and march out to burn the calories while exploring the new residential islands north and west of Oosterdok. We ate dinner at Piet de Leeuw on Norderstraat. Steak or fish and chips with beer or wine. "What beers?' I asked,'Heineken, Heineken, or Heineken' was the reply. Oh, well. 'Two steak with mushrooms' we said, he said 'Medium rare' and looked the question. A. agreed, I turned faintly pink and said 'Rare, please. And if redder than rare is possible, I'd like that.' 'Rare is Rare' I was told, then 'you want it still moving, yes?' I grimaced a bit and drank my beer. When the steak arrived it was perfect, warm through and blue. He came by later, asked if it was alright, then twitched the steak platter to and fro to demonstrate that it was indeed still moving. I had ice cream with advocaat for dessert (Mmmmmm...), and the coffee came with tiny glbuttes containing a mouthful of a coffee liqueur.
Monday we had time only to buy chocolates and tulip bulbs as gifts, and go back to the deli for a lunch to eat on the train.
It was a great trip, and I'll Be Back. Holland is lovely, central Amsterdam at least is a gem, and the Dutch were very kind.
regards sarah
Amsterdam longFollowing up to Jane Gillett In the case of films the Hollywood companies own all the main outlets IIRC. Another factor is english language. Its probably not an exclusive US thing, more a mutli...
1 For the first time in my life I kept a diary of sorts during this trip. If I get time I may write it up in full, illustrate it with some of my peculiar photos, and post it on my as yet non-existent web page.
-- Think of it as evolution in action.
