Amsterdam
I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Amsterdam four times in my life. It surely is one of my most favorite places on Earth. There’s nothing quite like wandering aimlessly down the cobble streets and feeling like you’ve been transported back in time. The famous canals that break up the city streets, add a breath of calm to the bustling city thoroughfare. Dutch folks have always been overly kind to me on my trips to Amsterdam, except for the one time I accidentally fell off my bike and knocked over someone on a vespa in the bike lane, yikes!! That dude knew all kinds of Dutch words for me, of which I understood none! Ha! Besides that ugly incident on my first visit, the resounding message I can convey is that Dutch people are lovely and understand how to live to the fullest. A town based on bicycles for transportation makes too much sense. Have to go downtown for work? Might as well get in 15 minutes of solid exercise on your way while breathing in the fresh marine air. Quality of life is of upmost importance, and that respect for living and balance gives the city a relaxed yet vibrant atmosphere.
Most recently, Becky and I visited Amsterdam for ADE, an electronic music festival, and let me tell you, it was WILD! The whole city embraced the festival. There were book stores with turntables set up and a DJ spinning as people shopped. There were floating boat canal parties! And there were plenty of abandoned warehouses ready to turn up. Becky had the pleasure of playing at the Femme House event at the W Hotel the evening of our friend LP Giobbi’s album release. It was so amazing to see her do her thing, internationally!! And only 4 hours off a red-eye flight. Impressive! Later on in the weekend we made use of the W’s sauna/cold plunge/spa situation, which was immaculate and very well designed, highly recommend!
One of my favorite restaurants in the world is De Kas. Located within a beautiful park in Amsterdam-Oost, De Kas is an oasis of fresh food and beautiful atmosphere. Literally meaning “Green House”, the main part of the restaurant is entirely glass and they even have a green house growing herbs they use for the dishes. 90% of what you are served is grown exclusively by De Kas at their other green house locations. Basically everything is local to the Netherlands. The experience is a 4 or 5 course meal, usually with a couple desserts at the end! I can’t remember ever being more pleasantly surprised during a meal. Each passing dish gave me new ideas for cooking at home. Becky, who is GF, always gets rice crackers instead of bread for the appetizer and my god, let me tell you, these are on another level. Last time we went, they served a truffle butter with the bread that we literally stole and brought back to our airbnb after. No shame, it was epic!
Speaking of GF, there is one bakery in Amsterdam that will truly blow your gluttonous mind. Simply called Craft Coffee & Pastry Amsterdam, this pastry shop is anything but simple. The classics of Croissants, and Sourdough bread have been perfectly recreated in a gluten free form. I believe the chocolate croissant is also dairy-free, which is great for me! Truly one of the best Pastry shops I’ve ever seen, the line usually forms before they are open, and on the weekends, they typically sell out within 2 hours.
While in the area of Craft, which is called De Pijp, I highly recommend another breakfast spot called Little Collins. Based on an Aussie breakfast, LC and its sister restaurant next door called Brio deliver some unbelievable brunch noms! LC usually has a pretty long wait, but Brio is no slouch next door. I particularly liked the brisket, it was heavenly!
There is also some great shopping in De Pijp. Highly recommend Penny Lane Vintage for old school thrift; Baskets for streetwear styles; Lois for amazing quality jeans from Spain; and Mercer—an Amsterdam brand that serves up vegan leather shoes, very stylish!
We spent only a little time there this past October, but one of our favorite parts of Amsterdam is north of the river. I highly recommend the STRAAT Museum, which is entirely dedicated to street art. The art is all massively and displayed in such a unique way. Totally breathtaking. It’s always a good time to rent a bike and take the ferry across the river. During ADE we were searching for a warehouse party and stumbled across one of the best tacos we’ve ever had. The place must have just opened (no sign, construction mid progress), but damn was it good. Cosmo Tacos. Mark it!
All in all, every time I go to Amsterdam I am blown away by the food, quality of living, and the design. I’m sure it all goes hand in hand, but I sure would love to be living in a society more like Amsterdam. I mean come on, it’s as clean as a whistle! Why would you litter when your fellow neighbors will have to look at your trash or worse, pick it up. It just seems like the people there are looking out for each other in a different way than we do in the states, and I wish that would change over here.
I can’t wait til my next trip to Amsterdam, but in the meantime, here is a map of all the places I listed and some extras!