We (Terry, Gill, Sue and I) flew to Amsterdam from Gatwick recently and we
used the lounge facilities (free wine) to get us in the mood for our holiday.
The flight was short, less than an hour, and is more like being on a bus than a
plane. The transfer from Schiphol to the hotel was arranged through the hotel
and we were driven by a friendly local Turkish guy who chatted entertainingly
throughout and showed us pictures of his wife and their young son.
We stayed at the Amsterdam Wiechmann Hotel, a family run hotel that
incorporates three adjacent buildings overlooking the Prinsengracht canal. This
was picked by my dad when my folks had planned to visit Europe on a river boat
cruise where we were to meet them at its destination of Amsterdam. I think mum
and dad would have loved the place. The ground floor communal areas include a
lobby with interesting artefacts in it such as a suit of armour (that looks
like a small steampunk stormtrooper) a large scruffy Alsatian dog and a gold
disc from Emmylou Harris, a comfortable lounge/bar with equally eclectic décor
such as a collection of teapots and a huge safe, and the breakfast room with
its large picture windows offering a wonderful view of the canal and bridge
over it.
The hotel staff were very helpful and courteous and the rooms were
comfortable and well appointed, the only downsides being that there were bed-bugs
in Terry and Gill’s room and the journey up and down the typically steep Dutch
canal house stairs was hard work.
We arrived late on Friday evening and we told that we should go out
quickly if we wanted to get a meal before the kitchens closed, and so we
dropped our bags off and went out. We had a meal at the first place we came to
which was not the café suggested but the Andaz (Hyatt) hotel. The food was fine
but it was a more upmarket venue than we would have liked. When we walked along
a bit further to look for a bar we came across the café, called Het Molenpad
where we found an atmosphere more to our liking, some nice beers and had a
relaxed end to our outbound journey.
After breakfast we enquired about where we could purchase an IamsterdamCity Card, a tourist card that gives access to various attractions and other
perks, and were directed to a kiosk next to the Westerkerk. We purchased the
48hr card and went to see the Anne Frank house but were amazed at the length of
the queue as it was just past the opening time of 9am. We decided to come back
here later and headed on into town, first to Dam square and then down towards
the train station where we took one of the free canal boat tours that came with
the card. The Holland International tour
guided us around many of the city canals with audio commentary of highlights to
be seen along the way. It is a good way to orient yourself and to start to work
out where you would like to visit later.
We found that the card did not get us into all of the attractions in the
city and we gave the Palace a miss instead taking the tram to near where we
visited the Museum Van Loon, the historical home of one of the founders of the
Dutch East-India Company, where we found a lavish and grand old house full of
wonderful treasures.
Around the corner we found a little unassuming café called Pit that was
decorated in a quirky, trendy style and served simple but tasty lunch time
fare.
Refuelled we then ventured off to another grand old house, Geelvinck
house, home to another rich Dutch family, and that had been lovingly restored
and decorated with period pieces.
We then took another tram and headed out to the museum area where we
went in to visit the Van Gogh Museum to revel in this artist’s history and
creativity.
We had a full day by now and so we journeyed back towards Dam square
where we walked back to see if the queue at the Anne Frank House was shorter,
and it wasn’t sufficiently for us to consider standing in it, so we went to a
nearby café to regroup and plan.
The place we stopped at was called the Bistro Bij ons (with us),
specialising in Dutch food, and here we had a drink and some bitterballen
snacks.
We went home to change and freshen up before coming out again back to
the bistro to see if they had a table, but unfortunately they were fully booked
(restaurants seem to have a busy period around 7 to 8pm). So we wandered around
trying a few more places without luck until we came upon a place called ThaiFusion that had a table free. Unfortunately they were understaffed and had a
lot of takeaway orders to fill so we suffered with long delays to our food.
When it came the food was very nice to by then the shine had gone off the
place.
We returned to Het Molenpad for a ‘cleansing ale’ before we retired for
the night.
The next day we headed out to visit a house that Terry had read about, and
strolled through an artist’s market at Spui where we looked around and also
nosed in at the interesting shops near the university where we spotted a few interesting
cafes. We took a tram to Rembrandtplein where there is a sculptural
interpretation of his ‘night watch’ painting and another collection of artist
stalls to browse. At the Willet-Holthusysen house we were blown away by the grandeur
of the place with its lavish rooms and formal garden, but it was nothing to the
‘dining with the Tsars’ collection of ostentatious royal dining services that
was on display at the Hermitage Amsterdam.
After this we found another small, intimate and cosy café for lunch.
Café Langereis continued the Dutch eclectic decor and it served tasty and
unfussy snacks along with yummy cakes and beer.
After lunch we went to the Handbag and Purse Museum which showed the evolution
of this fashion accessory and included some odd and expensive (and I was reliably
informed, gorgeous) examples.
From the Rembrandtplein we took another tram to the botanical gardens, where
although the plants outside were not much to see at this time of year, the greenhouses
were still full of interesting specimens including a butterfly collection.
We returned to check out the queue at the Anne Frank house and saw it
was still too long so we returned to the bistro for an early dinner planning to
rise early in the morning to get down to be first in the queue. The food at the
bistro was wholesome and uncomplicated traditional Dutch workers food and my
stamppot with smoked sausage was about the rudest looking thing I had ever been
served, luckily it tasted pretty good. The desert menu was themed around old
time Dutch musicians (down the road is a monument to Johnny Jordaan) and had
some intriguing English descriptions, so much so I had to order the ‘flipped
bitches’ which turned out to be fried bread covered in sugar and cinnamon.
Again we finished off the night at Het Molenpad.
In the morning of our last day we checked out and put our luggage in
storage before grabbing a quick breakfast and getting to the Anne Frank house
for 8am, an hour before the doors opened. Even at this time we were not the
first, there being a dozen or so people keener than us. There is a new
exhibition centre next to the original house that wasn’t there when we visited
Amsterdam many years ago. It was a truly moving experience, especially for Gill
whose Jewish family left Germany on the Kindertransport. We had to take a
moment to recompose ourselves over a coffee / tea before we left. By now the
queue was down the street, around the corner and disappeared around the church.
The weather was glorious so we strolled back down towards the train
station, where I wanted to get a picture of the multi-story bicycle parking, and
over to walk through the Chinatown area and along some of the Red Light
district. This led us back to near the university so we found the café we had
seen the day before and stopped for lunch. Kapitein Zeppos was another great
and quirky establishment with a simple and delicious menu served by a very
tall, slim and friendly waitress. The place looks like it has a pretty good
night life too, though we wouldn’t be around to catch that.
Afterwards we strolled over to the flower market where many different
bulbs and flowers could be bought. On our leisurely stroll we stopped for a
while at the grungy café de Eland before picking up some liquorish or ‘drop’ at
a supermarket and returning to the hotel to pick up our bags and the taxi ride
back to the airport.
All in all we had a good holiday that could only have been made better
by having mum and dad there to enjoy it too.
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