"iamsterdam" outside the Rijksmuseum
My Facebook status back in mid-June, “GOAL: to travel to Italy in the fall and eat home-made food by an Italian nonna. Looking for any tips, recommendations, travel agents to help achieve this goal.”
First response came from my friend M, “Travel on KLM via AMS and stop by for a visit!!!! I miss you!”
… and with that Amsterdam became the first stop on our 2011 Europe “Trip-of-a-Lifetime” Tour. (Another example that Zuckerberg just may be the most influential man in this world)
D and I had booked 33 hours in Amsterdam to explore the city, see the canals, and eat some poffertjes (my favourite treat each year at the Edmonton Heritage Festival). Most importantly, to catch up with friends M and K.
Unfortunately the Amsterdam leg of our trip started off with a big downer – a 10+ hour flight delay because the KLM pilot got sick. Having worked with an airline, flight delays don’t normally bother me much but when you’ve only got 33 hours in a place, 10 hours is a lot of time (and eating) lost.
Still, we had a brilliant 23 hours in AMS. I loved the beautiful neighbourhoods and architecture. Although Amsterdam is a bit too touristy for me, it was interesting to see and taste the influences of French, English, and German in the Dutch culture.
Thought it would be easiest to relay our trip by giving you a snapshot of our Amsterdam itinerary (click to enlarge):
Amsterdam Food Highlights:
– We were warned that Albert Cuyp Market is filled with chach, and although that statement proved to be true, we also found it was the place to try a variety of Dutch eats at a cheap price.
– Cheap and good eats like Poffertjes for only 2 euros! Warm, mini, fluffy-pillows topped with sweet icing sugar and creamy butter.
– Having only had the pre-packaged stroopwafels in Canada, I never understood why people loved them so much, until I had one right from the wafel iron. I get it now. I’m obsessed… if I win the lottery, I’m officially going to hire a Stroopwafel master to cook these for me at beck ‘n call
– Schipol Airport also proved to be a great spot to have a 5 hour layover. We over-ordered breakfast not realizing the “Smoked Salmon, Egg, Sandwich” had 3 eggs and a mountain of smoked salmon. I stopped at “Holland Boulevard” in the E and F gates for a last bite of Poffertjes and Pannenkoeken prior to jumping on the flight home.
Would I go back to Amsterdam? Sure… those Stroopwafels were reason enough to!
Photos by Dong Kim – To check out our full Amsterdam Food Album, please head to our Facebook page
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