love hearts & food: European adventure: Amsterdam

It was my second visit to Amsterdam and it won't be my last.

To travel from Schiphol Airport to the city centre is very easy by the direct rail link that links the two. The train runs every ten minutes from platform 1 and 2 and will cost your 3,5 euro. Tickets can be bought at the ticket boxes and be sure to validate them before you board the train.

Transport wise you can easily explore Amsterdam by foot, bike or tram. You buy the tram tickets on the tram and they are available as once off 24 hours(6,5 euro) or 48 hours(12 euro). Remember to swipe your tickets when you enter and the leave the tram as the ticket locks after a few times if you don't swipe out.

We stayed in an awesome apartment located just above Vondelpark. We found it through the Air B&B website. Piet, who was our host, was extremely welcoming and accommodating. He stocked the apartment for us with cheese, bread, eggs, wine, beer, coffee, tea ect. He also had a guidebook of restaurants and must see sights as well as maps and museum cards we could use to get discount. The apartment has an industrial feel to it. Its located 50 meters from a tram station and the museum area can be reached within 15 minutes on foot . It has two bedrooms and one bathroom. A flat screen tv with a large dvd collection is also at your disposal. A 3 minute walk will get you into the beautiful Vondelpark. This apartment is highly recommendable.

Dam square

We started our first day in Amsterdam with a free walking tour hosted by Sandeman's New Europe . You meet at the National Monument in Dam Square at 11:15 or 13:15. In the 3 hours you will cover the following:

The Old Church
The Red Light District
The Jewish Quarter
Royal Palace
The Jordaan District
The Anne Frank House
The Dutch East India Company
The Begijnhof Convent
Masterpieces of Dutch Art
The Widest Bridge and Narrowest House

Halfway through the tour you will stop for a light snack at La Place . It's a canteen style eatery and the budget travellers will appreciate the quality of the food at reasonable prices. The tour is a great way to orientate yourself in Amsterdam as well as get a great overview of the city if you are only spending a limited amount of time there.The tour company also host redlight district, "coffeehouse" and bike tours and you can buy tickets for these on their website or during your free walking tour.

Kor, our great guide.

The narrowest house

Kor in action

The most famous "coffeehouse"

Now what you must understand by free is that the guides work on a tip base only. In other words, you can give them as much as you think they deserve. Our guide Kor Hoebe was excellent. If he was my history teacher I would have easily achieved a distinction. He explains the history of the city in a fun yet memorable way. During the tour they also point out great restaurants and pubs for you to visit and also gives you tips to not land in the tourist traps of the city. They also go the extra mile with the tour and we had a quick cheese tasting at the famous cheese shop Reypenaer that's a minutes walk from Dam Square.

The tour stopped near the Anne Frank Museum . During my first visit to Amsterdam I had no clue who Anne Frank was. Why I bought a dvd about her during my visit I also don't know. Today I am glad because it was great to visit her actual childhood home and put all the pieces together that I have seen on movies and read about. My one tip would be to buy your tickets online. There's usually a long line and if you have limited time in the city then this will ensure that you can immediately enter the museum at your chosen time. Online tickets are 9,5 euro. Throughout the museum are videos that you can watch as well as a great booklet that will explain to you all the exhibitions. Audio guides are also available but I must say that everything is very explanatory in the museum that this is an expense you can spare.

We ended off our day with a canal boat tour. At first this was not on our itinerary as I imagined it to be very cheesy and touristy thing, but I can now say that a day or night time cruise is a must. The price varies around 15 euro. We were lucky that during the time we visited the Amsterdam lights festival was there so we were amazed by all the exhibitions in the water as well as on the canal banks. I also loved how you could see how the people of Amsterdam live as you peek through their windows while you cruise by.

Boathouse

Light display

One of the art pieces seen on the lights canal cruise

Treat yourself afterwards with frites at THE place for fries, Vleminckx . Its a small frites shop in Voetboogstraat 33. They have 25 sauces to choose from such as appelmoes ,hannibalsaus ect.

Delicious fries!

Our second day was started with a walk through the beautiful Vondelpark. People were exercising and walking their dogs. Next time my trainers will accompany me to Amsterdam. There's are also some restaurants such as t' Blauwe Theehuis where you can enjoy some refreshments.

t Blawe Theehuis in the background!

From there a 15 minute walk took us past the museum plein. My previous visit I really enjoyed the Van Gogh museum(15 euro) which is definitely a must as well as the Rijksmuseum (15 euro) . We instead went to the Albert Cuypmarkt where you can buy fresh produce or shop around for a bargain at the various stalls.

Albert Cuypmarkt

Beautiful ceramics at the market

Some fresh produce in the background

Near the market is a coffee shop (the normal type) "bakken met passie" that serves delicious baked goods!

During our market visit my dad went to the flower auction outside of Amsterdam in Aalsmeer. If you have enough time I will recommend that you explore beyond the city of Amsterdam as well. Apparently the flower auction is an unbelievable experience. My dad said he has never in his life seen so many flowers as well as interesting breeds. The Netherlands is more than just the tulip capitol. The auction begins at 06:30 and ends at 11:00. You can go there by taking the bus 172 from Centraal station which stops right at the flower auction in 30 minutes. (4,5 euro) If you can't head to the flower auction you can go to the simple Blomenmarkt at Singel (Between Koningsplein and Muntplein)

Love the beautiful colours

Flowers for days....

The main shopping area you will find in Kalverstreet where all the main chain stores are present as well as the area called "nege straatjies" that's located between Leidenstraat and Raadhuisstraat. This area has the smaller boutique shops and close to above mentioned Blomenmarkt.

After we shopped till we dropped we went for dinner at Hap hmm . Now this is a very small local restaurant in Eerste Helmerstraat. Locals are seated first and it's a very small but cosy eatery. It's simple honest food but the homey atmosphere is the reason that you should visit. After your meal is customary to go thank the chefs. The kitchen closes at 20:30 so its a great option for an early dinner.

Small intimate local eatery

Simple but very homey and delicious food

mmmmm...

We then headed to the famous red light district. Everyone will have their own opinion, but do visit it to see how you feel about it.

A great place to have a traditional dinner of stamppotten or bitterballen is Cafe Sonneveld . This is the restaurant that's at the end of your Sandenham walking tour.

In summary my must do's for Amsterdam is...