Amsterdam II.
We really feel like we could spend a month in Amsterdam and still miss things. We had a totally perfect touristy Amsterdam day 1. But there are more than a few things we would have liked to, but didn't get to do this weekend. The tickets to the Anne Frank Huis were booked thru April & we didn't want to waste the short time we had waiting in line to get their day-of tickets. So this, the tulips & a visit to some of the picturesque Holland windmills will be on our list of to-dos for our next trip. We stayed at a hotel near the airport & took the train into Amsterdam Centraal each day. I wasn't so sure about this idea, at first, but it ended up working out really nicely. The train was quick & easy & we had a lot of conveniences nearby.
This post about our Sunday in Amsterdam would be more aptly titled:
SUN-DAY-OF-GLUTTONOUS-INDULGENCE
... because we ate & ate. And wanted to eat more. We started with these crazy, enormous pancakes at The Pancake Bakery. There are lots of pancake stops in Amsterdam, in fact, you can find them at most of the cafes. We ventured out to this specific pancakery because of reviews on Trip Advisor and because the pancakes looked so good in pictures, we just had to see them person. This was another tiny little eatery. We could barely fit our stroller in [a smaller umbrella stroller is definitely on my list of purchases to come] and there was a long line of people waiting for the pancake deliciousness. We were lucky to have gotten there when we did!
Yes, those pancakes are bigger than our plates & yes those are scoops of ice cream on top. We also got an order of poffertjes - a Dutch delicacy - which are mini-buttered-sugary-doughy bites. So delicious. In addition to all these sugary morsels, they also serve up savory pancakes with bacon & eggs & cheese & the like. But Jason & I are quite traditional when it comes to pancakes. Sugar + Sugar = Happy Murrays. Needless to say, we needed a bit of a walk afterwards, we were stuffed!
So, we strolled & shopped our way to our next eats destination...
And we found a friend for Tallullah & Jojo along the way...
And one for Asher too.
Then we made it to our final destination Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx. AND I am not ashamed to admit how much I researched this one... Background: I kind of consider myself a french fry + chicken finger connoisseur of sorts. So when I heard that Amsterdam was known for their frites with mayo I did a little [not so little] happy dance. Jason told me there were frites stands everywhere. But I didn't want to just stop at the first one we saw, I wanted to experience only the BEST of frites stands. So I Googled & Pinterested & Trip Advisored [that totally a verb, right?] & found the top rated frites stand in Amsterdam. Then we basically planned our day around it. Annnnnd...we got there just in the nick of time because the line of fry-fans behind us was b-a-n-a-n-a-s.
It's a little walk up window. You order & eat. That's it. Nothing fancy, but you guys. These. Fries. Were. Legit. Basically Mr. Vlaams is my hero. The fries were salty -- but not too salty. Came with a good combo of both soft & crunchy frite options -- I prefer soft, Mr. Murr prefers crunchy -- BONUS they offer like 27 different sauce combos to layer on top of the fritesy goodness. We opted for the Special #12. A curry + mayo combo topped with onions. I didn't think we'd even make a dent...But. We did. Yum. And a cute checkered fry cone...c'mon. PRO TIP: if you feel the need to take a seat while you eat, the bar across the street will let you use their tables for the low-low-price of a pint beer :) #twistmyarm
If I would have known Jason was planning to shoot my every bite, I would have made my claw hand look a bit more delicate. 😂 Om.Nom.Nom. PS I noticed that little wooden fork about halfway thru. Probs would have made for less messy eating...But ain't nobody got time for that.
After our frystravaganza we headed back to our car, hit up the Starbies & headed home. Asher tolerated the car ride a bit better on the drive home, but we shall probably be a train/plane travel family moving forward :) Not sure where we're heading next. But I've got some DIYs in the pipeline as well as the upcoming excitement of our VERY FIRST VISITORS! April can't come soon enough! Eeeeeeee!! Lots of good stuff ahead.
ever yours,
lindsey
