AMSTERDAM

OVERVIEW

• When: 17 November – 20 November, 2023
• Where (accommodations): art’otel Amsterdam, Powered by Radisson Hotels
• Transportation: JetBlue overnight flight Boston to Amsterdam. Train from airport to Central Station
• Sights/attractions: De 9 Stratjes, Jordaan neighborhood, Red Light District, A’Dam lookout, NDSM neighborhood, IJ Hallen Flea market, STRAAT Museum, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, Flagship Amsterdam wine and cheese river cruise, SMAAK Amsterdam
• Food/drinks: Loetje Centraal, Hans Egstorf, Brasserie de Brakke Grond, The Lobby Nesplein Restaurant, Pancakes Amsterdam, Winkel 43, Graham’s Kitchen, Van Stapele Koekmakerij, Hicks Amsterdam, FoodHallen, Restaurant Watergang

Our 6 year wedding anniversary in Amsterdam was one of the few last minute trip decisions. I am a planner, and when it comes to travels I tend to book far in advance. Not this time!

Sean has been to Amsterdam when he was 8yrs old (so 30 yrs ago). I’ve never been before, despite growing up in Europe, which really irked me. JetBlue just happened to start direct flights from Boston…I also just happened to have enough points for a one round trip ticket, so that’s basically free, right 🙂 ? Long story short, I convinced Sean that flying across the ocean for a three day weekend is an absolutely brilliant idea. I know, it sounds insane, but now that we’ve done it, we both agree that it WAS indeed worth it. And we would do it again.

To add to the excitement – my sister and brother in law were able to take Friday off and came to hang out with us for the long weekend! They live in Frankfurt, Germany, so they took a train and we arrived at nearly the same time. All stars aligned so to speak.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Amsterdam is really easy to get to. At least from the East coast of the USA. Multiple airlines have direct flights and it was the first time that we took JetBlue. Normally we fly this airline on domestic flights, so we did not know what to expect. We were actually pleasantly surprised. When you book Blue Basic, on the domestic flights you are only allowed a personal item, no carryon. BUT this does not apply to transatlantic flights. So if you are like us and tend to travel light- booking the cheapest fare worked really well. We could not manage just with a personal item, but each getting a carryon roller was more than enough for a three day trip.

Flight left at almost 11pm and we were served dinner, a snack before landing and drinks, but mostly we tried to sleep. There is a good amount of leg room (we also got lucky to have a three seat row to ourselves), so we ended up getting at least 4-5 hours of somewhat bumpy sleep. We both agreed that it was a good experience and we’d consider JetBlue on other international destinations. For comparison, we took Play airline last year to Paris. It was a very similar price, but we had to switch planes in Iceland, so we were a lot more tired after that flight than the direct JetBlue one.

Amsterdam has excellent train system – if you time it up right, you can get to the Central Station in about 14-20 min straight from the airport. No expensive cab or Uber rides, no traffic. We made the express train, so it was super fast and convenient.

However, keep in mind that Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is big and busy. It took us exactly one hour from the time we landed, until we sat on the train. This also includes customs. Once we got on a train it was a breeze- 12 min later we were at the Centraal Station, which was only a few minutes walk from the hotel.

art’otel Amsterdam, Powered by Radisson Hotels

There are many nice areas to stay in Amsterdam and we debated on Jordaan vs the one we chose- close to the Centraal Station. Eventually we decided that we are here for a very brief visit, so we need to do what’s most convenient and saves the most precious thing- time. The station alone is a sight worth seeing- gorgeous architecture, designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1889.

We were SO glad we picked art’otel Amsterdam. Location was indeed unbeatable. Train from and to the airport, ferry terminal, easy walk to everywhere, spacious rooms (we got a king size bed with Central Station view), pool, sauna and spa! There is not much better feeling than getting a strong deep tissue massage right after the 7 hours flight.

Luckily there were no delays, because as soon as we arrived to the hotel, changed, enjoyed the sauna and the pool for a few minutes- it was time for our massages. One of the best ones too! It was almost too strong- for Sean to tell his masseuse to use less pressure is very rare 🙂 . Also, Agne and Cosimo arrived by train to the same station and stayed in this hotel as well, so it is very convenient even if you don’t come from the airport!

No wonder it’s called art’otel- as it has an art gallery in the first floor and sculptures throughout. We really liked the details!

Sights, food and lots of walking!

FRIDAY

By the time we were done with the massages and showered, it was around 3.30pm- time for a late lunch. Agne and Cosimo already had a table at the nearby restaurant Loetje and we joined them for a traditional Dutch snack- Dutch meatballs (Bitterballen) and a local beer. Forget food- we were just so happy to be together!

Cute restaurant, pleasant staff and a nice view of the canal too. We are now ready to start exploring.

There was no set itinerary for our first day in Amsterdam, but the weather was gorgeous so we wanted to do as much sightseeing as possible.

Amsterdam is a very much a walking city and we basically explored the whole center. Damark Street was already decorated for Christmas and we passed by a lot of fun stores.

We walked through the Dam Square and passed the National Monument and the Royal Palace.

But what you really can’t miss is walking around De 9 Stratjes or The 9 Streets- the neighborhood in Amsterdam that is connected by the canal bridges and is so charming that it will take your breath away!

If you are in a mood for shopping- this area has a lot of cute stores and boutiques, many of them sell locally made products. For a great quality leather bag check out SMAAK Amsterdam– reasonably priced, made in Netherlands, beautifully crafted- I could not resist 🙂 .

Walking and shopping requires energy. And what has energy? Pastries! Hans Egstorf Bakery is the oldest in Amsterdam and their freshly made Stroopwafel recipe dates back to 1898!

Amazingly it’s not too sweet, but watch out when you bite it- caramel oozes out and can easily leave your hands (and gloves!) sticky : ) .

Amsterdam has long been known for drugs (mainly weed and mushrooms) and of course the Red Light District. Marijuana is decriminalized in the whole country, but that does not mean it’s legal. You can purchase it in the specialty stores and ‘coffee shops’- not to be confused with cafes.

We didn’t come here for drugs (they are legal in Massachusetts, so not a novelty for us anyway 🙂 ), but we were curious to walk through the Red Light District. I don’t know what my expectations were, but it’s not anything life changing. First of all it’s very touristy and busy. Photography and videos are not appreciated and the women were pretty upset when some people tried to take pictures of them. We walked through a few streets, saw the sex workers in the windows wearing lingerie- that’s about it.

Amsterdam has a lot of great restaurants- it was hard to choose when we were booking dinner reservations. A few that we wanted to go to were already full (despite trying to book a couple of weeks ahead). One cancelled our reservation last minute, so we booked what we could find and for Friday night that was The Lobby Nesplein Restaurant. Located just as the name implies- basically in the hotel lobby with an incredible chandelier!

The food was really good and we especially loved the creme crème brûlée.

Before dinner though we had another fun reunion. Sean and I met Willem and Sjoerd in Malaysia and had a couple of dinners together. They were playing this table game and we wanted to learn, so we basically invited ourselves to their table 🙂 . That was a little over a year ago, but we see snippets of each others lives on Instagram and we knew they live in Amsterdam. It was such a treat to get together for some drinks in Brasserie de Brakke Grond, which is right near the restaurant that we had dinner reservations.

Our friends got to meet Agne and Cosimo and it was such a warm reunion. All friends once were strangers, we really love traveling for that- you never know what side of the world you might meet amazing people.

SATURDAY

As amazing as the weather was on Friday, we woke up to a complete opposite on Saturday morning. It was pouring rain. We knew the forecast, but still had hopes it will clear up. It did not. Rained the whole entire day. It didn’t ruin our trip though, because rain or shine Amsterdam has plenty of things to do! Let’s start with breakfast.

We always want to try as many local dishes as possible and mini Dutch pancakes (Poffertjes) sounded just right. Pancakes Amsterdam has few locations, and it worked out really well that one was located right near the ferry terminal, because after breakfast we planned to go to the A’dam Lookout.

We got some savory crepes and the sweet, covered in butter and sugar Poffertjes. Yumm!

A’DAM Lookout is a 20 story building with a rooftop, restaurant, bar and even an over the edge swing- tallest in Europe! Ferry rides are free and quick. Once again we were grateful for the location of the hotel- it was a short walk to the dock. The weather for the lookout was less than ideal, but we still enjoyed the views of the city. I can only imagine how nice it looks on a sunny day!

Even the elevator to get to the top was fun! It was basically a mini light show. As for the swing- we did not try it. Maybe if it was not pouring rain and the cold wind it would’ve been a fun attraction, but in this weather we didn’t feel like it’s that special.

We took the ferry back and jumped on another one – a bit longer ride- to NDSM neighborhood. A former shipyard, now a fun, artsy area I am sure would have been a lot more enjoyable if it was not pouring out. IJ Hallen is a biggest flea market in Europe, luckily most of it inside, so we just had to check it out. There were a LOT of people, Dutch clearly love thifting! While walking around we discovered that on the second floor there is an art exhibit. One shot- two birds!

The gallery was not very big, but had some interesting and interactive pieces.

If you are in NDSM, make sure to visit STRAAT Museum. That is Amsterdam’s museum for street art and graffiti in a 8000 m2 former NDSM shipyard and was one of our favorite art places we visited in this city!

STRAAT showcases more than 180 artworks by 170+ artists. And the collection changes, rotates and new art pieces constantly are getting added.

Rainy day was perfect for museum visits and this was not the last one! I bought tickets to Rijksmuseum in advance, so we had to get there by 3pm. It’s national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and a very popular one. I am not sure if it’s always this busy, but when we arrived we were glad we had the tickets, because it was fully sold out.

The same architect designed this museum as well as the Centraal Station- definitely can see the resemblance. We only had 2 hours before it closed, so did a fast tour checking out the most famous pieces- Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Sean’s favorite- boat models!

I really liked the library room. There are a lot of great museums in Amsterdam, but for today that’s all we had the time for.

We had a quick lunch before Rijksmuseum at one of the nearby restaurant bars and by now we were a bit hungry, so decided to have a famous Winkel 43 apple pie as a pre-dinner snack. Cosimo is not into sweets, so he went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool, while Agne, Sean and I stood in line in a drizzling rain and waited for the pie. Actually I think bad weather was in our favor this time. Usually the line is much longer and a lot of people decided to take the pie to go, which allowed us to get in fairly quickly.

We enjoyed a generous portion of the pie with whipped cream accompanied by the hot chocolate and it hit the spot. Our general evaluation was that it was good, but not something out of this world. If the line was much longer, I would say it would not be worth waiting, but since it moved quick we were happy to try it! Winkel 43 is in Jordaan area, which is lovely to walk around – day or night, rain or shine.

November 18th is our wedding anniversary, 6 years this year, so Sean arranged a nice surprise with the hotel and we came back to a decorated room, a bottle of wine and a little plate of dessert.

For anniversary dinner we booked Graham’s Kitchen – pre-fix five course menu and it was delightful.

It was super special to spend our anniversary with Agne and Cosimo in Europe. I feel like this should be a new tradition 🙂 .

SUNDAY

Our last day in Amsterdam, but no less exciting. We started slow- nice breakfast at Hicks Amsterdam– short walk away from the hotel.

Excellent Avo toast and Egg Benedicts!

The weather changed to our advantage this time, so even though a bit chilly, we enjoyed walking around, doing a little more boutique shopping and just taking in the last day in this charming city.

What I liked about a lot of the stores is that items were designed and made in Netherlands, not all ‘Made in China’ crap that it’s so often sold in most shops.

Very picturesque city, lots of history- we really enjoyed Amsterdam!

As if we didn’t just have a filling breakfast, we had to get more food. Van Stapele Koekmakerij chocolate cookies with a melted white chocolate middle were really one of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted. Of course there was a long line, but for this one I must say, it’s worth the wait.

Picture just doesn’t do it justice. They are also easily transportable. We bought the pretty blue box (only 5 Euros for the adorable box) and brought them back to Boston. Cookies were still soft and tasted fresh 3 days later (that’s how long 10 cookies lasted us).

We’ve done a lot of walking, but there is one more way to see Amsterdam from another angle- a river boat tour. Even better if it’s accompanied by wine and cheese!

I booked Flagship Amsterdam tour in advance via Viator, there probably is a cheaper option (it was around $40 each), but again, the boat was full, so reserve it at least a few days prior.

It was an hour long tour and we all really enjoyed it! The young staff was funny, informative, gave a lot of interesting facts about the city and answered all the questions. There was a variety of wines, beer, soft drinks and cheese. We only missed the crackers 🙂 . Definitely a great experience that I’d recommend while in Amsterdam.

Agne and Cosimo had to leave for their train around 6pm and couldn’t make it for dinner, so we went to have a quick late lunch in Foodhallen– basically a food court with a huge variety of food options. Beer, wine, burgers, Asian food, French pastries- you name it. Just find a seat anywhere you want and have a satisfying meal.

We relaxed at the hotel for a bit, said bye to Agne and Cosimo (always sad to do that, since we don’t know when we’ll see each other again) and went out for one more museum – Anne Frank House.

This is a writer’s house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. During World War II, Anne Frank hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms, in the rear building, of the 17th-century canal, later known as the Secret Annex. She wrote the diary for the 2+years while in hiding, which later was published as a book.

You absolutely need to purchase tickets online and in advance. We could not get 4 tickets for Saturday or during the day on Sunday to go with my sister, because everything was sold out. We were able to get 2 tickets for the 7pm slot on Sunday (museum closes at 9pm) and it was extremely moving experience. Tickets go on sale every Tuesday for the next six weeks and should be purchased directly through the museum’s website. Apparently there are a lot of scam resellers, so don’t risk being rejected entry.

It’s a tragic, sad story, but also incredible and powerful one. I don’t want to spoil it, but this should really be a must visit place in Amsterdam. You get the headphones and listen to the audio tour while walking through the house, it takes a little over an hour total, unless you want to stay longer. No photos are permitted inside once the tour begins.

For our last dinner in Amsterdam, we made reservations at Restaurant Watergang in advance (we tried getting in here for lunch on Saturday with no luck) and had a super nice evening.

There is space for only 30 guests, so book your table and enjoy! 5 course surprise menu, no need to choose anything- just tell the staff if you are allergic or particularly don’t like something and let the magic happen. We enjoyed every single course and it was very reasonably priced.

CONCLUSION

This was the shortest transatlantic trip we’ve ever taken (besides 58hrs in Iceland, which is not fully across the Atlantic I suppose). Three days is definitely a good amount for Amsterdam. More time would have been nice of course- there are so many museums, great restaurants- you could easily fill the itinerary for at least a few more days. It was wonderful to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary and to start this holiday season seeing my sister and brother in law. Despite the short visit we spent quality time together. Amsterdam is definitely a great European city, easily accessible by train from the airport, so even if you have a day, it’s still worth the visit.