Amsterdam, Netherlands 2015

As a kid, my Dad often recounts his travels in Europe when he was studying in England. I remembered listening to his accounts with admiration, wanting to step foot in places he had been when he was a youth. This summer, after visiting Tim's family in France, we planned a short stopover at Amsterdam, Netherlands! Amsterdam is one of the cities my Dad often talked about. He loved the windmills, visited cheese factories and tried the infamous Dutch herring. My mom still keeps the postcard he sent her from decades ago.

Prior to the trip, I pour through travelogues, guidebooks and youtube videos on Amsterdam. Since we were only spending 3 days in that city, I wanted to visit as many places of interest as possible. Things didn't turn out quite like how I've planned after I tore my ligament in France, but it turned out to be one of the best trips we had!

Day 1

One-way taxi trips from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam city costs approximately €30-40. As budget travellers, we took the train instead (€5.10 /pax). It takes 20 minutes to reach the city! We stayed at Mövenpick Hotel for the 3 days. The hotel provides shuttle service from Amsterdam Centraal every 30 minutes. Should have been super convenient, but the week we arrive was the Amsterdam Sail event which takes place every 5 years! What's the odds of that?! It took us 10 minutes to walk to the hotel from the station with our luggage. Not a good start, but we were in awe when we looked out from our hotel window! The event was right in front of our hotel! We could see ships from all over the world! It was truly captivating. 

Amsterdam Sail 2015

Amsterdam Sail 2015

After staring out of our windows for a good half hour, we headed our to Albert Cuyp market. Travelling around Amsterdam city is a breeze. You could purchase a 24-hour OV card for €7.50, which entitles you to unlimited tram rides. 48/72 hours OV card is also available.  Albert Cuyp market is the biggest street market in Amsterdam. You could find fresh produce, tantalizing street food, spices, kitchen & home ware, souvenirs, etc. Tim bought a Ravioli cutter for himself. We loved the seafood from Vishandel - one of the seafood stores in the market. The trio seafood platter was our favorite! We went back on the third day for more. To my delight, a huge Albert Heijn (AH) supermarket is adjacent to Albert Cuyp. I have the habit of visiting supermarkets of the countries I visit. We bought fruits, snacks and daily supplies there. I particularly like the smoothies and mint infused water. The individually packaged AH stroopwafels were pretty good too.

Amsterdam Centraal

Dutch Herring

Colorful blooms

Fresh produce

Mint & lemon infused water

Mint & raspberry infused water

In the evening, we strolled around Nieuwendijk and bought fries from Manneken Pis - voted as Holland's no. 1 fries! The queue never stops here. In my opinion, they were pretty average, but the variety of condiments was good.

Famous fries

 Day 2

Windmills are often associated with Netherlands. I wanted to see one up close! We got up pretty early and travel to Zaanse Schans, a quaint town with traditional windmills! From Amsterdam Centraal station, take a train to Koog-Zandijk. The journey is approximately 30 minutes, round trip ticket costs €6.50. A €10 fee is payable at different windmills. I went to the spice mill which was free. You can read more about Zaanse Schans here. Some of the attractions open by 8AM. We went early to avoid crowds.

Zaanse Schans

Zaanse Schans

Zaanse Schans

In the afternoon, we headed to Bloemenmarkt - flower market. You could find fresh flowers, tulip bulbs and numerous souvenir options here. I selected a bundle of wooden tulips for my mother. It was a nice reminiscent moment for me as I thought about my Dad, picking out souvenirs for her more than 30 years ago while they were still dating. Maybe my kids might pick out something for me next time - Keep the cycle going.

After lunch, we headed to Waterlooplein flea market for sightseeing and shopping. I got beautiful kitchenware and and summer baskets from one of the stores. In my opinion, it was an exciting experience shopping at Waterlooplein, simply because you never know what treasures you could find here. One man's junk is another man's treasure. I like vintage items and you could find a good collection here. We also visited HEMA (an Ikea-like departmental store). Tim fell in love with HEMA and got many things for himself - hand blender, carving board, stationeries and kitchen accessories.

In the evening, we walked along the canals to soak in the atmosphere and had dinner at Chinatown. Scrumptious Asian food is readily available! Nasi padang, Dim sum, roasted meat, you name it.

Day 3

On our last day in Amsterdam, we headed out early to Albert Cuyp market for brunch. I bought an additional suitcase to keep the things we bought in Amsterdam... This is the first time I needed extra baggage for a trip! In the evening we headed to Schiphol airport via the train and had dinner there. There is a HEMA and AH Supermarket at the airport. You could do last minute shopping before your flight. We took KLM home and there is a strict 23kg/baggage limit for check-in bags. Tim's luggage was overweight by 0.7kg and we had to remove some items from the bag before we could check-in the baggage. Despite the small hiccup, we had a good time and look forward to our return. Probably in 5 years time? During the next Amsterdam Sail event :) Amsterdam is so accessible and we absolutely loved the whole experience we had there.