Amsterdam: winds in the east

I have already been gushing about the pink goodness that was waiting for us on Sunday after our visit to the Van Gogh’s museum at Museumplein, then I guess it is no surprise that our last post of the Amsterdam series is totally devoted to it.

Museumplein is a large square where the famous “I amsterdam” flanks the Rijksmuseum and a large green esplanade. Somehow this disposition reminded me of “Le champs de mars” next to the Eiffel tower, in the sense (please keep with me :P) that you are able to see an iconic place from far away in a green land.

That was our last view of Amsterdam, because once we were in the middle of Museumplein, next to the most exquisite houses, we started feeling a very strong wind that came from the east and took us directly to Barcelona ;) Bye Amsterdam, this is only a see you soon good-byes, we need a second round of your awesomeness.

But wait! we are not leaving you yet! Because several people told us that they would love to visit Amsterdam someday we thought it would be nice to leave in the last post a quick guide to sum-up our favorite places and tips about this wonderful city. We have only been a short weekend and lots of important things will be missing on the list, nevertheless our tips might be helpful to fill some gaps in your future trip. Here we go! :

Visits not to miss

• Amsterdam is the paradise of brick architecture lovers, so for us this was our main attraction; we spent the weekend drooling over the beautiful houses next to the canals. Could this be more perfect? yes, of course, they are next to a wonderful canal with neat boat houses! ;) The boat houses are also quite the attraction and we read that there is one acting like a museum to check-out how the interiors look like. Maye the visit is worthy? We were also tempted to rent one of this canal bikes service.
• Westerpark. I think we have expressed quite well our love for this Westergasfabriek park :) in this dedicated post, but we need to insist, it was a very joyful moment. If the sun is shining, don’t hesitate for a second and go straight to this park.
• Jordaan street market (Noordermarkt) on Saturdays. Although Pijp’s Albert Cuyp Market is definitely more famous, it is also crazier and messier looking (please forgive me if I got the wrong impression!) however Noordermarkt has cuter stalls and I love its mixture between organic food market and vintage antiques and clothing.
• If you don’t like visiting museums you would equally enjoy a visit to Museumplein whether it is to take the “I amsterdam” pic or see the green, trees and beautiful houses around this square. However if you always plan a museum visit in every trip, this time it would be a MUST. We absolutely loved the multimedia guide to the Van Gogh’s Museum. Although all the guides tell that 3:00pm is the best visiting hour, we were there by 10:00am and only had to wait around 15 minutes.

Places to eat not to miss

• Pizzakamer, we ate dinner at this cozy pizza place at Pijp. We loved the food, I had a delicious Carciofi e stracchino pizza while Dani choose a more classical 4 Formaggi, both very yummy, and the atmosphere of the place felt nice. The only downside is that this was a Friday night and we had to wait almost 1h (which is a good sign, I guess, lots of locals were waiting also with us), nevertheless the staff was extra friendly and made our wait more pleasant by offering drinks and giving us sweet smiles and updates about the tables before us.
• Breakfast/Brunch/afternoon tea at De bakkerswinkel. We absolutely loved the decoration and slow feeling of the place. We ate their fresh scones with homemade jam & clotted cream and the handmade brioche (aftermatch picture proving that it was good!). Both are good options! It is also a good place to taste the famous Mint tea with honey. We only went to their Amsterdam centrum location, but I am pretty sure all of them must be charming.
• Bird. A very centric Thai restaurant with good food and nice decoration. Don’t be scared by the queues, the local has three different rooms so it moves fast. We ate the Panang Nua beef (favorite!) and the Cashew chicken. Dishes are served with a big bowl of rice, take this into account while ordering because there will be plenty of food already. Amsterdam places usually have complimentary water but Bird requires ordering a drink first. Oh! they also have an informal (and smaller) restaurant in front, if you are only hungry for some snacks.
• We also heart: the pancake bakery, two for joy & a hot chocolate at pompadour.

Experiences not to miss

• Eat an appletaart at Winkel. Taste that cinnamon piece from heaven and be aware of the long queues. A useful tip may be eating there before 10am avoiding long waits, on a Saturday morning, and then visiting the nearby market.
• Rent a bike, I know it is a cliché and we even not really got to do it, but hey, we can assure that after 10 minutes walking around Amsterdam you would definitely be craving for one.
• Pet a cat :) It’s a weird piece of advice, but you will find them in every store, in every corner, so it’s a great opportunity to show your cat love.
• House peeking, and…weirdness strikes back!, but let me explain first. Amsterdam is a city with lovely decorated houses and with citizens whom are not very fond of using curtains, so you are able to see the most amazing house interiors (street level) just by walking in the less crowded streets. It’s like a real life Home decoration Pinterest board :) just kidding, but I find it so interesting since I love their approach to decoration and their home stores. Also those streets were nicer to walk, no rush, no people to annoy with our long “let’s take another picture” stops :)
• Shopping at Jordaan. We loved the shops, there are nice clothing stores (like vintage at Laura Dols & Episode, or vintage-inspired at “I love vintage“), home decor (have fun at Kitsch Kitchen!) and yummy shops (cheese & chocolates!). Take into account that this is a popular area for both locals and tourists so it is quite crowded on weekends.

Hope you liked our selection! And do not hesitate to leave us a link in the comments to your personal Amsterdam guide or trip post/s, we love to have new recommendations for future Amsterdam getaways!

** This post is part of our Amsterdam series **

We started feeling a very strong wind that came from the east and took us directly to Barcelona ;) Bye Amsterdam, we need a second round of your awesomeness!