A trip down memory lane or should that be canal – 48 hrs in Amsterdam

Not one to reflect too much on the past but I do wonder how life would have been for me and my sister had my parents stayed in Amsterdam in the early 1970’s.  Would I now be living in a houseboat and possess the ability to cycling one handed whilst simultaneously ducking other cyclists/trams/cars/pedestrians whilst carrying a bouquet of tulips? Or more pertinent given the current political climate, would I have dual citizenship which would come in handy if Brexit does actually go ahead.

The bottom line is my parents headed back to Glasgow with my sister, aged 2/3 years. A few years later I arrived. I certainly have no regrets, however, it was nice being able to spend quality time with my dad and sister.  Something we haven’t done since we were kids. And that was the whole point of this trip – making time for one another as well as seeing and hearing all about my parent’s old haunts.

Let’s face it, what’s not to like about Amsterdam. Once you manage to loose the groups of stags/hens/teenagers/students* (*delete as appropriate) who were probably on your flight, and have managed to circumnavigate the horribly seedy red light district, it’s a lovely and very accessible city to explore.

It’s sights – Flower Market, Royal Palace, Dam Square and others – are all central and I suspect you’ll stumble upon them when wandering the canals.

First things first, if planning a visit, book well in advance. We struggled to find somewhere reasonably priced to stay, with four weeks notice which illustrates the level of demand for beds in the Netherlands capital. Subsequently, we ended up spending two nights in the Quentin Hotel Amsterdam, which was in a great location (12 mins on the tram from Central and around 10 mins walk from the Museum District, Vondelpark and Spui) but is best described as tired and in need of a good clean. The Tripadvisor reviews (read once we had booked!) of bed bugs and fellow travellers nocturnal activities were off-putting to say the least, but they did provide some amusement over the course of our weekend.

The area of Spui, just beyond the Red Light District, seemed to be the focal point of much of my dads life when we worked at the University over 40 years ago. I was impressed at the ease at which he navigated the ‘Dam’s horseshoe shaped streets, tracking down some of his old haunts.  These included Cafe Hoppe (one of Amsterdam’s oldest cafes), Wynand Fockink (famous for the array of Dutch ‘gin’ on offer – I’d say they were more like liqueurs) and Cafe de Doelen (which appears to have a ginger tabby cat as a regular). All of which were ‘brown’ bars, that’s to say, they weren’t “coffeeshops”.

We were assured they hadn’t changed much, and not being too dissimilar to the Doublet and Chip Bar in Glasgow, I could very much picture my parents enjoying a drink or two alongside academics, locals and artists. It would have been rude not to indulge in some people watching and tick off one of the items on Dad’s bucket list – so that’s just what we did, whilst enjoying a tipple or two.

The centre piece of our visit had always been to visit the David Hockney exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum. Being a huge fan of both, our dad was ecstatic at the thought. It didn’t disappoint. I hadn’t fully realised the similarities between Hockney’s landscapes and those of Van Gogh’s. The exhibition runs until the end of May 2019 so catch it if you can. Otherwise, its worth the visit to see Van Gogh’s famous ‘Sunflowers’, self-portraits, ‘Yellow House’ and ‘The Bedroom’.

We almost visited the Stedelijk (which my dad is convinced inspired my sister to become an artist) or Rijksmuseum but my sister and I were worried about being over-saturated by art. I think our dad was also a little taken aback by the 19 Euro entry fee p/p for most of the museums, when he used to take my 2/3 year old sister to the Stedelijk for free. Further proof that we are incredibly lucky living in a country where by and large, art exhibitions and museums are accessible to all for free (for the time being at least). I did manage to sneak a peak at the outdoor exhibits at the Moco Museum which included some of Banksy, WhIsBe and Fidia’s work.

If you are a culture vulture and want to visit any of the museums, I’d recommend booking tickets well in advance as Amsterdam seems to be constantly heaving. It means you’ll be guaranteed entry and won’t have to waste time queuing. Sadly I fell foul of this when I decided that I’d try to visit the Anne Frank House on my last afternoon in town. No chance!

The other item on our Dad’s list was to go for a traditional rijsttafel (rice surrounded by a selection of Indonesian dishes) at one of Amsterdam’s many Indonesian restaurants.  We opted for Kantjil and De Tiger, close to Begijnhof  (one of the city’s best known almshouses which provided a home for religious women). All I can say is ensure you have a healthy appetite. My sister and I went for the Nasi Rames Bandung (i.e. the no meat option). It was a little spicy for me but having never tried Indonesian food before it was nice to try something different.

Saturday nights dinner was a little less adventurous but tasty all the same – The Good Companion (an upmarket fish and chips joint) in the Jordaan area. This was followed by traditional apple pie at Winkel 43, also in the Jordaan. The latter was completely excessive but very yummy. Even our Dad agreed and he’s not a pudding lover!

The other eateries I managed to track down, albeit in the time before and after my sister and dad, had arrived/departed were: Vlaams Friethuis Vleminckx (a hole in the wall shop serving only chips or fries with a variety of toppings – try the peanut sauce, mayo and onions – funky but oh so good) and Frens Haringhandel (a food cart serving traditional pickled herring with gherkins and onions with/without bun – other fish such as smoked salmon was also available).
Both were incredibly central and served up tasty snacks for less than 5 Euro’s. And don’t forget the free samples of cheese on offer all over the place!

When visiting places like these on my travels, I often think Scotland misses a trick. We have fantastic produce and some great cooks and independent restaurants but I do wonder if some careful marketing might be needed. I mean for goodness sake the Canadians named a regular staple of any night out in Glasgow/Edinburgh – chips, cheese and gravy – Poutine for crying out loud!

Bagels and Beans also served up a decent breakfast which included coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice plus bagel with jam/cream cheese for 6 Euro’s. We weren’t brave enough for their ‘bug’ bagel but if you try it, let me know.

If you fancy something more substantial o a decent coffee, check out Bakers and Roasters for more traditional brunch items like pancakes or eggs. CT Coffee and Coconuts also gets great write ups too.

We were lucky enough to experience some decent weather when we visited so once we had our fill of culture, filled up on some yummy organic soup from Soup en Zo (around 5/10 mins walk from the Van Gough Museum), we visited Vondelpark. This huge expanse of green space seems to be where the locals tend to flock at the weekend. It was lovely and a welcome break from the seemingly constant hustle and bustle of the ‘Dam. Had we planned things better, we could easily have taken a picnic, stocking up on goodies from Foodhallen, Stach or one of the other many, lovely delis nearby on Overtoom.

The other ‘must’ if looking for a fun way to explore the city is to get one of the many canal cruises. There are loads to choose from. It gives you a different perspective on the city and its 100 kms of canals.

The one we opted for (which left from Damrak near Centraal) took us around the outlying canals as opposed to weaving through the smaller ones, but it did wet my appetite for visiting Amsterdam Noord (north) which was a free 2 mins ferry journey from Centraal station.

Sadly I didn’t have a great deal of time to explore but I did manage to check out the Eye Film Museum, A’Dam Lookout (famous for its ‘over the edge’ swing at 100 meters above ground) and Tolhuistuin which was a bar/cafe come venue, before jumping aboard the train back to Schiphol airport. I reckon this area would be great for exploring by bike given the relative lack of traffic and trams.

Despite having been on a number of occasions before it was nice to visit Amsterdam with family, not least in being able to spend quality time with one another but also being able to view through my Dad’s eyes.

Amsterdam is truly an accessible city, with more to it than stags/hens, stoners and its red neon windows, and you don’t even have to look far to discover its delights.