Amsterdam, the Venice of Northern Europe?

A weekend city of just the right size within easy reach.

When to go to Amsterdam if not over Easter when the tulips bloom and the spring sun starts to appear? Well, the spring sun was mostly absent but the tulips were in full bloom and the Rendahls had packed their raincoats. In this post we do all the things tourists do in the city, marvelling at crooked houses, eating cheese and riding a canal boat. If you want to read about when we visited the beautiful Keukenhof park, you can read here And if you think Amsterdam's culinary scene is all about bitterballen and fries, read about our visit to Michelin-starred restaurant de Silveren Spiegel here.

No, it's not the photographer who is crooked, but the houses are crooked

Rosalia's Menagerie

We always spend a little extra time looking for nice accommodation and we also try to stay away from the big hotel chains. Sure, it's convenient with chains, you know what you get and there are always discounts at Ica, Coop or the hotels' own loyalty programmes. However, it's a bit boring and then you also risk missing gems like this one, Rosalia's Menagerie. It is actually a small super cosy cocktail bar that serves great drinks but also has some rooms. It was therefore obvious to start our arrival in Amsterdam with a drink.

Efter välkomstdrinken balanserade vi de smala trapporna upp till vårt rum. Observera därför ordet ”drink” i singular, fler bör du inte ta första kvällen i denna stad om du inte vill riskera att bryta nacken i de smala och branta trapporna som mer är som stegar upp till de övre våningarna av husen. Jisses, ortoped måste vara ett lukrativt yrke i stan, någon ska väl ta hand om alla turisters snedtramp.

Well, we managed to get both up and down the stairs several times and we had a great time at Rosalias. Although the hotel is located above a bar in the middle of the old town, it is surprisingly quiet, we chose a room with a window facing the courtyard even though the rooms were slightly smaller than those facing the street.

In the morning we were treated to a fantastic breakfast of yoghurt, homemade granola, fruit and croissants. Our own chef was also ready to serve us everything we could wish for.

House of Rituals

Amsterdams spa-märke nummer ett är Rituals och naturligtvis finns det en flagship store här. Tre våningar med kräm, Henrik jublade kanske inte, men följde snällt med när jag ville in i butiken och botanisera. I butiken finns inte bara kräm utan de har även spa och en så kallad Mind Oasis, ett slags ”Sinnenas oas” där man kan boka diverse behandlingar som genom en mix av innovation och urgamla visdomar påstås kunna hjälpa dig att stressa ner i vardagen. Flummigt så det förslår alltså, men rätt kul ändå. Nedan ser ni även en bild på när jag testar ett hjul som ska snurra fram någon slags visdom åt mig. Tror att alla kan se hur min ryggtavla utstrålar en viss skepsis inför detta hjul. 🙂

Sceptical or not, of course we came out of the shop, a big bag of spa products richer and a penny poorer. Had we had more time in town, it would definitely have been an option to have a treatment or have lunch in their Asian restaurant which looked very nice. Now we moved on to the next tourist thing, the canal boat.

Canal boat

Det är väl i det närmaste ett måste att åka en kanaltur när du är i Amsterdam. Det finns mängder med företag som erbjuder turer av alla de slag, vanlig kanaltur, ”boat and booze”, ”boat and cheese” och så vidare. Vi valde en vanlig tur med företaget Flagship som hade rätt fina båtar. Två guider var med på båten och de turades om att berätta lite spännande fakta och trevliga anekdoter om de olika kanalhusen vi passerade längs vägen. Bland annat fick vi veta att fastighetsskatten en gång i tiden baserats på husens bredd, därav att de är så smala. Ni ser en bild på Amsterdams smalaste hus ovan, nästan dolt bakom en lyktstolpe. Kanalerna är också fulla med husbåtar, vissa knappt sjödugliga, men ändå löjligt dyra de få gånger de är ute på marknaden. Turen tog allt som allt en timme och man fick en bra översikt över staden. Vi passerade också Amsterdams enda svängda kanalhus som visade sig vara ett museum så vi bestämde oss för att gå dit nästföljande dag.

Bartolotti House

You might expect to find a house named Bartolotti in Italy but the story behind this name is apparently that the merchant who would inherit his wealthy relative had to take the name Bartolotti according to a condition in the will. An easy choice you can assume when you see this beautiful rococo castle that is now a museum. For an old house, it is almost an interactive museum, you can open the small doors in the cabinets, dance on the ballroom floors and you are offered coffee in the kitchen.

House Bartolotti is owned by a foundation that has taken on some 80 houses around the Netherlands to preserve and showcase them to the world. The foundation has really done a fantastic job of showcasing the old house. We spent about an hour walking around and listening to stories about the history of the house and the merchants who had lived there. Definitely worth a visit!

Cheese tasting at Old Amsterdam

If you have plenty of time, you should of course go out into the countryside or look for a farmers market to eat domestic products. However, we did not have that time and I had read somewhere before we left that even the commercial and touristy cheese shops that Amsterdam is crawling with had good cheese. We'll have to try it, we thought, and went into the Old Amsterdam Cheese Store. We just missed the last tasting of the day but must have looked particularly cheese hungry because we got our own tasting at the end of the day. It was so nice to have a cheese expert all to ourselves who guided us through lots of cheese and even managed to lure Henrik into some goat cheese, something he really doesn't like. Unclear if it was the well-filled glasses with matching wine or the subsequent whiskey that did it. 🙂 By the way, apparently whisky and well-aged Gouda is a great combo, at least if you don't, like me, get a little green in the face just from the smell of whisky.

Anne Frank House

Something that we unfortunately did not have time for this trip to Amsterdam was Anne Frank's home. Surely no one has missed this story that we all had to read about in school. However, we had underestimated what a huge tourist magnet this is and therefore did not book tickets far in advance. The tickets are released at the museum's website once a week for the next six weeks and then you have to be quick to book your entry. However, we took a walk past the residence and the neighbouring museum to take a few pictures.

After a couple of fantastic days in Amsterdam, it was now time to head home again. We will definitely return here and to the rest of the Netherlands again. Although we had packed days, we did not have time to do everything we wanted to do, and this city has so much more to offer than just coffee shops and the Red Light District, something that Amsterdam is perhaps otherwise best known for. Our tip is to skip the shabby exploitation of other people and instead experience everything beautiful and wonderful that Amsterdam has to offer. Eat well, drink well and enjoy this cosy little city.

On an evening walk through Vondelpark
Our experience
8.5/10

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