More Love for Amsterdam: Gay Pride Celebration, Canal Tour, Dutch Beers and Jenever Tasting

After doing a little research on summer events in Amsterdam before leaving home, I knew we would be there for the annual Gay Pride Parade on the canal, and we were looking forward to it. We started off the day of the parade with a bike ride to the Nieuwmarkt neighborhood. We parked our bikes near the Jewish Historical Museum. We had plenty of time to walk through the Waterlooplein flea market before we needed to find a place along the parade route. It was fun to see the eclectic collection of things for sale at the flea market. And even though this was our 7^th market on the trip, we enjoyed wandering through it as much as we did the first. 

After getting a snack and some beers at the grocery store, we walked along the water until we found a place on the Amstel River where we thought we would be able to see the floats. Once the parade started passing us, we watched for about 30 minutes and then continued walking along the route. It was particularly impressive to see the parade along the Prinsengracht canal. It was such a great day to be in Amsterdam. I don’t know much about the politics in The Netherlands, but I do know that acceptance and tolerance of homosexuality is a point of pride in the country, and it really felt like everyone in the city was proud and celebrating. There were so many happy people, and it was fun to be among them. 

The parade along the Amstel River

It was such a beautiful, sunny day in the 70's...perfect.

The parade along the Prinsengracht canal.

After the parade we moved our bikes to the western canal ring and went to t’Arendsnest, a great beer café that serves only Dutch beer. They have over 300 varieties and 23 on tap. We had some recommendations from friends on a few things to do in Amsterdam and a stop at this brown café was one of them. We loved the atmosphere at t’Arendsnest and had two great beers each before we had to hurry to the Red Light District/Dam Square area to do some liquor tasting before Wynand Fockink closed. 

This small but cozy and welcoming bar is a must stop in Amsterdam.

t'Arendsnest sits on the Herengracht canal

Wynand Fockink was also recommended to us. It is a liquor distillery and has been since 1679. The staff was very helpful and kind while explaining the different types of liquor, jenever specifically. They pour you about an ounce of the liquor so full to the brim of the tasting glass that it is customary to bend down and sip the liquor off the top so none spills when it is lifted off the counter. We tried “new” and “old” varieties of jenever which has to do with the distilling method. The old jenever tasted a lot like whiskey, while the new was cleaner and slightly easier to drink. I preferred the new, while Andy definitely preferred the old. Both were delicious. 

Wynand Fockink took over the liqueur distillery from Jan Bierman in 1730.



Walking into the tasting room was like stepping back in time.

We left there and wandered through the Red Light District again. We knew it would be much more interesting and entertaining on a Saturday night with thousands of extra people in the city due to the parade than it had been when we walked through a couple of days earlier in the afternoon, and it was. After we tired of the crowds, we got some takeout food and found a quiet canal near our bikes to sit along and eat dinner. We were close to t’Arendsnest so we went back for one more beer that Andy didn't have a chance to try earlier. I know he’ll be looking forward to going back there again on our next trip to Amsterdam. 

The famous Red Light District

On our last day in Amsterdam we spent the morning wandering around the canals, walking through the flower market and just “being” in Amsterdam. Around 5pm, we took the Boom Chicago Boat Tour. That specific canal tour was also recommended to us by friends, and we loved it. Compared to many large boats on the canals, the boat they used was small, which was really nice. It held around 30 people, but it wasn’t full adding to the relaxed feel. The guide hadn’t lived in Amsterdam very long, but he definitely knew the history of the city, the canals, and the buildings well enough to keep us entertained for over an hour. It was nice to do the tour on the last day because we were pretty well oriented by then and were able to see things from the water that we’d seen walking around. 

The start of the canal tour along the picturesque Prinsengracht canal.

After we got off the boat, we rode our bikes south through the De Pijp neighborhood and then East before finding a quick place for dinner along the Amstel River. By the time we made a stop at a grocery store for the next morning’s breakfast and finished our ride back to the apartment, it was after 10 pm, and we sadly packed and got ready to head to the airport the following morning. 

Spending some time just enjoying Amsterdam.

 

We loved biking everywhere.

 

We LOVED Amsterdam. A city has never felt so much like home to us after just a few days, and I can see many more visits to Amsterdam in our future. We had a great time in Belgium too, and although I think we say this after every trip, it was definitely one of our favorites.

Falling in Love with Amsterdam

We took the train from Bruges to Amsterdam changing trains in Antwerp and Rotterdam. The trip took about 4 hours. The apartment we rented in Amsterdam was in the Indische Buurt neighborhood, a 15 minute bus ride from Amsterdam Central Train Station. We used airbnb to find the apartment. We’ve had really good luck using airbnb, and this was no exception. Other than getting situated and going grocery shopping the first night, we went for a short walk around the neighborhood and then ended up in the Eastern Islands/Eastern Docklands district for dinner. We ate at a great little place, Café de Cantine. The atmosphere was welcoming, the people working there were super friendly and the food was amazing. We also had some great beers from the nearby Brouwerij 't IJ.

Brouwerij 't IJ: Great brewery located next to the beautiful De Gooyer windmill.

I had maybe the best goat cheese salad in existence at this wonderful cafe.

The temperature was in the mid-90s in Amsterdam the first two full days we were there, much hotter than normal. Because temperatures rarely get that high, many places don’t have AC, including the apartment we rented, making it a very hot couple of days. Luckily Amsterdam is amazing which made the heat much more bearable. We started the day with a bike ride across the city to the Jordaan district, using the bikes that came with the apartment (such a great deal!), to the Boom Chicago theatre to buy boat tour tickets for Sunday. We had lunch at Pancakes! Amsterdam and spent most of the afternoon walking around the Medieval Center, Dam square and the Red Light District. We left our bikes parked near the Royal Palace much of the day and went back to get them in the evening. Biking around Amsterdam is very easy, but due to the crowds, walking is easier in the center. After moving our bikes near to the Anne Frank House, we walked through the Jordaan neighborhood again and ended up at a bar with great outdoor seating for dinner. Again, the food was amazing. We read somewhere later that it is typical in Amsterdam for people to take great pride in the food they serve, even at bars or casual restaurants. We certainly noticed and could not stop talking about the food.

Great food at this bar in the Jordaan neighborhood.

 

The pancakes did not disappoint!

 

The National Monument on Dam Square

 

Oude Kerk (old church) is Amsterdam's oldest building and is located a block from the famous Red Light District.

After dinner we walked over to the Anne Frank House. We showed up at 9:15pm (open until 10pm). They were just closing the line as we walked up, and we were really disappointed because it was a great time to fit in the Anne Frank House to our schedule without waiting in a long line. The guy working there decided to let us in the line before closing it after seeing our disappointment. There was still a small line, so by the time we got our tickets and got inside, we had about 35 minutes. It’s the sort of museum where you just go one way through the house and there are a few places with videos and things to read. We felt a little rushed. Arriving at 9pm would have been perfect, but we would definitely have chosen being a little rushed to being crammed in the space with no air-conditioning after waiting in line for hours. 

Dusk on the beautiful Prinsengracht canal.

The canal-side facade of the building where the Franks hid from 1942-1944.

The Anne Frank House was very interesting to see. I started reading The Diary of a Young Girl right before the trip and was only half way through the book when we arrived in Amsterdam, and although I read it in junior high, I remembered almost no details. There isn’t a lot of background explanation at the Anne Frank House, especially in the beginning so doing some research or reading the book in full before going would be advised. It was fascinating and heartbreaking nonetheless and standing in Anne Frank’s bedroom and other frequented parts of the house made finishing the book so much more vivid. After leaving there right at 10pm, we rode our bikes back to the apartment along the water north of the city, which is beautiful at night. 

Our second full day was even hotter than the day before, so we decided to go out on foot/bus instead of biking in an attempt to stay a little cooler. We started that day at the Dappermarkt, not more than a 15 minute walk from the apartment. This market had absolutely everything you could imagine wanting to buy at a market, and it wasn’t overly crowded. We did not mean to walk all the way from the Dappermarkt to the more well-known Albert Cuypmarkt, but we just kept wandering and ended up there. The Albert Cuypmarkt was definitely larger than the Dappermarkt but essentially had all of the same things. We enjoyed the market, but with so many people walking through there and the black asphalt under our feet, it was excruciatingly hot. We were drenched in sweat when we walked out the other side of the market. We planned to visit the Rijksmuseum next because we knew we would be in the area and in desperate need of some air conditioning. 

The colorful and manageable Dappermarkt in a wonderfully eclectic neighborhood.

We enjoyed a great take away falafel picnic lunch in the beautiful and relaxing Oosterpark.

  

The huge Albert Cuypmarkt in the De Pijp neighborhood has everything from live lobsters to shampoo.

When we arrived at the Rijksmuseum at 4pm, we were told it closed at 5pm. The guidebook said it closed at 6pm so we were expecting to have a little more time. The woman selling tickets said we could see the main attractions in 45 minutes, so we decided to go for it. Again I think we could have benefited from a few more minutes, but it was enough time to see most of what we wanted to see. We were able to see the most famous paintings including the grandiose main attraction, Rembrandt’s Night Watch. The museum’s air conditioning revived us, and we felt ready to continue exploring Amsterdam. 

The famous I amsterdam letters with the stunning Rijksmuseum in the background.

We spent some time people watching in the museumplein behind the Rijksmuseum and wandering before walking through Vondelpark. We had a wonderful picnic dinner under a tree in Vondelpark, and it seemed like everyone in Amsterdam was doing the same thing. After dinner, we hopped on a tram back to our neighborhood and strolled down Javastraat before going back to the apartment. We were immediately smitten with Amsterdam. The canals are beautiful and the people we interacted with were unbelievably kind. Being such a bike friendly city makes it even more unique and lovable and even on the second day, we were already getting sad that we didn’t have more time to spend in Amsterdam.   

Vondelpark reminded us a lot of Central Park in Manhattan.

Bruges: A Picturesque Medeival Town and a Tasty Beer Hunt

We arrived in Bruges around 12pm after an hour train ride from Brussels. As I read there would be, there were many day trippers on the same train, so we were immediately glad we chose to spend a night in Bruges knowing later many of the tourists would be returning to Brussels. We stayed at the Budget Ibis right at the train station, which was really perfect for one night. It was convenient to not have to drag our bags into the city center and to be near the train station for the following morning’s trip to Amsterdam.

Bruges is very walkable, but biking is also a great way to see the town.

It rained on and off all day, but it didn’t take away from the beauty of the town. If anything, the rain drove many of the tourists indoors making the cobblestone streets that much more enjoyable.

We started the day with a walk to the main Markt square before heading out northeast of the center to the St. Anna area to see the windmills. We enjoyed this area because it seemed captured in time. There were very few people walking around, and sometimes we were the only ones on the street. It was peaceful. 

The canals added to the historic feeling of the town.



Two of the four windmills are still in operation and date from the 18th century.



Our first beers of the day on the way to the windmills.

We used the Lonely Planet Pocket Guide to Bruges and Brussels to help guide our bar stops throughout the day. We spent 45 minutes looking for the De Garre bar. The guide book uses the word “hidden” to describe the location of the bar but also provides a map with the location of the bar on it. This confused us until we actually started looking for it (using the map) and could not find it. There is a small alley behind where we thought the bar should have been so we walked through there a few times and made a circle between the Markt and Burg square. We were confused and began to think the map was wrong. Thinking we needed to hurry to the De Halve Maan Brewery to catch the last tour, we abandoned our search for De Garre.

The belfry at Grote Markt in the background and the provincial court on the left

Markt, the main square in Bruges.

Because we are apparently not good at reading the fine print in the guide book or on signs, we showed up too late for a tour of the De Halve Maan Brewery. We were disappointed, but our spirits were quickly lifted with a taste of the beer. We were able to find a dry spot in the beautiful courtyard of the brewery to sit and enjoy the tasty brews. 

Straffe Hendrik quadrupel and Brugse Zot Dubbel

De Halve Maan Brewery was founded in 1856.

After more wandering around the canals and an attempt to go to Café Vlissinghe (it was closed for the week), we made our way to t’Poatersgat. This bar was also described as having an obscure entrance, but we found it easily. It was a little intimidating because it is a huge cave-like space, and there were only two other people there when we arrived around 7pm. We started with beers from a brewery we had read about from Esen, Belgium: Arabier and Oerbier from the De Dolle Brouwers. They were both delicious. By the time we were halfway through our first beers, the bar was half full and by the time we ordered our second beer, the whole bar was packed, and there wasn’t an open table. It was really fun to see it fill up, and we were happy we arrived when we did.

t’Poatersgat is a great bar with a huge beer selection.

We could have spent a whole day there tasting Belgian beers.

Two more great beers: Orval and Gauloise

Oerbier and Arabier from the De Dolle Brouwers. The Arabier was Andy's favorite of the trip.

We had a great dinner at Pita Huis, a couple of blocks off of the Markt. It was slightly more than we normally like to pay for dinner but worth it. We had a falafel pita and a lamb gyro and the meal came with five delicious sauces. It’s a classy but cozy little restaurant. After dinner, around 11pm, we walked through the Markt square in order to enjoy it at night. There were a few people still hanging out at one of the restaurants there, but other than that, we had it almost all to ourselves. After a full day of walking and beer drinking, we headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted. 

The Markt at night

As we were walking by the area where the elusive De Garre bar was supposed to be located, we joked that if we happened upon it then, we would have to stop since we spent so much time earlier looking for it, even though we were seriously ready for bed. That particular street was still relatively crowded. We stepped out of the way of a guy on a bike and when we did, we looked up and saw the street sign “Garre.” It was really funny; it was like being in a movie where the answer to a complex plot magically appears lighted in a golden hue. It is a tiny, narrow alley, the opening is not more than three feet wide, and the sign is very small. It had a gate it front of it, and I guess because it was so busy during the day, we didn’t even notice the narrow opening between two shops. So even though we were full and very tired, we had to stop. The bar is at the end of the tiny “street” and is a very small space (it also has a second floor as well but we didn’t go upstairs). It is old and authentic and the beers are served on trays with white doilies. It felt like we stepped back in time as we walked through the door. We ordered one of the exclusive 11% Garre Tripel beers (this bar is the only place in the world to get it) and a Kwak because we were leaving Belgium the next day and hadn’t had one yet. We also didn’t think we could handle two Garre tripels. We really enjoyed the Garre beer. It was dangerously easy to drink for having such high alcohol content. 

Many Belgian beers have this thick, foamy head when freshly poured.

The "street" we could not find earlier in the day.

We got a little lost on the way back to our hotel, partly because the streets in Bruges can be confusing and partly because we’d just enjoyed an 11% beer. We ended up back on the Markt, and our exhaustion had us, for a few seconds, believing we were somewhere we had not yet been. It was hilarious. We got ourselves turned back in the right direction and back to the hotel 15 minutes later. 

One day was enough time to get a good taste of Bruges, though there are things we didn’t have time to do and see, so we could easily have filled another day there. I have read that Bruges is especially wonderful in the winter and after walking around the town at night on almost empty streets, it’s easy to imagine loving a day there bundled in a warm coat with some hot chocolate. We might have to plan a winter trip back to Bruges. After all, we do still have hundreds of beers to try.