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.