I woke up at nine, and it was pouring–thunder, lightning, the whole bit. So I rolled over and went back to sleep. When I got up again, it was still raining, but it had slowed to a drizzle. So I pulled myself out of bed and walked to the book market, which is held in the Spui square every Friday. Obviously accustomed to rain, each vendor was ensconced in her or his own little tent, and I spent a happy hour or so browsing. There were plenty of English language books, but most of them were fairly boring paperback editions, travel guides, etc. There were some cool-looking older books in Dutch, but yeah, I don’t speak Dutch. Or read it. So I walked away empty-handed. If I were an expat living in Amsterdam, though, that would be an awesome place to stock up each week.
I then headed to the western part of the city, the half I didn’t explore yesterday. I had reservations at the Anne Frank House at 3:15, and my big plan was to wander the surrounding neighborhood until then. Luckily, I picked an excellent neighborhood in which to wander. The area called Nine Streets is filled with little boutiques, most of them containing vintage or new-but-looks-old items. I popped in and out of stores, charmed by the quiet of the area, the houseboats on the canal (see left), and the distinct lack of coffee shops.
–An interjection. I have nothing against weed in theory, and I think it should be legal if alcohol is. However, I personally am not a fan. And I’ve been finding it a little jarring to be walking down a street at like 11 AM and be suddenly overwhelmed with the unmistakable smell. So just to answer the question I know you’ve all been asking yourselves, no, I didn’t smoke weed in Amsterdam. And I don’t mean that in the Bill Clinton sense. Nor did I eat a brownie. Not because I thought it was wrong, but just because it didn’t seem like a super fun thing to do by myself. And the people who hang out at those places aren’t really the types of people I want to make friends with. Moving on.–
So the highlight of my morning, as dorky as it sounds, was that I finally found a teapot. It’s really cute, very brightly colored with painted flowers all over it. I would show you a picture, but the woman wrapped it up in like twelve layers of paper. The shop itself was adorable, too, with a mixture of new and old household items and kitschy things like vintage lunchboxes.
I went to The Pancake Bakery for lunch, where I almost wished that I was stoned or that I had about ten other people with me. T
here was a truly dizzying array of pancakes to choose from. Sweet or savory? Traditional or fancy? Too. many. options. I wound up satisfying my savory craving with an appetizer bowl of French onion soup and then ordering a sweet specialty pancake that had apples baked in and came with cinnamon ice cream. Though I should have known, I was not quite prepared for the pancake to be the size of a large dinner plate (see right). I ate about half of it, though, which I think is a pretty impressive amount. It was seriously delicious, but really, there was no way I could finish it.
Shortly after lunch, it was time for the Anne Frank House. I was glad I’d booked my ticket in advance because the line was every bit as long as the guidebooks promised it would be. Walking through the house is heartwrenching. You start in the public areas and move up towards the annex where Anne Frank and her family lived. In almost every room there’s an accompanying video and explanatory notes. The rooms are unfurnished, at Otto Frank’s request, but the room where Anne Frank lived has pictures on the wall of celebrities and such that she cut out and posted to make the room cheerier. The rooms past the annex tell you what happened to the family after their hideout was discovered and how the museum came to be, and the final room shows Anne’s original diary and samples of other writing that she did in the annex. By the gift shop there’s an exhibit about contemporary issues related to tolerance, free speech, etc. that shows a short video and lets people vote on the issue; it’s such an interesting expansion on the theme. I was very impressed with the way the museum was put together, and I was very moved.
I was in a sad/slow/contemplative mood afterwards, so I took a long meander back to the hotel and spent a couple hours resting and packing (always packing and unpacking) before a very special final dinner in Amsterdam. I had to take a taxi to the outskirts of the city; De Kas is located in Frankendael Park. There’s a greenhouse attached to the restaurant where they grow most of their own produce, and the dining room is almost all windows–very light and bright (see pic at left). The food, as you would expect, was incredibly fresh-tasting, starting with the most amazing pesto that they brought out with the bread. They do a set menu with no choices, though they do ask if you have any allergies or if there’s anything you really dislike. Being the adventurous sort (I like to think so at least), I let them bring me whatever. The meal began with three appetizers that were all presented at once. I would have preferred if they’d come out one at a time, but they tasted incredible. There was ravioli with very crisp peas and beans, a flaky pastry with tomatoes, a seared scallop, and a vanilla cream, and leeks with squash. Everything was accented with edible flowers. The main course was a white fish, bone-in, covered in a lobster sauce with mashed potatoes and a simple green salad. Fish definitely wouldn’t have been my preference for the main course, so that may be the reason I thought it was good but not great. Dessert was excellent, though–a simple yellow cake with fresh cherries and ice cream. The cherry they placed on top was so big and ripe that it was almost like a plum. De Kas is a very different kind of restaurant, not for the picky, but I really enjoyed it.
I was a bit worried about getting home, since there wasn’t a taxi stand, and it was about an hour’s walk. After I’d walked for about fifteen minutes, though, I managed to hail a cab and get back to my hotel quickly and easily.
Tags: Amsterdam book market, Anne Frank House, De Kas, Nine Streets, The Pancake Bakery
