We arrived at our AirBnB and met our host. He was on his way to two exams about European Studies. We dropped off our bags and headed to meet up with Hunter's family at Albert Cuyp, a street market. The market had everything you could imagine from clothes to locally made cheese and much more. We walked the length of the market looking for Hunters parents, stopping at a bakery for a snack! Hunter had an almond croissant and I had an almond cake. We then found Hunter's parents at a cafe with Bailey, his sister. After lunch we walked the market together, browsing some stalls. I came across these cashmere like scarves and couldn't resist - I got 2 for $10! Bailey brought us to the best fresh made stroopwaffle vendor next and we all got delicious stroopwaffles that were still warm and gooey.
The winter market
Really yummy almond cake
The cafe where we met up with Hunter's parents and Bailey
Once we were done at the market, Bailey showed us her apartment she has been living in for the last 4-ish months (she has almost completed her semester abroad). It was in a large apartment building that had only exchange students. Her apartment was cute and had a nice view out of the window.
Determining where to go next after visiting Baileys apartment (Stormy, Hunter, Chip)
Hunter and I headed back to our AirBnB to take a nap before going to dinner. It was well needed seeing as we both only had about 5 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours. After our nap, we headed to a brewery to meet up with Hunter's family. It turned out that they didn't have a large selection of food, so we decided to try this other burger place. When we arrived at the burger place, they had reservations and no space for our group of 7, so Bailey mentioned this Thai place about a block away and they had space. Hunter and I had a chicken pad thai and a shrimp pad thai. Hayden got an Asian spicy pulled pork roll that looked really good. Isabel and Bailey both had tofu pad thai and Chip and Holly had curries. Everyone enjoyed dinner and liked what they ordered.
The brewery we went to
Pad thai dinner
A quick clip from our dinner
After dinner, Hayden and Isabel mentioned that they wanted ice cream. My first recommendation was metropolitan, a cute little shop we have gone to every time we have been in Amsterdam that serves gelato. Gelato is similar to ice cream but has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and eggs. It also is churned slower, incorporating less air and making it denser than ice cream. Hunter and I ordered gelato with chunks of stroopwaffle and dulce de leche. Hunter's dad Chip tried fig flavoured ice cream. It was delicious and I will probably make Hunter take me back before we leave! After our dessert, we walked into the red light district with Hunter's parents. Hunter and I had previously seen part of the red light district, but this time we walked down an alley that had many more women in windows. It was a little weird and surreal. Prostitution is legal here, but to me, it just is a very weird concept - selling sex to people you don't know.
Walking towards the shop that sells gelato
After that experience, we were getting pretty tired and it was late, so we decided to head back to our AirBnb. The shower at our AirBnB is what you would call a wet shower: it is just in the bathroom, not sectioned off like we do in North America. This is very common in many parts of the world, especially in Asia. Our host leaves a squeegee in the shower so afterwards you can dry off the floor. It worked surprisingly well on the tiles!
Getting to the subway to go back to our AirBnB
The living room of our AirBnB
Traditional steep dutch stairs. We have to climb up 4 of these to get into the apartment
The wet bath
The view from our window
It wasn't long before Hunter and I were alseep. We were both tired from the travel and days activities. Hopefully we will overcome any jetlag after a good nights rest!
Date: December 20, 2018
Stormy, it is lovely to read your blog! I particularly like the food details as getting to know a new city through food is my fav. Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteLaurel