Going Dutch

The cruise made a stop in IJmuiden, Netherlands, the port that services Amsterdam. I took the 45 min bus into the city, and it got stuck under a bridge. Yep. It wasn’t even close, and if you’re wondering what it sounds like when you’re in a moving bus and it jams itself under bridge, it’s exactly what you think it sounds like. SO. LOUD. AND CRUNCHY. AND TERRIFYING.

Anyway, nobody was hurt, the driver was laughing about it, and we were only a 5 min walk from our stop, so it was just a blip in my visit.

All the rest of my time in Amsterdam was spent on another food tour, and it was the best one I’ve taken so far in Europe. It was also the closest to what I’ve envisioned for my Drink•Eat•Walk tours. I continue to realize that not everybody knows what a food tour is, so I’m going to walk you through this great one with the pics I took on it.

The tour was through the Jordaan neighborhood, and it started outside a cafe I had coincidentally already a coffee at while waiting for the tour to start:

There were 12 in the group, and the guide was an Italian artist who lives in Amsterdam with his girlfriend. He was great. Instead of intros and a kickoff speech, though, he started by leading us on a 5 min walk to our first stop:

The type of place we stopped is called a Brown Bar/Cafe, called that because of their “dark wooden furnishings, tobacco-stained walls, and sense of gezelligheid (coziness)”:

We sat around a small table while the guide told us about himself, laid out the tour, and we went around and told him our favorite food.

We were served Dutch Appeltaart, the common thing locals offer when people visit their homes. We could choose any drink we wanted: beer, wine, soda, coffee, or what I chose, Ginger Tea, which had big ol’ slices of real ginger in it:

After about 30 min, we were off to the next stop, stopping along the way to hear the guide talk about Amsterdam’s canals:

He then ran off to get and bring back our next food: Pickeled herring, onions, and pickles:

I had never had it, loved it, and ended up eating a bunch of it, as some of the other Americans refused to try it:

The guide again ran off, this time bringing back fried cod fritters:

This is the place he kept running to, and you can see why we wouldn’t all fit in there:

Then it was off another brown bar:

Again we could choose our own drink 🍺 and were served four types of cheeses:

Better view of the inside of the bar:

Next up was Indonesian food. It was a Dutch colony, so there are lots of Indonesians living in the Netherlands, bringing their delicious food with them:

The place was tiny, but we went inside to be introduced to the owner & food:

But we ate the peanut satay skewer outside:

We then moved on to a place serving vegetarian schwarma’ish wraps:

It was the most modern feeling place we stopped at:

The final stop was the cafe we started at:

First up was a shot of Dutch moonshine (I forget what is was called, but that’s what it “tasted”/burned like):

And then some Bitterballen:

“a Dutch meat-based snack, made by making a very thick stew thickened with roux and beef stock and loaded with meat, refrigerating the stew until it firms, and then rolling the thick mixture into balls which then get breaded and fried. Seasonings in the base stew usually include onions, salt and pepper, parsley and nutmeg.”

Loved them. This was my favorite stop, and it was closest to the type of stop I’m going to D•E•W. It even included an outside neighbor filling the place, through the window, with his guitar strumming:

The final speech, tip time, and goodbyes were done outside:

The tour was fantastic: Great guide, good food (and plenty of it) with stories, perfect pacing, the right amount of info, and even some attempts at encouraging group interaction (a focus of my tours). I learned a bunch and also confirmed some of my tour design instincts.

Amsterdam was stunning. I’d never been before, but instantly loved it. It was a gorgeous day, but I’d love to experience it in its worst weather also. I’ll be back.