My love for Amsterdam is fit to burst. I’m not sure I have enough room in my heart to love that place anymore than I already do, yet, I still manage to fall in love a little bit more each time we visit. This will be the fifth time James & I have visited the wonderful City together (I used to travel as a child to visit family friends) but each time we find a little bit of the city that we hadn’t explored before. We usually spend 3 nights or more visiting however the lack of annual leave meant we could only fit a 2 night break in before Christmas.
Our flight with Jet2 was an early start, but it meant that we could start exploring straight away before we made our way to our Air BnB apartment. From the airport we hopped on the intercity train which cost us each 4 euros. The trains are pretty frequent and we never have trouble finding a seat, even during the morning rush hour. Once we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal we boarded tram number 1 and headed to our favourite cafe, The Bulldog on Leidse Square. After filling up on Chocomel with whipped cream it was time to start meandering up and down streets that were so familiar such as Leidesplein and Spui. Both areas filled with plenty of bars and restaurants to fill up after a strenuous walk. Or instead, you could fill up on the street stalls and vendors – we tried Churros for the first time and we could not get enough of the sweet, deep fried treats!
Everywhere you turn there is something to capture, something to make you think. We headed to a little café, we sat in the conservatory with dim lighting and heaters keeping us warm from the afternoon shower that was starting to pour down. We sipped on fresh orange juice and watched the people come and go at the Spui Art Market to pass the time. The old men sat on chairs chatting away still despite the turn of weather.
We couldn’t check in to our apartment till 2pm so we idly wandered back to the area we were staying in. It was the first time we had used Air BnB for accommodation so we wanted to explore the area we were staying in, Overtoom, which was about 10 minutes from our usual spot at the Eden American Hotel on Leidse Square. There were cute little artisan cafes and flower shops that lined the streets. Mostly a residential area but it felt so safe and with VondelPark a mere stones throw away we were in a perfect spot.
When 2pm struck we were eager to get in to our apartment, after clear instructions from Rene & Wendy, we made our way up the steep Amsterdam apartment steps and entered our wonderful apartment. To say the place was “Instagram Worthy” would be a huge understatement. Full length stained glass windows, white wooden flooring to super cool light fittings. It was a minimalists dream. You can book the place here and would thoroughly recommend the place for a really relaxing break (or if you’ve travelled to Amsterdam before and don’t need to be in the hustle and bustle of it all) It served as such a good base for us and within 200 yards there was a tram stop for getting from one side of the city to the other.
After resting our weary bones we picked up some bread, cheese and ham to create a little mini meze platter. We were truly stuffed so we of course had to have a little nap before we headed out for the Indian that James had picked out via TripAdvisor. We left the apartment around 8pm and got back just shy of 10pm – we decided not to have a late one as we wanted to spend the day exploring VondelPark more which meant, you guessed it, lot’s of walking.
I can’t wait to share our other days of Adventuring around during our weekend in Amsterdam! Have you been to Amsterdam? What’s your favourite spot in the City? Or, have you never been but want to give it a try? I’d love to hear from you!
Bee xxx
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