Amsterdam- Part One

A melting pot of a young and old, historic and modern Europe, hip restaurants, fashionable boutiques, crowded sidewalks and a smorgasbord of smells, shops, sounds and sex. Amsterdam is not just the European Canal City of Debauchery & Sin as it's reputation has portrayed it to be, but a truly magnificent and creatively dynamic city that has something special to offer everyone from anywhere.

One of the things that I love about Amsterdam is that regardless of what your interests are, there is never a shortage of things to see or do. Of course this is often the case in most cities and places one voluntarily visits, but there is something particularly unique about Amsterdam that I absolutely love.  With rhe exception of london, amsterdam is one of the best english speaking cities in europe! Its welcomed, appreciated and effortless. Some times you feel like a jerk if you dont speak Spanish or French or German, but here, communication is fluid and mutually understood which makes it really enjoyable and stress free. Another thing is the architecture. Whether it is shitty out, sunny or windy as hell, the architecture of Amsterdam is so unique and funky that you cant help but feel cozy and awed by such obtuse and acute angles that there is never room in the eye for boredom. You can walk and walk and walk and just keep admiring all of the buildings and question how they are still standing. You feel like you are walking around in a piece of art with no end and its fantastic. I love that you can sit at a cafe on a bridge and be tickled by the thought of the boats gliding under your feet and appreciate how these people steer a boat on a tiny ass canal better than you will ever parallel park a car in the middle of a Walmart parking lot. Never a shortage of entertainment just by being there not doing a damn thing but enjoying.

So this weekend was that and much more. We met up with some super special friends from Sweden (and surprised one!) and had a blast as we ate, bounced and chatted our way through the city. The city has so much to offer in terms of cuisine that unless you know exactly what you want, you have no idea what you want because there is so much to choose from. You can walk on a single block less than a quarter mile (in any scale) and have Chinese, Sushi, Hot Dogs, Donuts, Smoothies, Hemp Pops, Calzones, Pancakes, Space Cakes and Fresh Fruit to choose from. The most popular I would have to say however is the Kebab. They are fricken everywhere its unbelievable. And if you are one for the famous Middle Eastern Sandwich, be sure to dive into one (or in my case, a bite!) before you leave because the one close to home may not be as good as the ones here.

While we're on the fat kid train, its important to note that while all of these options and choices are readily available I/we did not indulge in such sweet temptations, but rather made conciously  indigenous delicious Dutch delicacy decisions. So Saturday after lefting and righting and tour mapping it up a few times after a few hours in the art museum (more on that later...), we found my favorite Carousel Pancake House. This folks is no IHOP. This is a craft with countless choices, each better than the last categorized simply as sweet or salty. Each pancake is the size of a small (US) pizza and its thin and loaded with flavor. I locked eyes on the fresh ginger and jumped at the chance, only to have been recommended to pair it with local apple and it was nom nom nom nom nom.....

Right.

Wanting to bury my head in the sand at my lack of pancake control it was onto an afternoon of shopping and walking and avoiding anything that required a fork. I was successful on this mission until I learned we had reservations at 9:30. No problem. It was only noon...I could hold out...And it was worth it!

Our

Onto the shopping! And what a great city to in shop it is! Of course you have your ritzy glitzy part of the city, but if you want boutiques, local designers, thrift and modern classics, you want to go to the Nine Streets. It is packed with fashion for everyone's taste in a range of great European prices. One of my favorites is called VANILLA and the clothes are as sweet and soft as the name. I highly recommend this shop to any of you ladies looking for something classic that you can easily dress up for work or down with jeans for style and comfort!
So after doing some wandering and numbing the credit cards, we decided it was time to take a break and a nap before heading out for the night. This was an imperative decision as any Saturday night veteran knows. So we four went back to our rooms and prepared ourselves for a Saturday night on the town....