Summer Adventures: Amsterdam

Never in my life did I expect my job to take me to Europe for a week-long tour but I found myself embarking on a journey to Amsterdam, Berlin and a quick 19 hours in Hamburg. And after the work part of my trip was over, the fiancé and I spent a few days in Paris (my first there! More on that trip in another post). We walked (so much!), worked, ate and took in all the sites of these European cities. 

The sites: 

The Conveyor Belt Cheese Restaurant: 

The cheese plates at Kaasbar, a conveyor belt cheese bar, were all accompanied with spreads, toppings, or sauces. They have over 30 plates of different Dutch cheeses. (We didn't try the one with chocolate or popcorn but I was definitely intrigued). Unique, delicious and way more filling than I anticipated this outing would be. 

The Dutch Pub Fare: 

We only stumbled upon a dish called Bitterballen after a long day of sightseeing and fighting jet lag. These deep-fried, crispy balls are filled with essentially beef stew but in a more solid form and eaten with mustard. The bitterballen from De Ballenbar were flavored with more unique fillings than a traditional beef bitterballen. My favorite was the Thai flavored one. 

Other Dutch Delights: 

| a herring sandwich at Haring and Zo | stroopwafels from Rudi's | Savory Dutch pancake and poffertjes (Dutch mini pancakes) from Dutch Pancake Co. | Dutch Apple Pie (appeltaart) at De Laatste Kruimel

A Cupcake: 

I was surprised when I read that there was a cupcake bakery in Amsterdam; however, I found out when the bakery was closed for their days off. Luckily there was a bakery with cupcakes near my hotel that I could patronize before I left Amsterdam. 

There was only one cupcake, a carrot cupcake, available for €5.30 at Anook Bakehouse. Beautifully decorated and not too sweet, this cupcake was more muffin/quick bread than cake. Not super fluffy and packed with nuts and dried fruit, this was a nice pick-me-up before a flight to Berlin. 

Next time, I'll try to make it to Amsterdam Cupcake Company on my next trip in Amsterdam. 

Anook Bakehouse

De Pijp

Ferdinand Bolstraat 182, 1072 LV

Amsterdam, Netherlands