This past weekend I ventured off to Amsterdam with a number of my flatmates and friends. The city turned out to be incredibly charming and a ton of fun!
On Friday we arrived around noon and I got settled into my hostel. Hungry, I found this cute little bakery called Melly’s Cookie bar where I bought myself a croissant with mozzerella and tomato. It was warmed up and salted so it almost tasted like a delicious pretzel with cheesy goodness.
After catching a quick bite, I met up with an old friend that I interned at The New York Musical Theater Festival with back in 2011. It was so nice to see her after 2 years and catch up with each other.
The afternoon slipped into the evening and I found myself wandering the streets alone for a little while. I was able to just zig in and out of shops and meander the street getting a sense of what the city had in-store. As the sky darkened and night took over the day, I met up with the others for dinner.
Saturday was loads of fun as we literally ate our way through Amsterdam. It all began with breakfast on the way to the Anne Frank House Museum. I shared a giant omelet and Dutch pancake with a friend and when I say giant I mean hanging off the plate status (see picture).
This beautiful breakfast prepared me for the very emotional experience that was the Anne Frank House Museum. Excellently set up, the museum walks you through the hiding space that held the Frank and Van Pel families over the 2 years during WWII. Quotes from Anne’s diaries graced the walls of the home, sharing her thoughts and ideas of her time in hiding. The heavy subject matter was delivered in a very gracious way. Even though there were numerous moments I felt tears swelling up in my eyes, I kept my cool and walked through as the strong confident jewish woman I am.
Following the Anne Frank House Museum we stopped in the museum cafe for a quick coffee. I ordered a cappuccino. When we were all warm inside we headed out into the cold when we saw a cute Dutch cheese shop – with FREE samples. Making sure to take a sample of each different kind of cheese, we entertained ourselves trying to find which type we liked best.
Once we had purchased our favorite cheese, we headed in the direction of the red light district. There we stopped in the chocolate store, Metropolitan. There we got to try their hot chocolate and while standing around waiting to make a decision we were offered FREE mini Dutch pancakes. I also got a delicious brownie and Stroop Waffle flavored gelato.
While walking around the red light district we also made sure the stop and get a frosting covered waffle and FRIES! The french fries in Amsterdam are AWESOME! They offer these fries with numerous sauce options, the most popular being what they call mayonnaise which isn’t really mayonnaise but instead this brilliant sauce that is just impossible to describe.
Other than having a ton of absolutely amazing food, Amsterdam was truly a charming little city where EVERYONE rides a bike. The energy of the city was cute and calm at the same time. Even though the weather was quite awful as Saturday included walking through large flakes of snow, that didn’t deter us from what Amsterdam really had to offer.
Before the trip back to London we visited the Hermitage Museum, the temporary home to Van Gough’s 50 most popular paintings. It was incredible to be up-close-and-personal with such amazing works of art. To see each and ever brush stroke was incredible. The exhibit was laid out very well, exposing the perfect amount of information about Van Gough, his life and is works. I was absolutely inspired by his story and the versatility he had as an artist.
Amsterdam was a great weekend away from London. I felt that I had just enough time to see everything I wanted to see and do everything I wanted to do.
Marissa Osowsky 