Maandag: De zon schijnt

When we booked our accommodations we threw in a bus/canal tour. I talked about less-than-impressive bus tour on Saturday. Our canal tour was far better. The driver took us onto the Amstel, several canals, and out into the harbor. If it weren't for the glass windows, the photographic opportunities would have been better. The sun finally came out in the middle of the tour.



Next we shared some of those famous Dutch fries or frites, covered in mayonnaise and mustard. Before you assume that it's heavy and gross, I gotta say that the mayo is much more mild and creamy than mayonnaise I've had in the states. It's really pretty darn good.

Mike is serious about those frites.

Next we walked around the beautiful Jordaan area.
So many of the houses remind me of New York - you can really see the similarities in the layout and the architecture. It certainly drives home the fact that New York was once "New Amsterdam" initially inhabited by the Dutch.
On the plane trip out, I started crocheting a scarf for Dick, but unfortunately I ran out of yarn before I was able to finish it. This necessitated the discovery of de Afstap, a yarn shop in Amsterdam. A quick google search returned a blog post from someone who had visited the shop and it became our mission to find it. Mission accomplished.

He probably won't get his scarf until after the trip home, but the visit to the shop was great. The ladies who run the shop were really helpful. I got some beautiful wool yarn and Christina picked up a hand made hat while we were there.
I really love the prevalence of "shop pets" in these places!
During our boat tour, the guide pointed out what he called "the oldest Cafe" so we had to check it out. Built on the corner of Brouwersgracht and Prinsengracht in 1642 I'm not sure if Cafe Papeneiland is indeed the oldest, but apparently it is one of the oldest and well-known of the old cafes, known as "brown cafes".

We sat and enjoyed our beverages in the small, cozy, gellezig area upstairs. Speaking of gellezig: this is apparently a word used quite a bit in the Dutch language to mean warm, friendly, and cozy. There really is no English equivalent to the word, but I'm thinking it is the same as the German word gemütlich which my family has used ever since some German friends introduced it to us years ago. I'm finding that gellezig could be used to describe quite a few of the places we've visited on this trip.


As we continued to walk...

What do you think Mom & Dad, wouldn't be a bad look for Izzie, huh?


As the sun started to set...
Dat doet de deur dicht.