Albert Cuyp Market

Yesterday we spent a few hours exploring the Albert Cuyp Market. The market has been in the same spot since 1905 and according to their website, it's the biggest day market in Europe - with 260 stands. We didn't see all of them, but the market had something for everyone: cheap souvenirs, clothes, books, flowers, fresh fish, fruits & vegetables,  sweets, fabric, toys...  I really liked that shoppers appeared to be a good mix of locals and tourists.

We had fun rooting around the different stands looking for bargains. For many items, the prices were negotiable. K got herself a €3.50 book for €1.00.

The fabric prices were fixed - €8.95 per meter for each of these knits. It's a good thing we only have carry on-sized suitcases, or I would have bought a whole lot more! There were several fabric (stoffen in Dutch) shops in the market. Some sold drapery material, one quilting cottons, and another had a little bit of everything. Lots of them looked small at first, but then zigged and zagged way back into a building. S found some sweatshirt fabric he liked and K found some cute cotton and asked for shorts. She really wanted some tulip fabric for a maxi dress, but since we didn't have a pattern and had no idea how much to buy, we had to pass.

  

The fresh-squeezed drinks were interesting. Many of them contained fresh ginger and they were incredibly strong - like open-up-your-sinuses-strong. S opted to try the orange-ginger, but wasn't too keen on it. Luckily, I love ginger and was happy to finish it for him. Later in the day he also tried banana-pineapple-yogurt, which he liked a whole lot better.

While we were there we had to try fresh stroopwafels. I mean, c'mon!

We watched the Stroopwafel Man roll the dough into a ball and then press it in the wafelmaker. When it was done, but still hot, he sliced it in half.

Next, he coated one of the halves with caramel for K and me, while S opted for caramel and nutella. (The Dutch appear to love nutella. We see it as an option on practically every sweet thing: cookies, croissants, pancakes and wafles.)

Grandma, on the other hand, was more interested in finding something for dinner. She found some lovely red snapper at one stand and fresh asparagus at another. 

As we were leaving the market we noticed this stall. The Dutch Cookieman's stand had the biggest macaroons we'd ever seen - they were the size of a scoop of ice cream! (My mom called them  macaroons, but he refers to them as Belgische Cocosbols on his website.) They were amazing; giant chewy balls of coconutty goodness - with the bottom outside edges just a little but more cooked than the inside  - they were absolutely perfect. And at three huge cookies for €5.00, the price couldn't be beat. My  even now my mouth is watering just remembering how good they were. Dang it, now I want another one...

Bloemenmarkt (Floating Flower Market)

The Floating Flower Market really does float. It's been open since 1862, but now all the little shops are on concrete houseboat bases. It's beautiful - one of those places you've got to bring your camera.

Every sort of flower imaginable is available.

I would have loved to bring a few peonies home. Unfortunately, only flowers with a  health certificate for the US and Canada are allowed back into the country. So, I just had to drool.

I drooled over the unending tulip bulbs, too. Unfortunately, the crop that will have the necessary certificate is still a week or two away.

K fell in love with these small wooden tulips. Since we couldn't get the real thing, she decided a few of these would look good in her bedroom. At €1.00 each we couldn't resist. 

I amsterdam

The I amsterdam sign is one of those things that took off in a way people never expected. It started, back in 2004, as a slogan to help market  Amsterdam abroad.  (Think Pure Michigan.) It worked. They say tourism is up (12,000,000 people visited Amsterdam in 2016.) It shouldn't surprise me we have yet to see the sign behind the Rijksmuseum without a throng of people around it.

Of course, after quietly walking through the museum, the kids were ready to have a go at the sign. It's huge - the lower case letters are about 6 1/2 feet tall and the whole sign is 72 feet long. There are actually three sets of letters: one at the Rijks, one at the airport and a traveling set that moves around the city.

We had to giggle - as  we were walking away Katie noticed a sign saying, "Klimmen op eigen risico" - Climb at your own risk. Both kids agreed - it was worth it.

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmusuem is huge - with 80 galleries and over 8,000 pieces on display - we resigned ourselves to only seeing some of the museum's highlights.

Grandma wanted to start with the Rembrants so we headed up to the second floor.

I was immediately struck by the size of some of the pieces. The Night Watch is 14 feet long and 12 feet high. - I had no idea! When you see the paintings in a book, you really don't get a very good idea of the scale.

You could get a small scale version to take home in the gift shop. I loved it that you could purchase a few of the most famous works in the museum as Playmobil people. How fun!

The Milkmaid was there too, smiling as she poured.

Marteen and Oopjen are currently at the Louvre, but we did get to visit with their doubles. No idea who Marteen and Oopjen were? Check out this video, it's hilarious.

S immediately noticed the gentlemen in The Sampling Officials all looked remarkably like the Pilgrims he'd learned about in kindergarten. It was the perfect opportunity for a refresher course on the Puritans and their search for religious freedom that eventually lead them to the new world (including a brief time in the Netherlands.) I know, I  know it's summer - but I just can't pass up a teachable moment.

With other collections to visit, we waved good-bye to the Rembrandts, and moved on; slowly working our way through the museum.

As it got later, we moved more slowly. We knew our day was over when we the kids started to finding the museum's benches more interesting than the art. Grandma and I got the hint and we all headed for the exit.

Lucky

While out and about yesterday we were lucky enough to stumble across the Friday Antiques Market, or the "Curious Flea Market" according to the sign. I'm not sure, but apparently, this market opens up every Friday during the summer months.

There were tables filled with everything you can imagine:

wooden shoes,

spools of lace,

vintage plates,

and this little fellow. 

I would have loved to know more about this little sewing machine, but sadly it wasn't going to fit into my suitcase.

We also found this lovely lady selling Echte Poffertjes - "Real Pancakes;" available with butter and sugar - yum.

She was making them right there, on her gas cooker. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Delicious!

Hidden in Plain Sight (The Little Woodcutter)

The Little Woodcutter is one of those things most people never notice. Unless you know he's there, it's easy to see why most folks stroll right on by. 

He's only about a foot and a half tall, and up in a branch, so it isn't surprising most people miss him. Luckily we knew right where to look; we were on a mission and knew exactly where to go.

No one knows who made this little statue. He just appeared one day, at the end of January in 1989. His park, near the corner of Leidsplein and Singelgracht, is only about a 10 minute walk from the Rijksmuseum. We had to chuckle though, as soon as we started pointing and taking pictures, lots of other folks did, too. A few minutes later, as we were leaving, he had faded into the background - unnoticed once again...

Two Doors Down

The kids and I love sweets. (My mom does too, but she's better at saying no to them than we are.) One of our favorite things to do when we're traveling is to try new things. New sweet things makes us happy. Finding a bakery two doors down from our house made us very happy.

We can tell you their croissants are very good,

as are their waffles,

but the tompouce is delicious! Tompouce is a pastry common in the Netherlands and Belgium. It's a layer of creamy custard in between two layers of  pastry. Typically they're topped with a layer of icing and sometimes whip cream. The hardness of pastry makes them a challenge to eat, because when S tried to take a bite, the custard started oozing out the sides. It didn't matter - it was worth the challenge. It was so good, I think I may have to make some when we get home. 

Bakkerij Kwakman, Leidsestraat 81, 1017 NX Amsterdam

Surprise Tour

Today we were lucky enough to get to tour a Dutch orthodontist's office.

OK, it wasn't luck; my son just happened to pop a bracket and the orthodontist at home recommended we get it fixed here. Thanks to Google Maps we found a dentist nearby who was able to squeeze us in.

We weren't sure how long the tram ride would be to get to the office, so we gave ourselves lots of time. Even though we were about 15 minutes early, they got S right in. She cut and removed the wire, cleaned the tooth, re-glued the bracket and finally put in a new wire.

All for €27.37, or $31.64 US. Oh yes, and I can't forget to mention S and his sister each got to take a toy from the basket. Icing on the cake.

Actually, the icing on the cake was discovering this bakery right around the corner from the orthodontist's office. (Broodbakker Simon Meijssen  is located at Koninginneweg 135, 1075 CL Amsterdam in case you're curious.) We left with a little apple tart, an almond cookie and a bag of Madeleines to enjoy later.

If you happen to need dental work done while you are in Amsterdam,  contact Lassus Tandartsen at 020 471 3137. Just be aware they only take cash, and you need to have the exact change. Luckily a nice British woman came into the office as I was paying and was able to make change for my €50 note. I paid €28.00 and felt like I got a deal. Now I need to ask our orthodontist at home what he would charge an international tourist for the same service. I bet it's quite a bit more...

Het Scheepvaartmuseum

Try saying that three times fast! Dutch is a hard language to pronounce, so we just refereed to it in English - the National Maritime Museum.

We enjoyed this museum quite a bit. In fact, we would have stayed longer, but they were ready to close up for the night. In addition to the interesting displays about The Netherlands' Golden Age and maritime history, they also have a ship.

A replica of the Amsterdam, a Dutch East Indiaman from the 1840s, is docked right next to the museum. (The original Amsterdam only made one trip before sinking in the English Channel. The wreck was discovered in 1969 and is the best preserved Dutch East India Company shipwreck ever found.) The ship was the kids' favorite part of the museum because they could play with everything. 

In many areas there was picture of a little rat, named Rinus, encouraging the  kids to pull, swing, climb and explore. (The hold of the ship is essentially one gigantic play area.) After looking in the Captain's privy they discovered the secret. If they opened a specific chest they were given a clue to the location of a treasure. All they had to do was whisper the Captain's name into the ear of a worker in the Museum Store to claim their reward.

They didn't have to be told twice - they almost ran to the store, got their trinket and were thrilled to find out that very few kids find the hidden clue. The museum was recently redone and we were quite pleased with the displays. All the signs were in Dutch and English, and all the video programs had English subtitles. If you are in Amsterdam, this museum is definitely worth a visit.