Street food in Amsterdam

But before we go on, let’s get oriented a bit. A couple hundred years ago, in what is now Belgium, some genius decided to slice up some potatoes and then deep fry the slivers. The Brits call them “chips,” the French call them “pommes frites,” and for some reason the Americans call them “French fries.” But in the Netherlands and Belgium they call them “Vlaamse frites” and they eat them like there is no tomorrow. Vlaamse frites literally means “Flemish fries,” correctly attributing them to the northern Belgium region of Flanders.

The fries are probably the most famous single food item in Amsterdam. Famously served and eaten by the locals smothered in a rich mayonnaise, are served nearly everywhere. From what I heard, the best place for fries in Amsterdam is the one called "Manneken Pis".

This one is right on the main street if you head directly away from Centraal Station, so every visitor is bound to pass it at least once. There always seem to be a line out front, even when nearby places are empty.The sign out front says the place was “Voted #1 Holland’s Fries”, and as dubious as claims like that often are, this one might be correct. There is no seating at all, just couple counters facing the street, with the fries being the only main course on offer.

The fries are served in a paper cone with a tiny wooden fork which comes in handy during the later part of your meal. The fries are also served with different variety of sauces including ketchup, incase your stomach cannot handle the mayonnaise. As you can see from the picture,  I opted for ketchup instead.

The fries are hot, crispy and tasty. The locals definitely love them, so this isn’t one of those things that solely exists for the tourists.

The other popular food eatery is FEBO.  It is a street fast food chain with shops all over Amsterdam selling Dutch food in a huge walk in vending machine. They have all their selections in an automated wall like vending machine style slots. You basically drop a euro or two in the slot and the door opens. You can eat the typical dutch croquette here.

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Amsterdam's flower market (Bloemenmarkt)

The Bloemenmarkt, or Flower Market, in Amsterdam city centre is the World’s only floating flower market. The market sits along the singel canal with the flower shops held in berges forming a row of fantastic displays of flowers, orchids, tulip bulbs, seeds,etc.

If you're a flower lover or not, this place is a must see for its colorful spectacle even if you are not intending to buy. Not too big...you can wander it in an hour quite easily. The flowers are so bright and healthy looking, and the displays are typical dutch...nicely laid out and organized. Also a good place to look for wooden shoes (clogs) and other gifts. A simply charming experience.

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Amsterdam visit

I happened to visit Amsterdam during Feb this year. Was able to squeeze couple of afternoon off my schedule to do some sight seeing to get the feel of the city.

Of course you may all know that Amsterdam is surrounded by canals. But I was quite surprised by the number of canals, I didn't expect Amsterdam to have so many. The other thing that stood out about Amsterdam was the number of people riding bikes...they were EVERYWHERE and even more so were the number of bikes parked around the city. I had never seen so many cyclists in one place.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city and well worth a couple days of your time.  The central Amsterdam is very compact and full of picturesque canals, cobblestone streets,  trams, bikes, and tons of unique and very nice buildings along them, plus cafes and shops everywhere.   I wanted to walk to take in the vibe and the features of the city as much as I could. So, I decided to skip  the very touristy  canal cruise, instead decided to Stroll along the canals by foot .The streets of Amsterdam were a treat to eyes with buildings lined along the neat streets all in .

 

Amsterdam has lots of museum, some famous and must-see and few not so. I couldn't visit the Van Gogh Museum, but was able to visit the equally famous Rijks Museum.


This building is enormous and quite beautiful. Its worth the visit just to checkout the building from outside even if you don't care about glancing at some of Rembrandt's or Vermeer's work.

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