After I felt I was done with the botanic garden, I really didn’t have anything else particular to do. Of course I could have visited some more museums (there are tons of them in Amsterdam), but I felt I didn’t want to overdo it. I had already visited two museums in Amsterdam, and would probably visit at least one in all other cities I would go to on this trip, so I decided to walk around instead. And ended up finding some really nice places quite off the beaten track.
By the river Amstel, I watched the boats float by. It is wide, and I can only imagine how wide it would have to be if there weren’t any canals in the city. A lot of water.
I almost by accident happened upon the Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp. Apparently, it could be the biggest and busiest daytime market in Europe, and runs along a Albert Cuypstraat. It wasn’t really off the beaten track, because there were quite a few tourists around and parts of the market seemed to sell stuff of such bad quality that only tourists would be stupid enough to buy them. However, there was also food and fruits that were sold there, and I ended up buying honey waffles, apples and apricots. I love honey waffles, I’ve eaten them since I was a kid, but I never knew they were Dutch. A very nice discovery.
In an intersection, where the roads met in five ways and there therefore was a small sqare in the middle to kind of separate the traffic, they had arranged a little garden. And in this garden, there grew this amazing white and red rose. The square was called Johannes Vermeer Plein and I later realized it was just a couple of blocks from the Rijksmuseum. Beautiful, never the less.
The way from downtown Amsterdam to where I was staying kind of went through the Vendelpark, a huge public park located on the land that was donated to the city by the 17th century poet Joost van den Vondel. It is a wonderful piece of greenery, huge, with bikers racing through it on the wide main paths and people walking their dogs on the smaller ones. There are small ponds, cafés, and outdoor theater and playgrounds. Listening to Frank Turner, watching all the beautiful people of Amsterdam outside in the evening sun, it felt like such a perfect place to be. Amsterdam is a beautiful city and I will definitely return.
Katja Malmborg 