Our second day in Amsterdam brought us blue skies, breakfast, museum wanderings, and the largest flea market in Europe. Not to mention, sore feet from walking the length of Amsterdam a few times! You can check out day 1 of our 48 hours in Amsterdam here.
Breakfast at Omelegg in De Pijp
After a lazy morning enjoying tea and stroopwafel in bed, we moseyed over to Omelegg, the first omelettery in the Netherlands! The interior is warm and inviting, and the coffee is accompanied by a candy koekje (a tiny little spice cookie). Though they don’t take reservations, the fluffy and delicious omelettes are worth the short wait.
The Museum District
After breakfast we made our way over to the Museum District, with the sole goal of exploring the Rijksmuseum to see Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Monet. A violinist and cellist played beautiful music beneath the stone archways near the entrance, setting the mood. We meandered through the museum for a few hours, soaking in some of my favourite pieces, including Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. Other museums in the area that we didn’t have time to explore but wish we would have seen are The Van Gogh museum, and The Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. We did make sure to stop in front of the I Amsterdam sign though!
Free Ferry to NDSM island
After an insider tip from friends, we hopped on a free ferry behind the Amsterdam Centrale station over to NDSM island. NDSM is an abandoned shipyard turned cultural hub full of street art, shipping containers, co-working spaces, start ups, and restaurants. Once a month it also hosts Ij Hallen, the largest flea market in Europe! We were lucky enough that our trip aligned with the flea market, so we made that our second stop of the day. Nathan found an authentic Dutch Army button up shirt from a sweet vendor who’s father was the original owner. I wanted to shove every small print and tchotchke into my bag but resisted the urge. Limited luggage space was a great motivator for limited shopping!
We stopped for drinks and snacks at Pllek on NDSM, a restaurant made out of stacked shipping containers with a beachfront covered in bean bag chairs, seating made out of pallets, picnic tables, live music, string lights, and a very hip atmosphere. We shoved our faces full of croquettes (a delicious savoury Dutch snack), and enjoyed the intermittent sunshine. This was a very cool place to spend an afternoon chatting and people watching.
The Long Walk home
After taking a ferry back to Amsterdam Centrale, we walked all the way home to our Airbnb in De Pijp. I spent a bit of time journalling, we had dinner at a random restaurant, and tried a ‘coffee shop’, because where else but in Amsterdam, right? We called it an early night as we had a train to catch the next morning to Utrecht!
So concludes our brief but enjoyable stay in Amsterdam! I would love to visit again one day. The crooked cobblestone streets and narrow houses stole my heart. The tall people and children speaking Dutch made me want to stay forever. I feel as if we barely scratched the surface! Have you been to Amsterdam? What was your favourite experience?
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