De Hallen

As a small consolation that our lovely home will as of tomorrow no longer be ours we’re spending the night before the transfer in Hotel ‘De Hallen’. A brand new hotel in the old tram sheds at the end of our street. Just the two of us, no girlies around

I have to say they did an amazing job to this place. The tram sheds have been empty since 2005, but now they are full of life and activity. The Hotel is a perfect place to spend the night when in Amsterdam, in the center of the Oud-West district and really close to the Jordaan. ‘De Hallen’ also host three restaurants, a food market, a movie theater, hair dresser, local goods market and much more. Curious as I always am about new restaurants I have had dinner at all three already. All are good but my favorite for now is Halte 3, they have an easy but good menu and a low key atmosphere. Meat West was also very nice, but more of an upscale, white linnen restaurant. Remise 47 is a nice place, but I wasn’t impressed by their steak tartar and it felt like we were lowering the average age of the visitors a bit, both being in our mid-thirties. All three are good though and staff was very friendly

Sleeping in this hotel might just become an annual event for us. Wandering around our old neighborhood, keeping up with all the changes. Eventually, maybe, finding a new place for once we’ll return

Uit de Keuken

We’re back in Amsterdam for a week to celebrate the birthdays of my brother and father-in-law who were born on the same day but 45 years apart. Or actually we’re not back in Amsterdam because we’re sleeping over at grandpa and grandma’s who live just outside Amsterdam in a little village called Oostzaan. 

Today my oldest and I were on our way to the dentist when she called in sick leaving us with a couple of hours free time in Amsterdam. We, or I of course, decided to go and visit our old neighborhood to check out how everything is holding up there. It’s changing quickly, in a good way with lots of new developments in the area behind our house.

A street behind our old house they are transforming old tram sheds into a cool new place with tv studio’s, a cinema, a hotel, a denim lab, a food market and all kind of other cool stuff. It’s opening later this week. Too late unfortunately for us to visit, but we go and have lunch on a little terrace on the other side of the road overseeing all the construction activities at “De Hallen”.

Uit de keuken is a lovely little place I’ve been eying ever since it opened a year or so ago. Never had a chance to go here until now and regretting not sitting down here before! Lovely lentil and zucchini salad for me and for her a chocolate spread sandwich. Wandering across the neighborhood we both really miss this place. 

Goochem

Birthday nieces in the UK and in India. So we need sendable items again. Also in Amsterdam I have a couple favorite stores I visit when in need of a present for a newborn or a birthday kid. One of my favorite stores, also for the birthdays of my own girls, is Goochem. They mainly sell a lot of wooden toys, games, stuffed animals and puzzles. We call it the giraffe store because they have this huge stuffed giraffe in the middle of the store.

For the twins first birthday we bought them a couple of wooden instruments at Goochem. Today we bought a really girly purse for our niece turning one and some facial paint and a mirror for the one turning three. These last two I secretly also bought for our own soon-to-be-three year old.

Bilder & de Clercq

On the corner of the Bilderdijk and De Clercqstraat there is, since a couple of months, a store called Bilder & de Clercq with an amazing new concept. They have recipes for 1 meal and you can buy all the ingredients you need to cook the meal with them. All the ingredients for a specific recipe are displayed on a table and you can pick whatever you need, from a box of herbs to a clove of garlic. So in the end you don’t need to get a lot of groceries to make a meal for one evening, just need some basics like vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper.

Besides meals they also have a selection food and drinks (among which some of the best brands in Amsterdam) to have a complete dinner party: from sausage, nut and cheese to wines and sodas, from soups to deserts and from coffee and tea to pies and chocolate.

When we still lived in Amsterdam we didn’t really go there, mainly we then still had a weekly organic vegetable box delivered which mostly provided us with enough veg to feed us for a whole week. Nowadays when we are only in the city for a couple of days, it is a perfect store for us and when we are in Amsterdam I really go there almost every day. Of course to get dinner for that day but also to quickly get pieces of their lemon polenta cake when somebody comes over for a cup of coffee, to get a bottle of wine and one of their rosemary goat cheeses when on my way to have dinner with a friend or to get a bag with tea and cookies, wine and Brand&Levie sausage, Ginger Ale and smoked almond by Gotje to thank my aunt and uncle for organizing my grandma’s 80^th birthday dinner.

Bye Bye Daycare

For real this time. I have been running around all day since it is also the very last day I have in Amsterdam without having the kids around. Quickly ran into Foam Photography Museum to at least use the purchased Museum Year Card once. Jump onto my bike for the Beauty treatment I've been wanting to do this month. Than the Bijenkorf to purchase Gift Certificates to thank the girls at Daycare. Last but not least to Arjan Flower Shop, my favourite flower shop in the whole of Amsterdam for their beautiful bouquets and season flowers, to pick up the flowers I ordered for the girls.

And then it's time to pick up my girls and shed some tears. A lot actually. And not only me, but my girls are really going to be missed. Makes sense. They really are a happy few. More laughing then crying in their little books. Not in my book today tough.

Wonderful Saturday

We are in luck: our last days in Amsterdam and the weather is magnificent! Beautiful summer days. Nice walks through our beloved city. Use the time we'll spend as good as we can.

Haarlemmerdijk, Herenmarkt, Jordaan, Elandsgracht, Vondelpark and finish in our own neighborhood at the City Farmers spot near the Bellamy square, where they reserved square meter boxes for kids to use to grow their own veggies and flowers. It's a lovely spot and R loves to run around and look at the little red tomatoes, secretly steel a strawberry now and then, call the flowers by name and run around at the lawn as hard as she can because it wont hurt a bit when you fall.

Cafe Cook

One of Amsterdam’s hidden treasures. Not really in the center, but definitely worth the d-tour on a sunny summer day. Just behind the Jan Evertsenstraat, on the corner of a quiet square you can find this little oasis. They have a lovely terrace and an even lovelier menu that changes with the seasons.

They cook with a twist and hardly ever make a mistake in the combinations they make. Tonight we had a salad with lam, terracotta cheese and strawberries and veal pasta with marinated mushroom and truffle pecorino. 

Really, please do yourself a favor and visit Cafe Cook when you have the chance!

Vlaamsch Broodhuys

After strolling through a thawing, but still ice cold, Vondelpark, we head over to Vlaamsch Broodhuys at the Constantijn Huygenstraat

Unfortunately they're out of quiche. We both order a mackerel sandwich instead, which are so very good we decide to also share one of their salmon sandwiches. Normally we just go here to purchase bread from their bakery; I had no idea their sandwiches were this delicious. We will definitely return to their lunchroom as well!