48 hours in Amsterdam
A speedy visit to this entertaining city involved a healthy mix of eating, drinking, walking and culture. Staying a ten minute walk from central station in the quaintly named ‘Truelove’ guesthouse, my wife and I set out to explore armed with the ‘gay map’ of town! Having used Tripadvisor to pick a couple of restaurants both proved excellent, and very different. ‘Five Flies’ (or D’Viff Vlieghen – doesn’t it sound better in Dutch!) is a fantastic eating experience, steeped in history with impeccable service, we opted for one of the tasting menus – tartare of veal with truffle mayonnaise, pollock with a lobster butter sauce, duck breast with black pudding, apple compote and a cinnamon sauce rounded off with chocolate tart and eggnog ice cream. Each course came with its own wine, the most surprising being a Reisling from Snake River in Idaho which was just fantastic!
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Away from the Five Flies, culture came in the form of two excellent museums: the Jewish History, and the Dutch Resistance both of which were fascinating. With all the walking dehydration had to be guarded against so a relaxing visit to the ‘Ij’ (egg) brewery had to be included in the itinerary.The beer was strong from 5% up to 9% proof,and I think it’s the first time I’ve enjoyed a glass of ‘Ijwit (eggwhite) beer’. The other bar of note was the Ice Bar – donning extra warm jackets, special gloves we entered the ‘cold bar’, cold being about -10, but they are very precious about taking photos – not permitted! I think I’ll save my sub-zero drinking for the ski slopes! Our guesthouse was well-placed around the corner from a vegetarian shoe-shop, at least a hundred yards from the nearest red light, and not much further to the closest cafe – not to be confused with ‘coffee shop’ which is where spliffs can be indulged in freely and legally, the supplies being avalable at the local flower market.
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A very enjoyable couple of days finished with an impressive 17 dish Indonesian ‘rijsttafel’ at the Indrapura – very good restaurant. Better remember not to leave it another ten years before returning!
Any comments drop me a line to keith@keithhern.com or call me on +44 7900 826714, or for more of my photography go to http://www.keithhern.com.
