when my husband asked me if i wanted to accompany him on a business trip and make a nice weekend out of it, i didn’t have to think twice, and quickly plane tickets and hotel rooms were booked. i was last in Amsterdam over ten years ago and all i really remember was standing in line to see “Wheat Field With Crows” at the Van Gogh museum and visiting a squat that looked like a 19th century mansion. i don’t really remember anything involving meals and food and i am not sure what that says about how (terribly?) i ate. then again, most (all?) of my money was spent on vinyl back then.
so, day one.
hi!
after landing around 9 am and parting ways with the business travelin’ boys i managed to store my bag at the hotel and started exploring the Plantage district: i got lost around the Hortus Botanicus for a bit because i wandered off into every small cute side street there was, it seems. i finally found the Verzetsmuseum, the Dutch Resistance Museum, a moving, interactive and interesting collection, a place i highly recommend you check out when in town.
Verzetsmuseum (Museum of the Dutch Resistance)
since there hadn’t been any breakfast, not even free coffee!, on the plane i crossed the Magere Brug into Utrechtsestraat to check out The Golden Temple.
the place is hippie but in a good, wholesome, organic way, all the spirituality around me was easily warded off by consuming good food, good indian and mediterranean and italian and dutch food.
Zing a Ding Ding, a.k.a. the best juice i ever had, a.k.a. an orange, grapefruit, lemon, fresh mint, coconut & cinnamon juice.
Broodje Tofu, a grilled tofu sandwich with a tangy tahini sauce (cost an ok EUR 5, 75)
raw mango & banana ice cream. unfortunately this was frozen solid and not as amazing as i hoped.
The Golden Temple is open for lunch and dinner: lunch (tue-sat): 12h00 - 15h00; dinner (mon-sun): 17h00 - 21h30 and has free WIFI!
after coffee with friends and some more walking around we grabbed dinner at Maoz, an all vegetarian falafel bar. i love their fries!
later on i picked this blue beauty as my favourite bike of the day
and then fell asleep to “Falling Down” in my comfy hotel bed.
