The Euro TR: The Netherlands

This will be the second part of a four country ‘Trip Report.’  Part one (Sweden) can be found here.  After two nights in Stockholm City, we boarded a plane and flew into Amsterdam.

When I was 21 or so, I remember chatting with my girlfriend at the time about when she visited Amsterdam.  She was telling me a story from her trip when I cut her off abruptly.

Me: So people from Amsterdam, like, what are they called?  Amsterdamians?

Her: …Dutch, moron.

Certainly not  my proudest moment.

Amsterdam was a bit chillier than Sweden, so I threw on my fanciest grey hoodie to help brave the elements.  After my experience in Sweden, part of me wished I had brought a nicer coat/jacket so I could avoid judgmental glances, but thankfully the people of Amsterdam didn’t give me any.  Or at least they were more discrete about their judgment.  My mom and I walked around, somewhat aimlessly, and admired some of the incredible scenery.   Of all the photos I took on this trip, the one below might be my favorite.  Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about the building because I didn’t get the name.  Oops.  Gorgeous though, right?

My mom loves to cook and pretend she’s going to buy stuff, so when we stumbled upon a local store that sold household kitchen items she had to check it out.  I wasn’t too jazzed about the place until I found this book.

Wait, so like, a ‘Dutch Oven’ is a real thing?  Huh.  I was only familiar with the slang term.

We kept walking around the area, peering into shops and people watching.  Admittedly it doesn’t sound exciting, but the sights and local people kept us entertained.  There was this guy on a bicycle transporting what appeared to be a potted plant.  I was able to slyly snap a picture of him, don’t even think he noticed!

Or maybe he did.

Also, a few guys caused quite the commotion when they attempted to buckle a goat into one of their motorbikes.  It did not go well, but was obviously fun to watch.

As for the food in Amsterdam, it wasn’t that memorable — except for the Stampot, a traditional Dutch dish made from potatoes, meat and other vegetables.  You take all of those ingredients and uhh, mash them in a bowl.  Sounds somewhat barbaric and dog-food like, but the dish had a lot of flavor and I loved it.  But there will be no Stampot pictures — I looked through all of the ones I took and somehow I don’t have any photos of the Stampot, so my phone must have been dead at the time.  Unfortunate.

But hey, I’d take a picture of a goat on a motorbike over some mashed up food any day of the week.