The Joy of FEBO

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Amsterdam Blogs, restaurants

I crossed something off my “to-do” list last weekend. Amsterdam has a fast food place called FEBO that’s stuffed into areas all over town–usually near a collection of bars. Ever since we moved here I’ve been promising myself that I need to try it. It was a necessity! Why did it take me so long? Because the food comes from a vending machine.

This is strange to me. In my head I know it’s freshly made (well, ‘freshly’) and placed in the slots to keep warm until I come along. But my eyes want to say, “Are you crazy? That’s a vending machine!” So I required a lot of time and a night out to said bars before I worked up the courage to try it. Luckily for you it was well documented, so you can get the full feel of FEBO without the actual food.

The selection is a mix of traditional dutch food like krokets with the normal fast food burgers. There’s also a counter where you can order fries and smoothies and other made-more-fresh things. I went with the machine-food, of course. Jesse selected a kroket and I a burger, and we stuck our coins in the slot. After the “clink” I pulled open the little door and took out my prize. (I also learned that you must open the bottom door–the others stay locked.)

The verdicts. The kroket: yum! Crunchy and hot, full of meat-gravy goodness. I would get that again anytime. The burger: not so yum. It tasted like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for a good long while. Which it had been. Surprise, surprise.

“FEBO– the most delicious!”

So, our FEBO experience was good and bad, like so much of life (what a life lesson I learned.) At least now I can say I’ve eaten a burger from a vending machine! I like to gauge reactions of my visiting friends when I tell them about it. Some have tried it gleefully, right away, while some have given me faces and swore they’d never touch it. What do you think–would you try FEBO?

Efteling, the Happiest Place

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Amsterdam Blogs, Day Trip, Netherlands

Happy Summer! I thought I’d take this day to show some pictures of one of my favorite day trips we’ve taken, to the magical theme park of Efteling. Back when our friend Kerry was visiting we took a train and bus ride down south for a roller-coaster-and-cotton-candy-filled day.

Efteling is one of the oldest theme parks in the world: it opened in 1952 (before Disneyland!). Walt Disney toured Europe’s parks before opening his own, and many people claim he took a lot of inspiration from Efteling. The connections are pretty clear: Efteling has different ‘worlds,’ each with a different theme and plenty of corresponding rides. It’s also overrun with screaming children, long lines, lots of junk food, and a few dioramas.

The Efteling lake with the “Flying Pagoda”

The park isn’t huge, and we felt like we did it justice in one day, even getting multiple rides in. Our favorite ride, by far, was Joris en de Draak (Joris and the Dragon), a double wooden roller coaster. The two tracks run parallel almost the whole way, meaning you get to race your fellow riders. We rode it three times, and won every. single. time. Clearly we’re amazing.

Waiting in line for Joris en de Draak

Other fun rides included the Flying Dutchman (of course!) due to a section of terrifying complete darkness followed by an immediate drop, and the fast metal Python. Besides the rides, my favorite part was the cotton candy! It’s called suikerspin in Dutch, which means ‘sugar-spin.’ Figuring there were three of us we ordered the supersuikerspin and were awarded with the biggest cotton candy stick I’ve ever seen! Which we promptly devoured in five minutes flat.

We also took a short stroll through the Fairytale Forest, or Sprookjesbos, where we saw Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Mother Hubbard in her shoe, and more. One display including a gentlemen with a very long neck, who’s story I’m still unclear on. Must be a Dutch one? Has anyone heard that one in English?

His neck ‘grew’ while we watched!

Efteling was designed almost entirely by the famous Dutch illustrator Anton Pieck, popular for his nostalgic, romantic, fairy-tale drawings. They did such a good job bringing the illustrations and characters to life that stepping into the park is almost like entering one his drawings. It was an exhausting, fun day that was totally worth it! If you have an extra day in the Netherlands, with or without kids, I highly recommend Efteling.

Sittin’ on the Dock of the Canal

Tags

Amsterdam Blogs

I’m taking a little break from Edinburgh at the moment. My favorite part about blogging is the chance to look at the little things in life and appreciate them, day to day. When I get so caught up in multiple posts about our trips, the here and now tends to fade into the background, and I forget to appreciate it. So here’s a few photos about our weekend, which was nothing special, but still lovely.

The sun played hide and seek with giant fluffy clouds all weekend, teasing me into thinking it was warm then fading away again. But when it was out, it was gorgeous. I spent a few hours on two separate days sitting on a dock by a canal, eating, drinking, and chatting.

That white drink is a new, delicious creation of mine. I had a bottle of too-sweet white wine in the fridge, so I mixed it with bubbly water and put a couple halved cherries in it, and voila! A perfect dock-sitting summer drink. And if I’ve learned anything from Amsterdam, it’s that plastic cups won’t cut it if you want to make something special–only the best for me and my friends.

I relaxed in the sun, caught up with a friend, snacked on delicious things, and waved at boats as they passed. On one occasion a man went by in a boat, alone. He waved, and we waved back. Fifteen minutes later he came back the other way, this time with the addition of six women with him, all smiling. When we waved this time, impressed with him, they cried out, “isn’t he lucky?” We laughed and agreed, toasting his luck.

The EuroCup games are going on, for all the football/soccer fans here. I’ve caught glimpses of some games, but haven’t followed it too emotionally, which is good, because the Netherlands are losing quite miserably. My favorite part is all the cheery orange bunting out everywhere, and the rallying cry, “Hup Holland!”

It’s the end of the weekend now, and it’s pouring rain again, but I can hope for more sun soon!

Amsterdam Love: Latei Cafe

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Amsterdam Blogs, restaurants

One of my favorite bustling cafes in Amsterdam is the funky Latei, located just off the Nieuwmarkt in Chinatown.

It’s kind of a crazy mish-mash of a cafe, selling fresh olive oil from Italy, vegetarian Ethiopian meals on some weeknights, and a delicious apple tart. Oh, and everything is for sale. Everything–the art on the walls, the chair you sit on, everything. It’s a small, crowded place, but it’s warm and cozy in the winter and fresh and breezy in the summer. Plus, there’s a nice balcony above that gives great views.

And perhaps the best thing is the resident cat, Elvis (who does not leave the building, according to the sign on the door). Any cafe that comes with a sweet kitty is ok by me!

http://www.latei.net, Zeedijk 143, Amsterdam

Summer Sunlight

Tags

Amsterdam Blogs, holidays

Summer has arrived here, in full swing for the past two days. I’ve dug my flip flops out of hiding and remembered to slather on sunscreen, and Jesse and I have been doing our best to be outside a lot. Because really, it’s been a rotten spring. My poor parents had horrible weather for their visit, and even our friends last week had to wear jackets and carry umbrellas!

But summer is here (for now), and I’m enjoying it completely. I’ve made iced tea, we’ve eaten salads for dinner, and I already cut off a pair of pants into shorts. Because that’s what you do in summer.

It’s been fun watching Amsterdammers embrace the sunny weather. This city, though it be covered in rain and mist most of the year, is made for nice weather. It’s awash with cafe terraces, canal sides, benches, and green spots, all inviting you to sit…relax for awhile. As soon as the sun pops out everyone does their best to be outside. The number of boats on the canals has tripled, and the cafes have unfurled their outdoor tables and umbrellas. The same thing happens in Portland on a sunny day, but somehow Amsterdam embraces it in a different way. It’s all just a bit more…gezellig.

On our evening walks I’ve gotten a kick out of seeing people on every balcony, sitting on their front stoop, hanging out a window, or pulling a table outside for the family dinner. Beers are enjoyed on a canalside terrace while the sun slowly drops behind a building. The light lingers for a long time lately–it’s already past 10, and the sun is just now setting. The sky is lit with pink and orange, and it reflects off the canals as the smell of something grilled wafts by.

It’s summer in Amsterdam.

(These pictures are both from last summer, as I’ve been too enraptured by the sun the past few days to bother carrying my camera anywhere.)

Rollende Keukens, or, The Food Cart Festival

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Amsterdam Blogs, restaurants

Something special happened last weekend. Something that made my heart swell with joy, my mind remember Portland, and my taste buds salivate. Amsterdam hosted a food cart festival!

 

This was really exciting, because food carts are a pretty big deal in Portland, and I used to eat at them no less than three times a week. Moving to Amsterdam held a lot of new exciting things for us, but I still miss food carts and their cheap, delicious offerings. So when I saw the ad for the festival I knew I had to go there. It was lucky that our visiting friends were up for it, because we went on Friday, then again on Saturday! There were just too many choices to try them all in one go! We still didn’t try everything, but we made a heroic effort.

A few impressions. First, I love the name. Rollende Keuken: rolling kitchens. Perfect! Second, these carts were swanky! All dressed up, decorated, and tricked out. The sushi cart had a moving belt, the omelet cart had a coop with live chickens, there was a boat-cart, a church-cart, many buses, a VW bug, and more! All serving delicious food.

 

We gathered several meals together including tostis, paella, sausages, bbq pulled pork, crepes, waffles, fresh potato chips, Breton sushi, cider, and of course, a Heineken or two.

A delicious way to enjoy the weekend!

A Sunny Saturday, With Friends

Tags

Amsterdam Blogs, bikes

Happy Weekend! I have some friends visiting us at the moment (it’s promising to be a busy summer!), and we’ve been doing all sorts of fun Amsterdam things. They’re here for a nice long time so we haven’t needed to stress about squeezing everything in. Lazy, relaxing days with lots of food have been the focus.

I love the wisteria on the canal houses, all over the city.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, the nicest we’ve seen in a long time, and we all had a blast soaking it up. Sometimes the best things to do with visitors are the things you’d do anyway! We started by visiting the Noordermarkt, a busy farmer’s market. It was warm enough for dresses at last, and I got to use my new basket tote for carrying veggies. It performed beautifully. We also got some fresh squeezed orange juice, which is the tastiest thing ever!

{Photo courtesy of my father.}

We spent the afternoon at a food cart festival, which was amazing and deserves it’s own post, and then we ended the day at Vondelpark. I don’t get down there that often, since we live a bit far away from it, but yesterday I was reminded why I should. It’s such a lovely place! The trees were in bloom with spring flowers, people were lounging everywhere enjoying the sun, grills and picnics were in full swing, and the fountains were happily gurgling. We enjoyed the perfect bike ride through the leafy paths, and I even managed to snap some pictures while riding, one-handed. Amsterdam has taught me well.

The Aalsmeer Flower Auction

Tags

Amsterdam Blogs, Netherlands

I showed you a peek of Keukenhof Gardens and some tulips fields, so now it’s time to head to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction to see what happens to those blooms when they grow up.

The auction is full of impressive figures: the biggest flower auction in the world, it’s housed in the 5th largest building in the world. It starts at 7am and dies down before 10am, so we had to get up early to see the best action. It’s a fascinating system! More than 20 million flowers from all corners of the world are traded every day.

When you visit, you walk on a gangway above the warehouse floor, giving you a great view of the huge numbers of flowers below. Lines of shelves filled with boxes of flowers zoom around, pulled by little carts that can turn on a dime. It was so interesting to watch them being pulled to and fro, and try to figure out where they were all going. I never really got the system down!

The auction itself is held in a big auditorium-style room, with lines of flowers slowly coming in from both sides and two big screens showing what they are. It’s a Dutch-style auction, which means the bidding starts at what the auctioneer thinks the flowers are worth then counts down from there. There’s only one bid on each “bundle” of flowers, so if you want it, you’d have to judge how cheap you can go before someone else bids. It goes fast. Like, less than 10 seconds for each bid. With that fast bidding and two screens to watch, it’s amazing the bidders can still follow it all.

We spotted one woman among all the bidders. The rest were men!

After bids, the flowers head out the auction door back into the warehouse, where they are lined up according to destination then sent off to their new home, usually arriving the same day. Those hydrangeas you bought at the corner market the other day? They probably came through here.

Despite the early wake-up call, the auction was a fascinating experience. I never think about the huge systems and costs behind the flowers that peek out of grocery store bins!

Pretty, Shiny Things at Gassan Diamonds

Tags

Amsterdam Blogs, Museums

I’m back from Belgium! We said farewell to my parents yesterday as they hopped a train to Paris, and we headed back to Amsterdam for a few days of relaxation. We had a blast visiting Antwerp, Ghent, and Brugge, and I have lots of pictures to share. But first, a little tour we took while in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is known for diamonds. Well, not by me, but by others who know more about those things. Though now that I’ve learned this fact, I can say, Amsterdam is known for diamonds. I’ve learned this by taking the completely free tour of Gassan Diamonds, whose factory is nestled right between my apartment and the nearest grocery store, but whose world of expensive sparkles is still far away from mine.

The tour is short and sweet, but it’s completely free (no pressure to buy a shiny stone, though you might think your ‘vintage’ costume jewelry a bit silly afterwards), and gives a fun look into the world of diamond polishing and selling.

I learned that in order to be a Master Diamond Polisher, you have to train and apprentice for 10 years first. It makes me wonder, how does someone decide to pursue that as a career? When does someone first say, “I’d like to polish diamonds for a living.” Also, why was that not around when I was looking for careers?

Our tour guide showed us into a room where she went over the Four C’s, then pulled out several different diamonds and showed us how the C’s affected the size, color, and (most importantly), cost. We got to test ourselves; I was pretty rubbish. Once it got over €45,000 for one diamond I felt a little light-headed. The above stone on our guide’s hand is the special “Gassan” cut, making it extra sparkly for a mere €23,000. Again, my fake-gold earrings were feeling pretty pathetic here.

According to the website, if you get a big group together to take a tour then at the end they give everyone a glass of champagne with a diamond hidden in one. Who wants to sign up for a tour with me?? Just don’t guzzle that bubbly too fast.

If you can squelch the urge to touch and own pretty, shiny things (I know, it’s hard for me too), then go visit the Gassan Diamond factory. Maybe treat yourself to a glass of champagne afterward. Go ahead and hide your own earrings in it–it’s cheaper.

A Visit to Keukenhof Gardens

Tags

Amsterdam Blogs, Netherlands

“Haven’t seen Keukenhof? Then you haven’t seen the Netherlands,” claims the Keukenhof Garden’s website. “You won’t find such an abundance of colors and fragrances anywhere else.”

We set out on a slightly rainy day to see for ourselves, though we came a bit late in the season to really see it in full glory. This spring has been so wet and cold that we didn’t think of venturing out earlier! The gardens cover a huge area and showcase over 7 million bulbs; mostly tulips, but also hyacinth, daffodils and others. I was under the false impression that they had the famous fields of tulips, which they did not. There are fields surrounding it, but the garden itself is a carefully planned out park full of walking paths. So, if you want to see fields, you don’t necessarily need to pay for entrance to the garden. Good to know! That said, I’m glad we went in and saw it, if only to claim that we have truly “seen the Netherlands” now.

I couldn’t resist taking this picture!

We did spy some fields outside the gardens, but it was so late in the season that most of them had been plucked already. There were a few brilliant streaks here and there, but not the far-as-the-eye-can-see fields that I pictured. Part of me regrets not going earlier, but then again, trudging or biking through soggy fields in cold rain just isn’t fun!

What most of the fields looked like: plucked!

We spent a lovely day wandering through the gardens and taking pictures, admiring colors, laughing at funny looking flowers, and finding someone to kiss amongst the tulips. A good outing.