Visiting Amsterdam with kids
My son is finally ready to share his trip to Amsterdam with you. He loves picking different places to go to and this year Amsterdam was his choice. My father/his grandfather’s part of his family is from the Netherlands and my father remembers a lot of summers spent at his grandmother’s house in Bilthoven as a child where he also got to spend time in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. So it hits close to home for us.
I know that Amsterdam usually raises a red flag for some people who think you only go there to party and visit coffee shops. It has gotten a bad reputation which is sad.
I also feel like mentioning that my son’s choice of t-shirt he is wearing in some of the photos has nothing to do with his choice of destination. The t-shirt actually belongs to me. I’m a huge Bob Marley fan and no I don’t smoke. I truly feel like I have to clarify this with everyone reading because I know people tend to judge.
I’ve always loved Bob Marley’s music and it represents summertime for me. I listen to it all the time!
So here goes my favorite beloved little man with his story about Amsterdam:
Visiting Amsterdam with kids
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Hello again people I’ve never met and who read my mom’s blog. It’s me again the son of the most cuckoo blogger on the internet webs. I took another 3 day trip in Europe with my dad the one with that mustache and awkward hair during his childhood (click HERE if you missed it). We went to Amsterdam which started with a six hour train ride from Lohr am Main which is my mom’s hometown.
If you have read my previous travel posts (click HERE, HERE and HERE) you’ll know I love food!!! Well yes I do and Amsterdam has a mixture of all foods, Chinese, Italian, Dutch, Algerian, Indonesian, Argentinian, and so many others. Warning if you go to Amsterdam it is hard to find a Dutch restaurant! Seriously not kidding! It took my dad and I about 2 hours to find one. We ended up having to go back to our hotel to ask someone for a recommendation.
On the first day for lunch I had a raw Herring which is a small fish in a bun with onions and pickles. It is one of the must eats along with bitterballen and croquetten :
For my first dinner at Haesje Claes (dutch restaurant) I had chicken liver with a mixture of vegetables, mashed potatoes (the Dutch love mashed potatoes for some reason) and bacon:
For dessert we had the mind blowing poffertjes. So so good, just look at the picture below.
They are little pancakes with butter and powdered sugar. Yup there are globs of butter on it:
Next day we were walking around The Albert Cuypmarkt for lunch and we had the famous Amsterdam croquettes which is a fried breaded dough and inside is mashed potatoes (again). Wow! On the side we had some amazing fries, they were so crunchy and the best fries I ever had. Can you tell how incredibly healthy I’ve been eating?
Then for dinner we ate Indonesian at Kantjil & Tiger (Indonesian food was recommended by my Opa). Our appetizer was Pangsit Goreng fried dumplings stuffed with prawns and chicken it’s served with ginger peanut sauce. We had a customized dinner, Bami Goreng (fried noodles also known as Mie goreng) and we ordered it with spicy beef, Indonesian pumpkin, corn, peas, with a peanut dressing. By the way eat Indonesian food if you go to Amsterdam and if you want to read why the Netherlands is so intwined with Indonesia, you can click HERE to read more.
One of the coolest things in Amsterdam are the houseboats. They are, in my opinion better than normal houses in Amsterdsam. A downside to living in a houseboat is you don’t get a lot of privacy but I don’t think the Dutch care.
Isn’t it cool to live on a houseboat like you can see below?
Amsterdam is a very beautiful city with its canals and houses.
My dad and I rented a paddle boat and explored the canals with it.
Usually my dad and I go visit a lot of museums and sights on our trips but this time we decided to just explore and walk around because we didn’t want to waste our time by standing in line. The only place we waited in line to see was the The Anne Frank Huis (house). I really wanted to see it because I read her diary after visiting the Dachau concentration camp with my family two years ago (click HERE if you want to read about our visit).
We were there really really early and the line was this incredibly long already.
What you should expect of Amsterdam in my opinion if you can visit it one day is to wander through the city and get lost in all the charm of Amsterdam.
Oh and I brought my Opa some 4 year old aged Gouda to Germany which is my favorite. I think I ended up eating half of it myself. Sorry Opa!
Maybe I will write another blog post this year. I actually never wrote a post about our visit to Paris a couple of years ago. I think I should still do that. But if not, I’ll “see” you next year.
And like my mom says:
Tschüß and I hope you enjoyed my post.
You can read more travel posts by clicking around the links below:
2017
Burg Eltz
Cochem and Reisburg Cochem
Luxembourg City and Trier (written by my son)
2016
Bamberg
Upside-Down House, Wertheim
Hamburg – St.Pauli (written by my son)
Schwerin, Lübeck
Traveling abroad with fear
so fun to read, noa! and you are killing me with those little pancakes! YUM!!!!!!! also, my dad loves herring. 😉
Thank you Cassie! Tell Sawyer and Emmy I said hello
What a great post! When I was 8 years old (in the 1970’s), my family was transferred from Houston, Texas to the Netherlands for one year (my dad worked for Shell at that time). It was a great experience and one of the things I remember most was seeing the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. Fast forward to 2011 – for my 40th birthday, my boyfriend took me to Amsterdam for a wonderful visit to my past. The weather was so beautiful that we, too, skipped most of the museums and simply explored the city. We did go to the Anne Frank house and we had traditional Dutch food at a restaurant called The Pantry. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us.
My son said “wow that sounds so similar to my story”! Skipping museums on a beautiful day is a perfect choice 😉
Excellent post!! My ancestors are from Amsterdam, and my brother is currently planning to relocate there. I hope he goes soon, so I can visit him! What a beautiful city, and the food sounds amazing!
I share your love of Bob Marley, and still wear a t-shirt with his face on it 🙂 In college, I had a floor-to-ceiling poster of him on my wall!
Oh how lucky is your brother. What a great place to live. And I had a huge Bob Marley poster too.
Julia he’s fabulous! I have enjoyed every one of his posts and look forward to them . He’s a natural!
MC and I loved every detail!
xo
Patty
Awww thank you Patty! He’ll love to hear that
You have a budding travel writer there! His writing definitely has a voice and it’s lovely to “meet” a young man with such cosmopolitan tastes at such an early age. Definitely approve of his menu choices! Alles gute!
Vielen Dank Ingrid! It’s funny to see how his life already revolves around food and trying new things. He reminds me so much of my dad. He’s just like that
I enjoyed your son’s post very much. He is so lucky to have travelled so much.
Thank you so much and I agree, he’s a lucky guy and he knows it.
Awww, how sweet, you’ve got a little writer on your hands! What an AMAZING experience for your kids, they are fortunate to be able to travel at such a young age! In my option/experience, travel can be more shaping that a text book (although working hard in school necessary!); going and experiencing a place for yourself, instead of relying on perceptions (especially a place like Amsterdam) can be one of the most formative experiences. We only had a few short hours in Amsterdam but walking around the city and seeing everyone whizzing around on bikes was really neat! Such an empowering experience to pick where he wants to go and decide what to do while he’s there–too cool!
Thanks for sharing, Noa!
I always told him that if he wants to continue to travel as he grows up, he needs to be good in school to get a good job that pays for the traveling. I hope he’ll strive to do that 😉 We are also fortunate to have a little guy who’s always been interested in history and food. Our daughter is interested too but not as much as he is.
Oh my I loved this!!! Your son is precious!!! His writing style is awesome!!! Loved reading it.
Thanks so much reading Claire. He loves reading all the comments!
What an awesome post!!! I loved the tour and food recommendations, buddy! I think you have the next Anthony Bourdain on your hands, Julia. Hope you’re all having the BEST time!
Haha Pam, He’ll love to hear that because he adores Bourdain and watches him all the time. He’s been watching travel food shows since he was really little. And I love Bourdain too 😉
I really enjoyed your story! But since I’m Dutch I have to correct something: we don’t like plain mashed potatoes, but we eat it in typical Dutch (but bland) dishes. Suchs as: stampot boerenkool (kale), hutspot (mashed with cooked onions & carrots), stamppot rauwe andijvie etc. And the croquet/kroket contains meat 🙁 no mashed potatoes (as far as I know LOL)
Ha, I will tell him that 😉
Glad you had a great time, Noa! I love reading your stories! =)
Thanks Claudia! I think Luca and Dani should do some travel blogging too, they have been to some amazing places 😉
What an impressive young man!! I really enjoyed his writing style!! thanks for taking us along!!
Thank you Michelle
He did a great job. I’am Dutch, we are from the south. But love going to amsterdam and just walk around. Amsterdam is just a fun town which gets a bad rap. Not all Dutch people use drugs, most off us don’t a lot a tourist do hahhaa. Just got back from the Netherlands and ready to go back.
He can always go to college in Germany and travel really cheap around europe. That’s one off the great things off Europe you can go everywhere.
Thanks Mignonne, I think he has the college thing on his mind. He wants to eat himself through Europe 😉
Love these posts! And I had no idea about the Dutch and their love of mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes, too….I should go there!
You should!
Okay, your kid ROCKS in my book. Amsterdam is actually one of my fave cities I’ve EVER, ever been too – hands down – it’s amazing! The people there are some of THE most gracious, by far, of anywhere I’ve visited. It’s heaven.
Also, your kid rocks bc he’s wearing that Marley tshirt – Marley is one of the kings of music, and always will be.
I didn’t think you needed to explain the Marley tshirt one single solitary bit, btw, but that’s just me. You’re a fan and/or your son is a fan — and I couldn’t care less whether or not you further ascribe to what Marley was or wasn’t about – bc that’s none of my business and I’d support you fully either way! :)))))
🙂 Thanks so much Ann! The internet can be a scary place sometimes when you post things and people have opinions about everything. I just didn’t want someone to hint at this. I also think Marley was and for me still is the King. His music makes me happy and now makes my son happy too. And I also love that he doesn’t mind wearing his mom’s tshirt 😉
So nice to see my home town pop up on my favorite blog! SO nice that it even made me stop lurking and start commenting! First of all, I love you blog! Second, I love Amsterdam 🙂 Still live there by the way, and indeed such a shame that is has such a bad reputation, so bad even that you even have to put a disclaimer about what you where doing and what your son is wearing! I’m a college student and I take foreign students who come here to study for a year on tours around the city. Most of them are only in Amsterdam for the coffee shops and the partying which really disappoints me! There is so much more! And Dutch people don’t do most of that stuff, it’s mainly tourists. You visited some lovely places. Nice dinner choices too. O, and a croquet and a bitterbal are practically the same, the bitterbal is the party version of the croquet 😉
Well thank you so much for calling it your favorite blog! I’m jealous that you get to live there and so happy that you aren’t lurking anymore and left a comment! It seriously made my day!
I hope that my son will continue to be this interested in life and traveling and not convert to just travel to party like you mentioned. He loved reading your comment
What a great post! He is such a detailed writer! So great to read from his perspective!
Love hearing about this wonderful city through your son! He’s maturing as a writer and I really do enjoy his perspective 🙂 (especially the food – YUM) I was in Amsterdam a couple of years ago and totally agree about just taking in the city and having a wander around. It’s really a shame it has that reputation because as I think someone commented above, the locals really don’t do that stuff, it’s more just tourists which have given it that name. The city is beautiful and I’d love to go again! The canals and the architecture are just so beautiful! xxx
I just read this (FINALLY) and I loved it! What a cutie he is! You are one lucky momma!
Thanks Summer! I want him to blog more 😉 He is a foody and so passionate about it. He wants to start cooking more too. I love seeing him evolve and that he is just like my dad who is so very much in love with cooking and food. Melts my heart.