Liam J Havard: Europe

Friday, 24 March 2017

Amsterdam: Top 5 things to do there

As a recent venturer to Amsterdam, I thought it would be great for me to share a few fun things to do out there if you're going for a city break. I spent four days there and I highly recommended it, you won't get bored! Here's what I recommend.

1. VondelPark

A city break is not a city break without visiting some local greenery so it would be a shame to miss a walk through VondelPark. Not only is it a really pretty park, but it is also quite a big one so it's perfect for late night strolls. Lakes, grass and trees everywhere, perfect for an Instagram selfie!

2. A Coffeeshop

For a serious culture shock, visit a coffeeshop. If you're weed friendly or 420 friendly as you cool kids say, then I highly recommended taking a pitstop to one because it's an experience like no other. Be sure to look for a "coffeeshop" and not a "coffee shop" though because they're two completely different things! If you're brave enough, you will find one every 15 seconds or so you walk through the city. No exaggeration, they are everywhere.

3. The Anne Frank Museum

This one is certainly a tear jerker and probably the activity that I recommend the most. The Anne Frank House will feel surreal as you get to see see where her and her family and some others hid for three months.

You'll see the markings that Anne's father, Otto, made on walls when he measured his children. You'll see the secret bookcase that hid the families. You'll see Anne's diary entries where she wrote about her experience. There will be a lot to see and it will really hit home what Amsterdam went through during WWII. An unforgettable experience.

4. Sex Museum

You knew I'd say this one; it's Amsterdam, of course I was going to! Maybe not the most educational experience, but it's certainly a funny one. Saying that, they have some pretty extraordinary art work in them too. Protect yourself though, there's penises everywhere. See what I did there?

5. Wander the canals

For some down time, wander the many, many, many canals that this city has to offer and take in the beauty of Amsterdam. You'll come across a lot of cool stuff like wonky buildings, house boats and incredible architecture, on top of the already beautiful sites of the canals.

What would you do in Amsterdam?

Liam

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Top 2 places to eat vegan food in Amsterdam city

Food glorious food, the one thing that's guaranteed to make me happy. So much so that I like to regularly indulge myself in food at as many restaurants as I can go to and welcome home a food baby. Last week I had the pleasure of satisfying this 'hobby' in Amsterdam city. Here I point out two of my favourite places I ate at. Now go get a tissue to wipe your dribble as you salivate over the photos - oh, just me?

1. De Bolhoed

Thank God for Google leading me to this restaurant because it would have been a shame to miss out going to this vegetarian and vegan slice of heaven. Stereotypically vegan, I walked into the cafe and was surrounded by plants EVERYWHERE and as someone who owns over 20, I can say I really enjoyed sitting in this mini rainforest. But as nice as the surroundings were, I'd have to say the service was even more delightful as I was served by a lady with charisma, enthusiasm and joy who explained the menu very well to me. She pointed out what was vegan and what each recipe included which was extremely helpful.

I started off with a peppermint tea which was filled with real fresh peppermint leaves before I moved on to the vegan ragout croissant.

The croissant itself was baked with seeds and filled with tofu wrapped in seaweed and leek. Marinaded in a mild curry spice, the dish was moist (sorry to use that word) and tasty and the curry spice was the perfect heat. As someone who has never had a stuffed croissant, I was excited by the originality of this dish. The side salad complementing the dish was equally as tasty but was no match to how flavourful the ragout croissant was.

I ended the meal with an apple flop to satisfy my sweet tooth which was a vegan pastry filled with apple, raisins, sugar and spices. It was very sweet, but if you have a huge sweet tooth like me you would love it!

2. The Meatless District (*TMD)

Unlike De Bolhoed, The Meatless District was an all vegan restaurant which got me very excited upon finding it. It was a little further away from the city centre than first thought, but was well was worth the tram ride and walk there in the end.

Sadly there was no cactis in sight with this restaurant, but luckily TMD made up for it with fancy decor which was dreamy. The staff were also very nice and polite so no complaints!

Here I ate a tempeh-tofu tomato burger which was served with aubergine, pickles, tomato and onion. I loved how original this burger was. I'm so used to having the same old beanie burger that a tofu burger seemed a little more adventurous (yes I know tofu is made from beans, but you know what I mean) and it tasted great. What I loved even more though was how the patty didn't fall apart. You know how vegan burgers are; they're not very well bound but THIS burger was which made it 100x easier to eat and made a very happy Liam. Thank God for tofu burgers! The burger wasn't marinaded in much spice so I relied on using the avocado cream that came with it for extra flavour and that worked well. Eating out with my cousin, she commented saying that this was the best burger she ever tasted and I must say it comes in the top 5 for me.

And of course I finished the meal of with dessert because how could I not? I indulged myself in a chocolate fudge torte and had a 'few' bites of my cousin's carrot-beetroot cake. Both of which gave me a foodgasm and I can't stop myself from saying how MOIST they both were.