Amsterdam is a great city to visit on your own; it has so much to offer. Therefore, I wish to share my experience and give some recommendations of what to do and what to eat – and where to run. I will also mention some books.
After two long working days in Rotterdam, I was exhausted and didn’t really feel like being a tourist. I longed to go home. It has been a busy fall with new great but demanding challenges. All changes in life takes energy and recovery is important (more about this in another blog post). Nevertheless, here I was, with a couple of days on my own in Amsterdam.
Arriving in the city
Friday morning, it was grey and rainy in Rotterdam. Arriving in Amsterdam, it was also raining but the atmosphere was completely different. I enjoyed my walk through the small streets to my hotel Ibis Amsterdam Amstel and I didn’t care about the rain. The city was decorated for Christmas and it was so beautiful. The canals and the small streets with cobblestones just added to the cozy feeling. Well, soon the sweet familiar smell reached my nostrils; not that I like that smell (I don’t ) but hey – this was Amsterdam! I just reminded myself that Coffeeshops wasn’t places to go and have a coffee…
I’ve been to Amsterdam before; the last time was in 2015 for the marathon and I expected to recognize most places. At first, I didn’t but when I came to Rembrandt Plein, I recognized it and it was a relief. I don’t know why. I like to travel and to see new places but somehow, on this trip I just needed to feel comfortable and secure, hard to explain. When I finally reached the hotel, I also recognized the street – I remembered how I had run with euphoria the last 5 k of the Amsterdam Marathon.
When I travel alone, I often choose the hotel chain Ibis. It’s a big chain and you always know what you get. The standard is the same all over the world and when I am on my own, I don’t need cozy, family-like hotels. I just want to anonymously melt in and therefore, Ibis suits me fine. When I saw this hotel from the outside, I got skeptical though. It didn’t seem like much. But a facade often hides what’s really inside and it was a pleasant surprise. The staff was extremely friendly and I felt welcomed at once. The room was small! The smallest room that I’ve ever stayed in, I think. Nevertheless, it was well constructed and actually very cozy.
The food
In the afternoon, I had a rendezvous with an old colleague who is Dutch. He took me to Restaurant Loetje near the Central Station. If you want to eat a typical Dutch dinner, this is the place (so was my impression). And the food was delicious (I had tenderloin with mushrooms and French fries so I don’t have to worry about my iron levels for a while…). We had to wait for a table but it was worth it! To drink: Heineken (of course).
Saturday
At 7 am: morning run in the dark since the sun didn’t rise until 8:46. The plan was to run to Vondelpark, one tour and back. This was what I did but maybe I shouldn’t recommend to run in a park alone in the dark. Well, there were lights, however not that strong, and the first kilometer, it felt totally deserted. When I finally met another runner, I was relieved. So, I continued and met another blond girl and didn’t feel stupid anymore (no pun intended!)
The hotel breakfast was good. For me, it is important to start with yogurt and some kind of cereals. Here, they had Greek yogurt and cereals (with too much sugar but it was tasty!). A breakfast buffet where you have a lot of choices, hot and cold. One thing is for sure – you don’t leave hungry!
I had booked a ticket for the museum at 10. I am almost sure, that you have to buy your ticket online; it’s not possible to buy at the entrance. My hope was that it wouldn’t be too crowded and in the beginning it was okay. However, soon it became dense with people. The best time to visit the museum is probably when they open at 9. I often wonder if all these people are actually interested in art or do they just visit art museums because they feel they have to? Anyway, I can only hope that they will discover the beauty of the art.
Van Gogh is one of my favorites. I love his colors and his way of expressing feelings in the faces of the people he painted (including his self-portraits) but also the atmosphere he created in his landscape paintings. I spent three hours at the museum and afterwards I was so exhausted and “full” with art.
Time for lunch and I saw this restaurant by coincidence on Google Maps. I walked to the place and there was a line outside. How typical, I thought, and at first, I continued my walk. But I couldn’t find another interesting place to eat so I went back. Fortunately, I got a table immediately since I was alone! Some advantages at least when you travel alone.
It was a different but amazing experience. I had avocado sticks for a starter: fried avocado! I just had to taste that. For main course I had poached eggs on avocado with bacon and a delicious sauce. This is worth travelling to Amsterdam for – highly recommended!!! I felt quite full when I left – it was a lot of food and I always eat up. The advantage of being two persons (or more) is that you can share a starter.
Books
I went back to the hotel to rest my legs and in my tiny room, I started writing this blog post (it’s actually a prefect room for a lone writing traveler like me).
In the evening I just strolled around the city and enjoyed all the Christmas lights and the ambiance. There were many shopping streets and I enjoy watching; I don’t have a need to buy a lot of stuff…hey, what’s that? Waterstones! An English bookshop! Well, books are something that I cannot resist. I just love spending time in a book store, checking the books, maybe buying some…However, since I was traveling with hand luggage only, I had to limit my purchase. So, I ONLY bought two books:
The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Conclusion and final advice
Amsterdam is a beautiful cozy city where you can walk and admire or be amazed about what’s happening around you. It’s a city where I feel safe and therefore, it felt all right after all to run in Vondelpark before sunrise.
Some final advice: watch out for the bikes. Not because of their speed; they actually drive decently, but because there are so many of them EVERYWHERE! Also, be aware of the tramway – they can just “pop up” when you least expect it.
I went to this city with no expectations since I was tired and just wanted to go home. But now I am grateful for the experiences that I’ve had – it gave me the inspiration to write – and Amsterdam is definitely a city I wish to return to.
The Book Runner 