I AMsterdam.

Adventures with Matty Part 1

I was very blessed to have my older brother Matt come to Europe within a week of my mother’s departure. Together we visited Paris, Munich, Berlin, Prague and Milan, with our adventure starting in Amsterdam. During this time a Nor'easter was hitting the East Coast and we assumed that his flight was going to get canceled. We planned to meet at a cafe in the Amsterdam airport, yet there was no way of getting into touch with each other since he did not have a working European phone. Still, I took off alone, crossing my fingers and praying that I would not be stuck in the Netherlands by myself. After my arrival, I sprinted to our meeting point and I noticed a familiar head of dark hair in the distance. It was Matt. He turned around at that very moment and flashed his bright smile. He had arrived only 10 minutes before and was enjoying a Heineken. I felt like it was a scene from a movie. His flight was the last one departing out of New York City for the next three days and they had to de-ice his plane multiple times during the flight. Thankfully, he made it safe and sound and it was time for our escapade to begin.

Our first stop was at the Rembrandt Cafe. We caught up with each other and munched on some Dutch specialties. We had Bitterballen, which were these juicy meat ragout filled fried dough balls, and I had a delicious brie, walnut and honey sandwich.

We explored the city for the rest of the day and stumbled into many different cozy cafes. One that particularly stood out in my mind was called Toastables. We sunk into the fluffy chairs and sipped on warm hot chocolate. We also encountered a strange fast food joint called Febo where you put a Euro into a tiny slot and the food comes out of the window. It was almost like a fast food vending machine. Later that night we went to the classy Brasserie Harkema. I had French Onion soup to start and a brioche filled with crab, gambas and pinenuts in a lobster sauce. It blew my mind.

If you go to Amsterdam, you have to eat stroopwafels. They were hands down one of my favorite desserts in all of Europe. They are two thin crispy waffle cookies with an oozing caramel center. I brought a package back to America and warmed them up in the microwave for a few seconds. Though they were not as good as when we got them fresh from a truck, they did the trick and brought me back to our times in Amsterdam. 

Stay tuned to read about the rest of our trip and our heavenly food discoveries...