Amsterdam - Jordaan area

Breakfast at apt. Left ~8:30 for 9am entry to Anne Frank House (free with MK but booked in advance for 1 euro). Museum was very moving to see the conditions that the families lived in. Finished at 10:10 and bought a copy of the diary to read. We walked over to Cafe de Prins to meet the group for our Jordaan food walking tour at 10:30. We wanted to change Maggie's diaper and feed her before the tour began. We met Rudolph there and had a coffee while waiting for the rest of the group. It was a brown cafe and we tried poffertjes there (small puffy pancakes with powdered sugar and syrup). Very yummy. From there we walked a few blocks stopping at some widow courts, a sort of public housing. We were given history of what they were, etc. as we went. From there we walked to Vis Plaza, a local fish store. Here we tried the raw salted herring with pickles and onions, some kibbling (fried fish) and some tulip vodka. A short walk up the street to Patisserie Anesta where we tried some profiteroles filled with a Dutch egg yolk liquor. Rudolph stopped at a candy store and bought us some sweet and salty licorice to try. The Dutch prefer the licorice salty (it was double salted and VERY salty!) but we definitely preferred the sweet. Around the corner we went to Cafe de Blaffende Vis, another brown cafe, where we had some beer (Texels Puntel) and bitterballen. Continuing on, a few blocks up where two stops were next to each other. First was butcher Louman, a local family butcher. Here we tried 4 charcuterie: some ossenwurst (cold smoked beef sausage), grill worst (grilled pork sausage), a smoked ham and a 4th I cannot remember. We fed Maggie here since she was upset she wasn't enjoying all the good food. Next door we had cheese at Jwo Lekkennigen. We had a young Gouda (6 months), an aged Gouda (2 years), and a cumin Gouda. The aged gouda was almost crumbly like parmesan. The next stop was Swieti Sranang, a Surinamese/Indoesian restaurant. Here we tried broodje pom, a sandwich of mashed chicken, hot peppers, pickle and baka bann, a battered & deep fried plantain with a peanut satay sauce. The final stop was Cafe Papeneiland, a 17th century brown cafe, one of the oldest in Amsterdam. We had another beer (Brouwer I'TJ Tripel and Double) and some of their famous apple pie. Brown cafes were known for smoking (which is no longer allowed obviously), and jazz music. The tour was well worth the cost (this particular tour was through Eating Amsterdam Food Tours and they have locations in some other cities too). The food alone was worth it and Rudolph was a bonus. After the tour we returned to the apt and had a light dinner of charcuterie and an early night.Read more