MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Netherlands and West Germany Trip
Day 4 - December 4 2023
We decided last night to not set an alarm to make sure we caught up on sleep. After about 11 hours of sleep, we woke up around 10:30. We had discussed going to a nearby town called Utrecht, but knowing tomorrow we would have a long train day, we opted to stay nearby. We have enjoyed Amsterdam even more than we thought we would, and have had less of a desire to explore outside if the city than we normally do.
We did want to explore a nearby neighborhood called De Pijp and their outdoor market. That would be a 15-minute tram away.
The trams in the city, while not cheap, are very easy to use. They allow you to purchase 1-hour, 24-hour, or multi-day tickets. Or, you can use your credit card to tap in and out of the tram and you are charged for the length of the trip. We have mostly used the credit card option during our stay here. However, last night we tapped in without a problem, but when we were walking off the tram at our stop, the machine was throwing an error for our card. On the trams, you have about 10 seconds to tap out and get off the tram before the doors lock and the tram starts moving. So, in the time it took for me to get to the door and get the error, and try a couple times more, the door shut and locked. With Mike still on the tram. Our eyes locked as the car speedily took off. He had to get off at the next stop and had to walk back to the hotel, the machine not accepting his tap-out either. Who knows how much we will be charged for that trip. So, this morning, since we would be around town anyways, we opted to get the unlimited 24-hour pass so we didn’t have another tapping issue again. We got our money’s worth for sure.
Once in De Pijp, we walked the outdoor market. It reminded us of the Notting Hill market in England. 300 stalls selling food and gifts took up the whole residential street for a couple blocks. Of course, we had to get another Stroopwafel!
We popped in a cute little cafe called Dakduie and got some warm bread with herb cream cheese, poached eggs and avocado on brioche, and Dutch apple pie.
Since we had skipped going to the town Delft and I wanted to get some Delftware, we took a tram back to downtown Amsterdam to buy some. We then took the tram back to the hotel (probably our 6th tram ride of the day!) to drop off the backpack. At this point, we were ready for a beer or two to relax and celebrate our last night in Amsterdam. We took a tram to a brown cafe called Chris Cafe. This was our favorite so far. It was tiny like the others, but brown wood walls, decorated with old art and newspaper clippings, locals at the bar, and quiet music. We grabbed a couple barstools at the window and relaxed for a couple beers, watching out the window at the drizzly cobblestone street.
On our way back towards the hotel, we walked to a canal and said a farewell. We really enjoyed the city and would miss it.
Many restaurants were closed on Mondays, so we returned to the pizza restaurant we ate at a couple days ago. Had to get the delicious N’duja again and got the diavola, a pizza with spicy salami from italy.
It was time to get back and pack up for the early morning tomorrow. At this time tomorrow, we will be in a German Christmas market drinking Gluhwein!