It did snow last night, this morning it was quite cold and windy. We all put on more layers to stay warm. As we walked to our morning destination, we spotted two adults having a snowball “fight”.

Today’s main event was a food tour in the Jordaan district – previously a slum, today just the opposite. Our tour guide from Eating Europe was Aileen – she did a great job.

Our first stop was Cafe Hegeraad for coffee and Dutch apple pie.

Next, was Vishhandel (fish market) for raw fermented herring with onion and pickles – yuck, at least I tried it –

followed by battered deep-fried cod – delicious!

Lots of walking today.

As we walked from place to place, Aileen shared local information and history and pointed out things that a person might not ordinarily see like this wire sculpture high on a post at a canal crossing. The artist of Mermaid Bubbles is anonymous.

Anne, Kathy, Cheryl, Amal, me. Not in this picture but part of our group was Jane and Marsha.

At JWO Lekkernijan, we tasted Gouda cheese 3 times, each one aged a bit longer. The final sample was paired quite well with a sweet nutty tidbit.

Then we tried two types of sausage:

Another great story from Aileen as we stood beside what used to be the Lindengracht canal. You can read about the Eel Riot of 1886 here: https://www.24oranges.nl/2016/09/11/the-eel-riots-of-1886-ended-with-26-people-and-1-eel-dead/. What isn’t mentioned in the story is the final punishment for the Eel Riot was filling in the Lindengracht canal. It is now a very wide street with a grassy area in the center.

This is one of many “charity houses” in Amsterdam now converted to apartments. This one was for widows. The entrance leads to an inner courtyard.

Our next stop was Swieti Sranang for a sample of chicken satay, a traditional food from Suriname by way of Indonesia. Suriname and Indonesia were both Dutch colonies. People from Indonesia were sent to Suriname to work as “indentured laborers”.

On to Tom’s Bread and More for stroopwafel:

Our final stop: Cafe ‘t Small.

Another typical Dutch food: bitterballen – a ball of beef gravy with a crumb coating and deep-fried –

and a glass of lemon brandy, traditionally poured into a tulip-shaped glass and filled to the very top forcing the consumer to bend over to take the first sip.

You’d think that would have been enough food for the entire day, but no! After walking more streets to look at shops – including a stop at The Tulip Museum and shop –

and dropping off our purchases at the hotel, we went around the corner to a bakery to pick up something sweet and then had dinner at

Full tummies and tired legs – a good night’s sleep is assured. By the way, this food tour was one of the best I’ve ever done. The price was quite reasonable, the tour lasted almost 4 hours and there were 12 tastings. Aileen was an excellent guide.

Amal arrived last night, much later than expected. Airplane problems before leaving Phoenix meant a missed connection in Philadelphia. Then the entire computer system was down in London for several hours but she finally got an evening flight out. We took a morning walk through the Museumplein – a small park near the Van Gogh Museum and our hotel –

and discovered a bakery that we will definitely visit again (if we can find it).

We decided to walk to our afternoon activity.

This is how you get big things into (or out of) houses. The workers were testing how the cart moved on the track, then leveled the container and opened the front part.

It was cold and raining today, especially waiting for our reserved time at the Anne Frank House and Museum.

The presentation before the tour was very good, then we toured the annex where Anne and her family hid for 2 years, followed by a narrated tour of the museum. The Anne Frank House is just around the corner from the modern museum entrance:

On the walk back:

We stopped for an early dinner at Hard Rock and got a table under this sign:

Anne was so excited to discover the flatware on the table was quite warm, a joy for her very cold hands.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked through a small section of Vondelpark:

Snow predicted for tonight!

Yesterday, very early in the morning, Kathy, Anne, and I flew from Sacramento to San Francisco to Houston to … Amsterdam.

Since a person can’t just whip out their phone to call the hotel to come pick them up, this kind gentleman loaned us his phone and dialed the number, but let me do the talking.

Tulips are blooming everywhere including in planters along the main streets of the fashion and museum district where our hotel is located.

“Red means dead” – a phrase I learned from my last visit. Stay OUT of the reddish areas, bicycles have the right-of-way. And sometimes (like in the above picture), the bike lane might not be shaded red, so pay attention.

Hotel Fita is very nice with gracious welcoming hosts, small rooms and some steep stairs This picture does not show the treacherous curves where you must stay to the wide outer side. I’m on the 4th floor!

Thankfully, there’s a “lift” (elevator) for a maximum of two people. It’s rather slow and works most of the time. I’ve been told to “just keep pressing the button”.

More fun ahead as the rest of our group arrives over the next 2 days.