Art and Photography Blog

Photos of the Food of Amsterdam

This is the last of a six post series on photos of the architecture and culture of Amsterdam.  This summer I was there for a few days in May on my way to Samos Greece and then for a week’s stay on my return form Samos. I learned from a Dutch friend of direct charters from Amsterdam to Samos so we decided to make it our transfer port.

Amsterdam offers wonderful food options and we ate well here enjoying Dutch, Indonesian, Chinese, and Spanish meals. Here are some of them.  In May we found a nice café next to our B&B on Kerkstraat. First we had mushroom soup with brown bread, a ham and cheese pancake, and pork meatballs in a tomato sauce. We later came back for some nice tomato soup.

          

For dinner we had traditional Dutch in the neighborhood. We started with cheese coquettes, steak with mushrooms, fries, and small pancakes.

        

The next night we had Spanish tapas at Tapas Bar Catala located at Spuistraat 299. They included spinach and pine nuts, chrizo, and fried calamari.

        

When we returned in June we went to Chinatown for the first night. We ate at Nam Kee Chinatown located at Zeedijk 111 - 113 where we found one of the few places you sit out outside. We started with shrimp toast. Then we had very large oysters in with a hot sauce, garlic frog’s legs, and Peking duck. 

        

Lunch the next day was more Spanish tapas at La Oliva located at Egelantiersstraat 122-124 in the Jordaan. We had a mushroom tortilla and a squash soup with Serrano ham. 

.        

A light dinner canal side on the Singel included Dutch cheese coquettes, and a pancake.

  

 The next night provided an Indonesian rice table at Kantjil on at Spuistraat 291-293. We had Nasi Poetih, Saté Babi, Saté Ikan, Daging Roedjak, Pepesan Oedang, Kredok, Sajoer Lodeh, Broccoli Tjampoer, s.g. Kentang, s.g. Telor, Seroendeng and Kroepoek.

    

A mid-day snack included the small sweet Dutch shrimp and some fried cod obtained from a street vendor in a small shop.

  

 Our last meal was a very high-end treat at De Belhamel, located on the Brouwersgracht in Amsterdam, where this canal crosses the Herengracht. We had a canal side table. The place has many art nouveau details. It received the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand award annually since 2007, including this year. The meal included nice bread; sautéed prawn and scallop with puff pastry and a chive-shrimps beurre blanc; sliced sirloin with anise mushrooms, green and yellow zucchini, fondant potatoes and a Cognac-tarragon sauce, and poached haddock fillet and fried tranches of langouste tail with fennel puree and mustard dill sauce. 

            

Photos of the Cafes of Amsterdam

This is the fifth of a six post series on photos of the architecture and culture of Amsterdam.  This summer I was there for a few days in May on my way to Samos Greece and then for a week’s stay on my return form Samos. I learned from a Dutch friend of direct charters from Amsterdam to Samos so we decided to make it our transfer port.

I was pleased to see the lively street life of this city and how the many cafes make great use of the street space. My hometown of New Orleans also has many sidewalk cafes but we could still could learn more from the Dutch. This post provides many views of these cafes and their participants.

                                              

Photos of the Bicycles of Amsterdam

This is the fourth of a six post series on photos of the architecture and culture of Amsterdam.  This summer I was there for a few days in May on my way to Samos Greece and then for a week’s stay on my return form Samos. I learned from a Dutch friend of direct charters from Amsterdam to Samos so we decided to make it our transfer port.

I was impressed by how the people of this flat city make such great use of bicycles. My hometown of New Orleans could learn a great deal from the Dutch. This post provides many views of the bicycles.

                              

Photos of the Canals of Amsterdam

This is the third of a six post series on phots of the architecture and culture of Amsterdam.  This summer I was there for a few days in May on my way to Samos Greece and then for a week’s stay on my return form Samos. I learned from a Dutch friend of direct charters from Amsterdam to Samos so we decided to make it our transfer port.

I was moved by the many beautiful canals of this city that lives well with water. My hometown of New Orleans could learn a great deal from the Dutch. This post covers the many interesting doors found on the homes and businesses that line the canals. Here is a collection. 

                                      

















 

Photos of the Doors of Amsterdam

This is the second a six post series on photos of the architecture and culture of Amsterdam.  This summer I was there for a few days in May on my way to Samos Greece and then for a week’s stay on my return form Samos. I learned from a Dutch friend of direct charters from Amsterdam to Samos so we decided to make it our transfer port.

I was struck by the beautiful architecture of this city that lives well with water. My hometown of New Orleans could learn a great deal from the Dutch. This post covers the many interesting doors found on the homes and businesses that line the canals. Here is a collection.

                                        

Photos of the Windows of Amsterdam

This begins a six post series on photos of the architecture and culture of Amsterdam.  This summer I was there for a few days in May on my way to Samos Greece and then for a week’s stay on my return form Samos. I learned from a Dutch friend of direct charters from Amsterdam to Samos so we decided to make it our transfer port.

I was struck by the beautiful architecture of this city that lives well with water. My hometown of New Orleans could learn a great deal from the Dutch. This post covers the very large windows found on the homes and businesses that line the canals. When these house were constructed that made the window openings and then built the rest of the walls around them. Because of the very narrow staircases, the old houses have cranes at the their top. After the windows you will see a few of them. Here is the collection. 

                                               

Here are some of the cranes located on most of the old house tops.