My Favorite things about Amsterdam!

Four fabulous things about Amsterdam

Original photo of some of the "Dancing Houses" of Amsterdam, a collection leaning houses.

My initial thought when booking our flights to the Netherlands was "Wow this is so small for an international trip! We could explore some other countries while we are over there."

But I was wrong!

There is so much rich culture, vibrant vintage shops, and preserved history in Amsterdam alone, that you could spend several weeks in the Netherlands and still find new side streets and pop-up markets.

I like to start each trip post with a list of "My Favorites!". A list of my favorite things about the trip, itself, and the places explored as these are the things that will stick with me when I leave. These are the habits I will adopt or the perspectives I will dive deeper into, or sometimes there are simply small little things that stuck out to me.

For Amsterdam there were several favorites!

My Favorite things about the Netherlands:

The first and most famous: Their biking culture. Everything is centered around it! Streets, transportation, jobs, towns, clothing, stores and restaurants! Of course, the Netherlands, and Amsterdam specifically, are known for their biking culture. The streets are narrow and cobbled, making cars cumbersome and inefficient to use downtown in big cities.

To save on space that would be taken up by large parking lots, bikes can be chained just about anywhere in the cities. They also make less noise, leave a far smaller carbon footprint and are healthier for people to ride around, getting your exercise in each day.

Original photo of a blue bike by Marie's breakfast cafe.

Secondly, their food grading system not only made grocery shopping easier, but it also felt encouraging to see the level of nutritious my foods were and get promoted healthy choices.

In the U.S. it feels like you have to have a college major in nutrition with a minor in chemistry to be able to decipher the mass of words on the back of a sports drink can.

But in the Netherlands, who use an ABCDE food grading system that highlights which foods are higher in nutritious value, you can easily scan their grading system and feel better about your selections.

Food-grading on the produce at Albert Heijn's store!

My third favorite is less a "Netherland-specific thing" and more of a European thing, but I just have to add it. Everyone dresses so nicely. I don't mean that every person is in business casual--though many are--but it is rare, it not unseen to catch someone in PJs or an outfit that doesn't have thought in it. There is a lot more intention put into clothing and the quality is typically better (from my experience shopping there and people-watching).

Fourth, and sort of in line with my third, the vintage shops! I hadn't expected to come across so many but there were loads and loads of vintage and thrift shops scattered throughout Amsterdam, alone. Many on the same streets which made shopping easier and more exciting as we popped into one shop and then the next, stacking out bike-baskets high with finds and pedaling to the next street.

This is one of two Marbles vintage shops! Loved their '60's and '70's collection of brilliant pieces!

But just visiting and listing all their vintage and thrifting shops is its own separate post! They varied in size, styles, audience and prices, quite widely.

Ultimately there is much more to dive into about the Netherlands, but this is just a small post to pique your interest at what a day might look like in Amsterdam.