+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | _______ | There was a young lady of Spain | | ,--'.:::::.`-._ | who was dreadfully sick on a train. | | /..:::::::::::..\ | Not once, but again | | /..:::::::::_;::::| | and again and again | | || `---'----' _|:::| | and again and again and again | | || `;:::| | | | |' ==== ==== |-::| | | | |-( @ )-( @ )--|O):| | | | | ` | ` |/::' | | | . v |:/ jeremy@ | | | | ___, || malcolm | | | \ -- _/| .id.au | | | \_____.-'__/-.__ | | | _| _/|::.\.::-._ | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [*] news [ ] about [ ] writing [ ] journal [ ] images [ ] guests | | +--- last 5 | | |->> archive | | `--- search | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "The Netherlands" :: [2010-01-13 05:39AM] | | | | The last country we visited on our European holiday this year was the | | Netherlands. We stayed at the home of two expat friends from Australia, | | now living in Amsterdam but currently on holiday back home. One of them | | is an amateur interior designer, so their classy apartment looks like | | something straight out of a catalogue! | | | | Amsterdam is a city built around a series of concentric canals. Walking | | around them takes you around some beautiful old gabled buildings and | | churches, as well as the infamous Red Light District - which I encountered | | largely by accident when women in lingerie or swimsuits started looming | | out of the windows as I walked by. However the closest I got to seeing | | the inside of one of these red-lit apartments was a mock-up in a nearby | | museum (honest!). | | | | Amsterdam's inner city is, to be frank, probably a bit too touristy, | | without any free museums or galleries that we could find (even most of its | | churches have been converted to other uses), and it is overcrowded with | | "coffeeshops" (which sell more joints and space cakes than coffee - magic | | mushrooms are also legally sold). So after I'd had my fill of the inner | | city I ventured out to a nearby suburb, away from the tourist crowds, to | | soak in some warmth at a local sauna. | | | | Because we were staying in an apartment with a kitchen, we cooked most of | | our meals - but trying to choose local dishes and ingredients where | | possible. These included, on our first night, meatballs with stamppot, | | which is a mixture of mashed potato and spinach, and "bitterballen" which | | seem to be little crumbed and fried balls of a gravy-like mixture. (OK, | | we didn't make that at home; we had it at McDonalds.) | | | | We also had an unexpected taste of home in Amsterdam, because of the | | Indonesian culinary influence that was inherited from Holland's colonial | | past. This is found in the number of Indonesian restaurants, in the | | serving of satay sauce rather than gravy with meat (though it's quite | | awful compared to the real thing), and even in the name of one of the | | country's biggest seasonal markets - "pasar malam besar"! | | | | reply (0 comments) | | << Back | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Links: portal / wedding / calendar / honours / phd / iq / igfwatch / random | | page generated in 0.063 seconds sadlittlewebjournal 2.9.3 | | content (c) its respective creator(s) web administration | | valid html 4.01 transitional foaf / rss feed | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+