On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Captain C
On Thursday, my sister and I had a wonderful day together in Amsterdam. As she hadn’t been there in three decades and change, I wanted to make sure she had some amazing experiences. First, we went to Van Stapele, a superb cookie shop. Then we went to De Carrousel Pannenkoeken for poffertjes. From there, we walked to the Van Gogh Museum (I thankfully had the foresight to book tickets for us weeks earlier), and then took a tram to see the building where our mother and her family lived when she was a child.
The next three sets will cover Thursday (including my solitary evening wanderings) except the Van Gogh, which will be covered by the following three sets.
Looking out at the canal from my hotel’s breakfast room.
One of the many tourboats which traverse the canals. It’s usually a good and informative time and a good way to check out the city’s layout on your first day in town.
A quintessential Dutch sign: enjoy your pleasures, but don’t make others experience them involuntarily.
Multatuli, one of the Netherlands’ greatest authors.
Van Stapele Koekmakerij. In 2023, on my previous visit, my cousin took me to their old premises, telling me about this excellent cookie shop which was going viral and deserved it. We went to their previous premises, a small shop on a side street near the current one which had two registers, a line around the corner, and was doing enough selling one kind of cookie that they could afford to hire two line minders.
Yes, they only sell one kind of cookie, chocolate with white chocolate filling. It is delicious, so much so that when I took my sister there a year later, they had moved to premises on the Rokin, one of Amsterdam’s central streets, kind of equivalent to having a good-sized storefront on one of the avenues in Midtown Manhattan near Times Square, selling one kind of cookie (and I think tins and suchlike). They now have five registers, and while the line was not long on this drizzly Amsterdam morning, it was constant and moved quickly. My sis and I got a half dozen cookies and shared the first two under an umbrella outside; we wanted to be sure that we had at least one each hot out of the oven. And I can safely say that this cookie is indeed one of the best I’ve had. Of course, we had to leave room for what’s coming soon…
A shop near Van Stapele which either sells a lot of Betty Boop merch or has a Betty Boop obsession.
De Carrousel Pannenkoeken, my favorite poffertje/pancake house in Amsterdam.
A classic plate of poffertjes: butter and powdered sugar only. Highly recommended. I am enough of a purist to generally go for the classic, but not so much of a purist that I won’t try some of the other possibilities on the menu (anything from fruits + whipped cream to Nutella to various liqueur-infused whipped creams. As my Oma said, have as many plates as you want, but only one at a time.
The carousel of De Carrousel.
Tenar Arha
Pretty & yummy today. Thanks!
Betty
Sounds like a rewarding day. Does the no smoking sign with added details being in English mean English speakers tend to be the worst offenders?
MCat
I’m really enjoying your trip. What a beautiful city.
AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team
Great pictures!
The flourless chocolate cake at simonmeijssen.nl/ in Amsterdam is life-changingly good. Words cannot describe the feeling of eating that cake (: Try it out! (and their chocolate almond croissants too )
Captain C
@Tenar Arha: You’re welcome! Poffertjes are the best!
Captain C
@Betty: It was very rewarding; my sister was grateful that I a) knew my way around and b) didn’t make her walk everywhere as she’s not from NYC and therefore not in NYC walking shape.
As to the sign, I suspect it’s a combination of what you said with the fact that pretty much everyone in Amsterdam speaks English, while many tourists don’t speak Dutch (and are more likely to speak English).
Captain C
@MCat: Thanks! It’s my favorite place to visit. Hopefully in a year or two, I’ll be back with more photos.
Captain C
@AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team: Thanks! And thanks for the tip on the cake. It looks like Simon Meijssen has a shop or two near museumplein, which is very convenient.
stinger
I really want to visit there now!
bjacques
Neat! You were near my neighborhood! Just down the boulevard from my place in fact.
Captain C
@bjacques: Awesome! We should think of having a Jackal meetup next time I’m in Amsterdam (hopefully in ’26, depending on the antics of ICE, DHS, and the FAA).
mvr
Thanks for this! Poffertjes were something my dad missed when he moved to North America. I believe I missed my chance to have them when I was in Europe 45ish years ago. He thought it was a severe lapse of judgement on my part.
Captain C
@mvr: Never miss out on poffertjes. Poffertjes are always the right choice.