Discover Benelux | Special Feature | ICONICity
A M S T E R D A M
ICONICITY IN THE CITY With a wintery 24 hours to explore Amsterdam and its icons, Discover Benelux set off on our traditional Dutch-style bicycles, complete with back pedal brake and upright position. TEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: PHIL GALE
Casually winding our way along the canals with an occasional swerve to avoid those tyre-swallowing tramlines, we experienced a historical side of Amsterdam that set our pulses racing.
ICONICity: Dinner Immediately thinking of Speculaas? Stroopwafels? What about something a little more substantial? While traditionally eaten for breakfast in the US and only once a year in the UK, the approach to pancakes in mainland Europe differs greatly. As our Scandinavian peers reach for the jam to accompany theirs, the Dutch let loose with their ingredients and nowhere is this more apparent than Amsterdam’s most famous pancake restaurant, The Pancake
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Bakery. With a menu that left Discover Benelux reeling, the 17th century building’s open-plan restaurant with its communal feel put us at ease. Thanks to the staff who were keen to share their pancake tips and their attentive, rapid service, our dinner was transformed into a gastronomical experience. The speed with which our vegetable-topped pancakes were created astounded us. But to call pancakes fastfood would be doing them a disservice. The savoury batter used for our first pancake (cheese, leek, spring onion and mushroom), which was much thicker than its French cousin the lightweight crepe, lent itself just as tastily to our pudding: winter poffertjes (mini pancakes) with chunks of stroopwafels, cinnamon ice cream,
vanilla sauce and whipped cream – which tasted even better than it sounds. Wine from the owner’s own vineyards in South Africa was the ideal accompaniment to our pancakes, and as we left the homely atmosphere we reflected on our evening: The Pancake Bakery had done much more than just shelter us from the rain; we now understood the Dutch nation’s passion for pancakes and they had opened the floodgates for future pancake cravings.
ICONICity: Amsterdam Light Festival – Evening Entertainment To settle the debate of whether Amsterdam is best explored by canal or by bike, we boarded an evening canal cruise complete with festive mulled wine to see the Ams-
Discover Benelux | Special Feature | ICONICity
work, Amsterdam’s urban planners are moulding their city into a breath-taking fusion of history and modernisation, industrialism morphing into hip city slickness.
ICONICity: Lunchtime degustation. “We Dutch eat cheese all day long,” proclaims our cheese master, the amiable Leo from the flagship store and tasting centre of Reypenaer cheese. Stored in traditional wooden warehouses in Holland’s “authentic” capital of cheese Woerden, the family of Wijngaard and Reypenaer cheeses are amongst the only cheeses in the Netherlands to undergo a natural ageing process, the benefits of which become apparent as the tasting sessions goes on. “In our natural micro-climate, the cheeses rest on wooden shelves, are hand-cleaned and turned over on a weekly basis to get the right consistency,” explains Leo, “they all come from selected farmers in North Holland. Perhaps you can taste a hint of the sea breeze and fresh grass?” Putting our senses to the test, we duly complete the ‘tasting notes’, rating the cheeses in terms of smell, taste, consistency, and we haphazardly guess at ages –however, by the time the three-year-old VSOP (Very Special Old Product) cheese came onto the guillotine there was certainly a noticeable difference in maturity.
OPPOSITE: Amsterdam Light Festival. TOP: Holland's only naturally-aged cheese, Reypenaer. BELOW LEFT: Dutch pancake toppings - everything goes. RIGHT: Cruising around the Negen Straatjes.
terdam Light Festival. The now annual 50day wintertime festival from 6 December to 19 January invites Dutch and international artists to showcase light projections and sculptures under the theme ‘Building with Light’, taking inspiration from Dutch culture, canals and other concepts. Gently bobbing along the canals and the Amstel River, we sat entranced by the creations. The projection myhouseyourhouse struck a particular chord with its analogue projections, drawing on real photographs submitted by Amsterdam locals of the interiors of their homes, the artists Femke
Kempes & Machteld Aardse perfectly captured the very Dutch habit of gluren bij de buren [peeking in your neighbour’s house]. Interestingly, Discover Benelux found themselves unable to resist peeking in the windows of Amsterdam’s many wonderful buildings; spellbound by the warm glow emitted from the stylish canal-side apartments. Marvelling at the trendy décor of Amsterdamers became a constant topic of conversation during our time in the city, and left no doubt in our minds that this is a capital city that understands aesthetics. With a multiplicity of architectural styles, each generation encapsulated within brick-
The tasting, six cheeses and three wines, lasted for one hour and the combinations of cheese and wine complemented each other perfectly, and as Leo put it: “the balance is achieved and the taste intensified if one first bites the cheese then sips the wine.” Beginning with the Wijngaard Chevre Affine and Gris (goats cheeses), Discover Benelux was immediately sold, rating them 10/10. To Leo’s amusement, we then continued to the more aged cows’ cheese and began to struggle, wanting to score them just as high if not higher than the goats’ cheeses. For centuries the Netherlands has had a certifiably strong reputation as prime producers of cheese thanks to their fruitful grazing conditions. And equally as well as the cheese ages, so too has the company, who have benefitted from their 100 years of cheese production, earning them multiple
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Discover Benelux | Special Feature | ICONICity
ABOVE LEFT: At Rembrant's house you can uncover the origins of his etchings. TOP RIGHT: After ten years of renovation, the Rijksmuseum is once again a stunning piece of architecture. BOTTOM RIGHT: More bikes than people.
world titles, including World’s Best Gouda in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
ICONICity: Afternoon enrichment What trip to the Dutch capital would be complete without a nod to the greats of the Golden Age? First up on the agenda was a visit to a house just off Waterlooplein where Rembrandt van Rijn spent twenty years of his life, using it as a base to store his vast collection of etchings and paintings, and the city as inspiration. An avid collector of work by his contemporaries, the current exhibition ‘Room for Improvement! Rembrandt and the Old Masters” displays his distinct habit of subversively copying their work, matching them not stroke for stroke but instead modifying and in his belief improving the originals. Opinions are divided as to why he so desired to create these similar etchings, so this visit was certainly one that sparked discussion. The Rembrandt House Museum is housed in the original building built in 1606, the same year in which he began work on the Night Watch, and has been meticulously restored to its present state of authenticity. After cycling through Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, we neared the Rijksmuseum and
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the numbers of tourists rapidly multiplied. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Cuyp are just three of the many icons whose work is showcased in style at this national museum. Having reopened in the spring of 2013 after ten years of renovation, the museum has over 8,000 items spread within its colossal frame, including Rembrandt’s Night Watch which has visitors craning their necks for a glimpse. The building itself, with a pedestrianized gangway stretching through it to the delight of local residents, was designed in 1885 by esteemed Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers and restored over the past decade by Spanish architects Cruz y Ortiz. The arches that divide the natural-light filled building welcome thousands of cyclists on a daily basis who use the tunnel as a gateway to the city, with the occasional unsuspecting tourist stepping onto their path to the rowdy ring of a bicycle bell.
and showed a courteousness that is somewhat lacking in other capital cities. Ultimately we failed to agree on what is better out of cycling and canals, but our overwhelming impression of Amsterdam was that of a city that treasures its history, respects its inhabitants and embraces its evolution. With a warm winter coat and sturdy umbrella (seeing residents actually riding with them up), 24 hours cycling around Amsterdam is the perfect way to get to the iconic soul of this city. CityJet offers up to 8 flights daily from London to Amsterdam. Fares start from as little as £99 return including all taxes and fees, and includes CityJet's award-winning complimentary on-board service. For more information, reservations and to check-in online, visit www.cityjet.com or call reservations on 0871 66 33 777.
ICONCity: Reflection: Bikes or boats?
To visit:
Having said that, the chimes of bicycle bells were not a sound we heard very often. The demeanour of Amsterdam’s many cyclists impressed us; to our surprise they steered calmly around aimlessly wandering tourists, waited graciously for green lights,
www.holland.com www.rembrandthuis.nl www.rijksmuseum.nl www.reypenaercheese.nl www.pancake.nl www.amsterdamlightfestival.com/en