It was still a little cloudy and sometimes it rained. Maybe we could go for a nice walk here in Amsterdam. The idea was to explore the “9 straatjes”, which are 9 streets connected with canals in between. There are a lot of cute little shops and places to eat. You are following us on our trip to Amsterdam. Day 1 we had a layover in Iceland and there is where it all started.
The History of the 9 Streets
The whole world is build around Amsterdam
– Joost van den Vondel, a famous Dutch poet from the 17th century-
The 17th Golden Age was a period of time with prosperity and success. Thousands of people came to the city from all over Europe to trade and start a new life. The city center was getting full and busy pretty quickly. They extended the area within the “Singel canal”.
That’s how three main canals were build around the medieval city center of Amsterdam. These canals were called “Herengracht” (Gentlemen canal, I heard our tour guide say on our boat ride), the “Keizersgracht”(Emperors canal) and the “Prinsengracht” (Prince canal). These canals were connected by little streets and gave this area its final structure. The 9 streets in the first half of the 17th century were formed.
Craftsmanship, trade and culture dominated in these little streets. Almost 400 years later this area is still bubbly and energetic with bussinesses in craftsmanship, cafes and restaurants, galleries and small specialized, authentic stores. One of the old craftsmanship product was leather. You can see it at the different street names like (Huidenstraat, Berenstraat, Wolvenstraat, Hartenstraat, Runstraat and Reestraat).
The “9 Straatjes here and now
In the early 90’s, a store owner, who was part of the “9 Straatjes”, thought that this area was very special, but they didn’t feel they were connected with each other. The name “9 Straatjes” was born and is now a well known, exciting shopping area for Amsterdam, but also for the rest of the Netherlands.
There are not only cute shops and cozy restaurants, but these amazing things you can find there as well:
Anne Frank Huis
Street food in Amsterdam
No need for a traditional lunch in a restaurant, because there are tons of possibilities to eat “street-food”. We found a place to eat fries in a very narrow street or alley (“steeg”). This place was very small. You just order the fries in a paper cone and then you choose your favorite sauce(s). This little place had 22 different sauces.
Or you just walk around the corner and step into a cheese store and eat a yummy sandwich with your favorite toppings, like cheese (duh!), meats, lettuce, egg, tomatoes etc. Or a warm flat bread in different flavors, like mushrooms and cheese, or tomato basil and blue cheese.
The small but interesting Museums
- Museum “Het Grachtenhuis” at Herengracht 386
- Photography Museum “Huis Marseille” on Keizersgracht 401
- The “European Center for Art, Culture and Science” in the Felix Meritis house on the Keizersgracht
- The Dutch Institute for War Documentation (Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie, NIOD) on the Herengracht
We walked via the Royal Palace and the Dam square back to our apartments. A nice walk, because our tummies were so full!
This was our last evening spending time with my American colleagues of Blue Fish Clothing . Tomorrow I’ll travel by train from Amsterdam to the south of the Netherlands to visit my family and friends.
Because of this, we went out for dinner with our whole group! “De Reiger” was an amazing find. The seating area was cozy and warm. We were seated at a big square table and it was fun to try each others dishes. The fish and boar were unusual and delicious.
After this tasty food, we had to wait for a local hail shower. We thought it was over, but the hail turned into rain. The solution was an Uber taxi back to our Airbnb’s.
Thank you, Blue Fish team. This was such a fun and for me personally, a special experience. I could see Amsterdam in a different way. Hearing all your comments was just priceless. I had a wonderful time. Thank you again for letting me come and spend time with you all!!
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.