Amsterdam #2

 June 13th

Today was fine all day but the clouds looked grey so we carried our raincoats.

For lunch we caught the tram to Westlandgracht and walked a few minutes to Poppy’s Zuid.   We both ordered a chai latte and were struck dumb when the waiter asked did we want it Dirty or not Dirty.   I mean, I know this is Amsterdam and there’s a reputation and all that but midday in the suburbs?   Turns out that means, did we want coffee in the drink or not.   Little Sister ordered pancakes while I had a salmon bagel.   Just look at her pancake stack!

Little Sister and I then went by tram into Dam Place and despite the shenanigans with Mrs Google Maps we did manage to find De Afstap which advertises itself as a Needlework Shop.  

In truth it is a knitting shop with a few old cross stitch kits, a wall of DMC threads, and several bolts of Aida cloth and some linens.   I noticed that there were also some of what I call Burda and Anna style fabrics - damask type fabric with inserts of aida weave for cross stitch embellishment.   No purchases were made.

Emboldened by our success in finding our way we went looking for the Dutch Quilts shop and ended up in a small lane smelling strongly of Waccy Baccy, and near a shop selling wacky shoes, but found a small cafe where we had a refreshing drink and a sit down.  

Back out on the main tram street,  Nieuwezijds Voorburgwaal is its real name, we stumbled upon Petra’s Patchworks and of course had to go in and have a look.  There was an archway to the left in the shop and through that was the Dutch Quilts shop we had been seeking.   It is all really a mystery and I’m tempted to say it’s Double Dutch to me!!  

At this point we were ready to head home but I wanted to buy a postcard so we decided to return to the tram stop and go to the souvenir shops there.  Would you believe it?  The cards were €1 each and the shopkeeper, who was not of traditional Dutch ethnicity, wanted to charge an extra 50c for us to pay by credit card.   As cash was not an option we paid this surcharge unwillingly and were completely disbelieving when he told us we’d need to go to a supermarket to buy stamps.   

Albert Heijn is the name of the supermarket chain and we got off the tram stop just in front and found a sign reading post.nl.  Netherlands Post.  It was a bookshop with a post shop attached.   So, “can we buy three airmail stamps to send post cards to New Zealand please?”  No, was the terse answer.  Turns out the stamps are sold in sheets of five but the lady was reluctant to sell us five when we had only three cards.  But I did buy five stamps so will now have to buy two more postcards!   

Tomorrow we are being taken to the Bakkerswinkel and Fabrique Des Lumiere.   Today I found that Winkel is Store and I’m hoping that my guess that Bakkers is Bakery will be proven correct.