Amsterdam: 5 Favorite Things

Things we really like about Dutch life and culture, as nominated by Norah and Ben, presented here in no particular order.

Nederlandse Honden/Dutch Dogs: You can bring your dog everywhere in Amsterdam. There are dogs on bikes, dogs on the tram, dogs at the market, and dogs in cafes.

Norah and Lily who we met on the Brouwersgracht one night after dinner.

Hagelslag/Sprinkles: The rumor is true. You put sprinkles on your toast for breakfast. Dutch kids make theirs with butter, but our upcycled version uses pindakaas (peanut butter) instead.

Breakfast of champions.

Artis de Partis: The ambassador of the Artis Zoo, this little guy stole my heart in 2008 and the kids are equally smitten. We carry an Artis keychain with us most days and he pops up in some of our favorite photos.

Dokter Bibber: The best second-hand shop find of all time. It’s Operation but with a different style of tweezers. Hours of fun.

Apres dinner ice cream and exciting rounds of Dokter Bibber.

Het Muizenhuis/The Mouse House: Built as sets for a series of children’s books, these miniature worlds are on display at the Amsterdam public library and at a shop in the Jordaan, near our apartment. This is the darling world of Sam and Julia, two mice friends who take great adventures together. We love staring at these sets and noticing all the tiny details that have been hand crafted and lovingly displayed.