MY SECRET AMSTERDAM CITY GUIDE PART 1

Hello again, I’m back as promised with part one of my Amsterdam city guide. We spent just over four days walking and riding (when it wasn’t raining) around the pretty brick streets. I have wanted to visit the city forever and I am one of the last of my friends to get there, but now I have been once I can definitely see a return visit in the not too distant future, I loved it!

We found so many lovely shops (including the amazing interior at Raw Materials above), great places to eat and superb cups of coffee, that I thought I would gather all my collected ephemera together and share it with you in a two part city guide. Look out for part 2 on Monday!  Whenever we arrive in any city, after a spot of research, it’s time to hunt down the holy grail of the best cup of coffee. The husband has to taste as many as possible to find his favourite and so our trail begins here. . . These are his five best coffee spots in Amsterdam  – 1. Espresso Fabriek 2. Coffee Bru 3. Koko Coffee and Design 4. Screaming Beans 5. Bedford StuyvesantThis picture was the first of many of it’s kind, I do love a good cat safari as my Instagram followers know only too well, so I snapped a few to share with you. Here we have number 1. – wild ginger. Keep reading to see the other tiny tigers I saw on our trip.  A rare snap of us together was captured by a polaroid hawker in Cafe Festina Lente – an unexpected gem of a bar and cafe which filled up quickly in the evenings with locals and tourists, young and old.I tried to capture here one of the crazily crooked buildings but my picture doesn’t do it justice (the tree hides the lean), but just take a look at those window lintels! This was near the nine streets where we found lots of great clothing and interior boutiques and a treat of a supermarket – Marqt – we have the lovely Rose to thank for this tip! As you can see my pockets and notebook were soon overflowing with business cards in all shapes and sizes from all the places I fell in love with. My top five specialist boutiques in Amsterdam were places where I found a little too much I wanted to take home.

1. Like Stationery for the most beautifully curated collection of personal correspondence items – 2. Anecdote for beautiful soft knitwear and timeless wardrobe essentials – 3. Typique for an incredible collection of letterpress, all set by hand and printed on a proof press or pedal press since 1967 – 4. Maison Hazenstraat 18 for a glittering jewel of a shop filled with vintage clothes and 5. De Weldaad for the perfect sized stubby candles and pretty vintage home decor.

This little tortoiseshell was fascinated with the world beyond the glass, and my stripy girl at home (below) made a nest while I was gathering up all my inspiration for this post. I hope you enjoyed this first little trip around Amsterdam with me, I will be away for the next few days at a wedding then working at a festival, but do swing by on Monday afternoon for the next part of my secret Amsterdam city guide. x