I have been living in Amsterdam for now 9 months. Even though I don't know the city by heart and I still don't speak Dutch it feels like much longer. I have my habits now, my favorite places, my favorite studying spots, my favorite shops. When you love abroad, you tend to discover a lot, firstly because it is one of the reasons why you left your hometown, and secondly because you feel the urge to know your adoptive city better in order to feel good there. I've spent a lot of time walking around in Amsterdam, looking for the best places, even the best bench in the Vondel Park, just to make the most of my two years in the Netherlands. I tend to have no time because of my Master degree, pumping all of my energy and killing any free time, yet I like sometimes to take a day off and do my favorite things in here. I would like to follow this dreamy program more often, since I know my time in here is limited, yet the fact that this pleasures also are exceptions make them even more enjoyable when I - finally ! - have time. So today I wanted to share with you what my perfect day in Amsterdam does look like, and by the way giving you some ideas of places to visit if you live here or would like to visit this marvelous city.
10.00: In the morning, to grab the perfect breakfast and a good coffee, I like to go to Pluk. This place, apart from having delicious food - their healthy cakes are to die for - is also a cute little shop where you can buy the same plate as the one you had your pancakes served in. Shopping and cakes, the perfect way to start your day, and in the cutest décor, of course.
11.00: Pluk is located in one of the famous 9 streets of Amsterdam. So don't miss this occasion to go shopping around in the shops of the neighborhood, mainly concept stores and pretty little shops selling diverse kind of things, for all tastes and all budgets!
13.00: Your errands around those 9 streets will always make me hungry, and I love to grab a yummy club sandwich at the Café Esprit on Spui for the lunch break!
14.00: Waterstones Library is not local, it is a British book selling company, yet since I do not speak Dutch this place is the one when I want a new book. The building is the prettiest, and just across the road from the Café Esprit, so how could I resist? They have the best collection of classic novels, but their selection of contemporary books is also really impressive and enjoyable for a book lover such as I am. It is rare that I go out of this library with empty hands...
15.00: Amsterdam is of course well-known for its pretty neighborhood and canals, and one of the best place to make the most of it is for sure the quarter of the Jordaan. On a sunny - and not too cold - day, I love to bring my freshly bought novel and sit down along a canal, soaking up the sun and enjoying the Amsterdam life at its fullest.
17.00: One of my flaws is for sure that I love sugary treats. So around this time of the day I like to go and grab the yummiest cupcakes of all at De Drie Grafjes on Rokin!
18.00: This town is definitely known for his shops, and so of course I love to go to Kalverstraat, get lost in the crowd, and, for an hour or two, spent too much money in Zara and Stradivarius. For once, I try to stop being a control freak and just please myself with pretty purchases.
19.30: I don't go put often for dinner. My boyfriend and I tend to have dinner at home, but for this perfect day we would whether go to Morgan & Mees or The Sea Food Bar, both of them being good quality restaurants, with rather reasonable prices for students in search for an exception.
22.00: We don't go out much neither, yet when we do we tend to start in De Richel in the city center before biking to the Pacific, a bar-nightclub, before going back home around 4 a.m.... Well, I told you this day was my dreamy day in town, it doesn't happen every weekend, don't get me wrong. Even if I wished so bad, especially now, when I have to go back to my essay...
xo
Amy
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