BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS IN AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam was a place that stood on my list for quite a while now. I've always wanted to see what Amsterdam looked like as one of my teachers told me it was the most beautiful city he'd ever visited.

So one day I had in mind, wouldn't it be cool to celebrate my birthday in Amsterdam for a weekend?

I already had a list (as I basically have a list of EVERYTHING) of a lot of amazing food places to go to.

I actually had to scrap loads, as I couldn't go to all of them. Luckily I managed to pick my top favourites! Not gonna lie, the number 1 reason I wanted to visit Amsterdam was because of the FOOD. As my love for it is just a tiny bit immense LOL.

Day 1 : 26th june (my birthday)

Settling off! Early birding, but super excited. We went by car and the journey wasn't too long, especially not when you're jamming to some amazing songs in the car. We stayed in the hotel Urban Lodge. I loved this hotel SO MUCH because it has that industrial interior vibe. The rooms were spacious and you had everything you needed, there even was a gym, not that I used it or anything...But there was! The first evening I actually spend 4 hours in the lobby, typing away on my laptop because I just loved the atmosphere there. The staff were very lovely and helping as well.

The first thing we did was grabbing some food (what else). I have to say, MOOK kinda disappointed me. I heard a lot of positive feedback about it and as a big pancake lover, I couldn't wait to taste them. Unfortunately, the pancakes itself were very dry and the variety of choice wasn't really grand. However, you could choose between sweet or savoury ones. In the end, I went for the peanut butter, coconut and dates combination. I also didn't understand why me and my sis got given 2 pancakes and my mom and dad 3. Weird, right?! Wasn't such a succes.

We visited Hortus Botanicus, which is a botanical garden. The place was very pretty with all its beautiful different plants. There was also a butterfly shed where you could walk in between the butterflies. As a plant lover, this is just the place to go to, ain't it!

Later on, we went to SNCKBR and I heard they do some amazing vegan freakshakes. I had no luck because they didn't serve them past 4 pm, dammit!!! We decided to go for dinner instead and I ordered myself a burger with sweet potato fries. Sadly enough, they forgot to put the sauce on mine and I'm not a person who's going to complain about it. SNCKBR wasn't really a topper for me (dinner-wise anyway).

My sister actually came with us for 1 day and travelled back in the evening (to stay with Moki). I'm very glad we could spend my birthday with the 4 of us.

Day 2 : 27th June

TEDS was the place I decided to go to for our brekkie breakfast. When we came in, it was full-packed and there wasn't any space left. On one side that means the food must be good and on the other hand, waiting is not so fun.

However, I do have the patience to wait for my food so I didn't really mind. When we finally got our seats, I ordered the french toast with maple syrup and let me tell you, hallelujah, the best french toast I've EVER eaten. Thank you, Teds for giving me a food orgasm.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the Foodhallen looked like. It's a huge food hall (obviously) with all different kinds of food stands. At the end of it, you have the "Kanarie Club", which is a place where you can grab some drinks, but the surrounding is so cool! Imagine going there with your friends to catch up. As you can tell by the pictures, I went a bit cray cray there. There was actually a man staring at me. He must have thought : what the bloody hell is she doing, haha.

After that, we went to a little sustainable grocery shop called Marqt to get some drinks. Whilist I was there, I picked up some Rude Health porridge and limited edition Tony Chocolonely's (BLOODY LOVE TONY'S.) I recommend to go to this shop if you love all things organic.

Hearing about the famous Red Velvet cake in De Drie Graefjes, made me wanted to taste it so baaaad.

Like, what could be so special about a red velvet cake? But by golly, this cake is FANTASTIC.

If I didn't already knew I was going to take the red velvet, I honestly wouldn't have known what to go for as the variety of cakes is HUGE.

Later in the evening, we decided to have a little stroll through "Vondelpark". There were actually a lot of people hanging out, walking their dog, jogging,... I liked to have a little wind down in the park, just taking a deep breath from all that travelling by tram. We didn't even walk the whole way around it, it's that huge!

After our little stroll, we went to Frietboutique. I was going because I wanted to try out the rare combination chips with chocolate sauce. Sadly they weren't serving them anymore, so I just went for the regular chips instead. I had a little chitchat with the girl working behind the counter telling her that the chips were absolutely amazing and that they were even better than the ones in Belgium. The staff was sooooo lovely and gentle, it wants you to go there every single day (although, that wouldn't be healthy at all, would it).

After the delicious chips, I was kinda craving some ice cream and well oh wonder, they also have the "Ijsboutique" (which is in the same little small space :))

I asked the girl if she could recommend me any flavour and she told me the Tony Chocolonely ice cream was incredible. And as I'm already a big fan of the Tony Chocolonely SALTED CARAMEL, I didn't hesitate to go for it.

And when I tell you, this ice cream is to die for, IT REALLY IS.

Day 3 : 28th June

I was the most excited to go to Bar Botanique as hands down, is the most gorgeous place I've ever seen. As you walk in, it feels like you're being transformed into the jungle of dreams. The interior is absolutely wonderful! Not spoken about the food yet, I've chosen the breakfast plank. You get yoghurt with fruit and granola, organic bread with cheese and ham, a croissant and some tomatoes. Yum yum yum......delicioso.

I could not go to Amsterdam without picking up some donuts from Dunkin Donuts. I expected them to be good, but they actually were THE BOMB DOT COM. I've never had such great donuts before, all these amazing flavours though. Really wished this place existed in Belgium.

We didn't do a lot of shopping, nevertheless, I spotted a Brandy Melville and I had to go in there! But oh my, it was soooooooo busy. Not even exaggerating, I waited 30 minutes in the queue for the fitting rooms. Luckily, I did managed to get myself a T-shirt. I also went into Douglas to grab myself an EOS lip balm and did a little spree through Etos.

After a very long stroll, we finally arrived at Bulls and Dogs. I was really craving something sweet and of course, I went for the big bulls (which are basically freakshakes) they do. What a calorie bomb, but how delicious! Our choices were vanilla, pistachio and cookies. The concept is special, and I love that you get to choose between hot dogs or freakshakes, which is like so different from each other.

The days have passed so quickly, I didn't even realize I was in Amsterdam. It must be because I just finished my exams and there was so much happening at the same time. Amsterdam for me was very busy and I travelled so much from place to place, that 3 days, was more than enough. I actually underestimated how massive Amsterdam is and that nothing is really close to each other. Yet I'm so pleased that I now can picture Amsterdam as a very lovely and pretty city.

Big love for my mom and dad for sticking with me, and travelling so much. I'm so thankful I got to do this and I had such a great time.