Cheese and Chocolate Contentment

The term  "I ate my way through the city" has taken on a brand new meaning. Before, always in a more extrapolative, imaginative sense. Now, I can literally say that I ate my way through Amsterdam and Brussels! My diet starts....tomorrow? ;)

I visited Amsterdam with my family at age 9 and remember visiting the Anne Frank and Van Gogh museums but not much else. It was nice to be able to return and get a different perspective from a much broader world view now that I'm older. While I must admit that Amsterdam does not rank high on my list of favorites, it was a delight to spend the day with two of my favorite people, Emily and Erik, in such a pretty place!

The city itself is gorgeous with its many canals and quaint streets. A highlight of the day was venturing onto the canals on a boat cruise; what a cool view of the city from the water!

Of course, a blog post is not complete without a comment on the food ;) I have never seen or been in so many cheese shops in my entire life!! And so many who are so eager to give out free samples!!! For this cheese lover, that was a dream come true!! Our favorites were pesto Gouda, smoked goat, and Old Amsterdam. I may or may not have bought a log of goat cheese for myself and may or may not have finished it in a week and a half ;p

The Dutch are famous for their pancakes and it would have been a crime to miss out on enjoying the culture's best! Erik had a yummy apple pancake while Emily and I enjoyed Poffertjes, tiny balls of fluff doused in powdered sugar, yum!!

Our highlights of the day, however, were the famous Dutch stroop waffles--tiny, pressed waffles with a gooey caramel interior between. Between free samples of that and cheese, we almost didn't even need to eat lunch (but we did anyways with a sweet potato goat cheese pie ;) Below are pictures from our visit to Milk and Honey, a delightful little waffle shop with the neatest owner!

We spent the day wandering in and out of cheese shops, taking pictures in front of the iconic "I amsterdam" and absorbing the city vibe. We finished the day with delicious Indonesian food after a tip from our friends that it was some of the best here! And it did not disappoint :)

Amster! It's my nickname! :)

We were given some big shoes to fill...

The weekend was a bit heartbreaking for me though. As I am sure you know, Amsterdam is famous for its "red light district" and my heart was shattered at the brokenness of the people in the city who don't know how much God loves them and how precious He sees them! The day was a sweet and sad reminder to pray for the people of Amsterdam. It also spurred a lot of neat conversation between the three of us, which I treasured most. What a blessing God has given me in these travel companions that we can grow and learn from each other and share in each other's burdens and sorrows.

It was also an incredible reflection on how incredibly blessed we are to grow up in homes with parents who love us, families who dote on us, a country that offers endless opportunities, and to have access to education, health, safety, and anything we set our minds to! May we never take the Lord's blessings for granted and may we use those blessings to be a blessing to others who haven't experienced the same lifestyle we have.

~~~

Our hostel was located a bit out of the city in one of Amsterdam's national parks, it was such a lovely journey to get there and the accommodations were so cute, reminiscent of camp cabins.

The view on the way to our hostel :)

Day 2

Off to Brussels for the day! We love Brussels!!!!! (As Emily says...We love Brussels...SPROUTS! Hehe)

This place is a chocolate lover's dream come true!!!! What cheese shops are to Amsterdam, chocolate shops are to Brussels. Almost every other shop on the street is a chocolate shop and they LOVE to give out free samples!! I never thought I would ever say it, but by the end of the day I had made myself sick from eating chocolate (don't worry, it only lasted for a few hours...I still crave and enjoy it as much as ever ;p). I have literally never eaten so much chocolate in my life! 

Brussels is also reputed for its waffles, so naturally we had to try some! I had a delicious savory gouda pesto eggplant mozzarella pressed waffle, Emily went for a speculoos filled and Erik for strawberries with whipped cream. 

Afterwards, we ventured to Frederic Blondeel for the best hot chocolate of my entire life! I had the Safron, Erik the Ghana, and Emily the Venezuela.

Safran

Venezuela

The richness of the flavors in what was almost purely melted down chocolate was enough to do our sweet capacities over! 

Did you know that Brussels is the home of the French fry? Me neither! But upon learning that, we had to try them. When in Rome, right? The birthplace of the French fry has certainly lived up to the name: they were delicious!

Okay, okay....you're probably wondering, do you do ANYTHING besides eat? Well, yes. We walk! (In order to eat more? Maybe... ;) ) The city of Brussels itself is quite beautiful and the architecture, especially in the main square, is lovely! It has such a charming feel, so much joyful activity :)

Home sweet home ;)

I will admit though that for this little foodie, this trip was highlighted by the goodies consumed. Amsterdam and Brussels will forever reign in my mind as my favorite places for cheese and chocolate :)

Thank you to my incredible travel companions for the memories <3