For an exam I might tell you more about in another post, I needed to be in Amsterdam last Friday morning. To avoid getting up very, very early to be there in time, I decided to already travel to the Dutch capital the day before, and spend the night there.
So after I fulfilled my work obligations in Brussels, I packed my bag, and headed to Brussels-South railway station, to catch my Thalys to Amsterdam. After arrival, and waiting thirty minutes for a tram that was supposed to come every six minutes, I could finally check into my hostel, CityHub. As you can see, the ‘rooms’ are quite special!
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9552-768x1024.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9553-1024x768.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9554-1024x768.jpeg?ssl=1)
Bag dropped, I headed to a nearby Indonesian restaurant, Café Amoi. Boy, do I miss ‘Dutch’ Indonesian food in Brussels! I had the satay ayam, with some nasi goreng and a krupuk mix. And extra peanut sauce, of course!
After dinner I went straight back to the hostel to study a bit more, and get rested for the next day. I even resisted the temptation to have a local beer from the self-service tap in the hostel!
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9556-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9558-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
Friday started with my pre-booked hostel breakfast at The Breakfast Club. The exam itself only took about an hour and a half, so soon after I was looking for coffee already, which I found at Monks Coffee Roasters.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9561-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9564-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9565-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
Then it was time for one of those Dutch staples, a ‘broodje kroket’. Although you can get them ‘from the wall’—yes, like a huge vending machine for hot snacks—one of the best places to have one remains Eetsalon Van Dobben. Since I thought it was still a bit too early to start dinking beer, I then played tourist for a bit, and bought ‘some’ liquorice to take home…
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9568-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9571-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9570-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
Although I was actually on my way to another coffee place, when I passed Het Lagerhuys, I couldn’t resist, and already had a first beer there. I did manage to get to Hummingbird for that coffee afterwards, though!
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9574-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9576-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9578-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
By then it was was—in my opinion at least—late enough to taste some more beer! The first stop was at Foeders, since that bar was the furthest from the centre. I love peeling and eating the peanuts there! You can usually tell by the amount of peanut shells on the floor how busy it has been so far, but that day, I was obviously the first to have had a crack at it.
From there I went to the Beer Temple—where I also had some ‘bitterballen’—Proeflokaal Arendsnest—with some ‘borrelnootjes’—and Bierproeflokaal In de Wildeman.
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9579-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9582-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9584-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9587-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9588-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9589.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9592-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9593-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9591-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
After all those classic bars—not much seems to have changed in the Amsterdam beer scene—it was already time to slowly make my way back to the station. However, I still had time for a final Surinamese dinner at Kam Yin!
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9598-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9597-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.martijn.be/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IMG_9601-scaled.jpeg?ssl=1)
Be First to Comment