Destination Holland.
Biking and the “Yotel” – Amsterdam.
Text: Jens Hoffmann
We made a bike tour in Hotel. True, the flatness of the land helps even in A’dam.
Amsterdam is wonderful for cycling, because the city offers an enormous, dedicated infrastructure. Virtually every street can be cycled, as nearly every major artery has separated bike paths, which make pedalling anywhere in the city a breeze.
Vistors are rediscovering cycling as the fastest, cheapest and the most enjoyable way to get around A’dam.
A country where the highest point is just 323 meters it will always be suitable for cyclists; lovely dutch life.
When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when hope hardly seems worth having, just moint a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road without thought on anything but the ride you are doing. These are words to sum up the therapeutical nature of cycling.
A dense network of bike routes criss-crosses the Netherlands. You don’t need to be a professional to enjoy cycling in Holland. Amsterdam is the symbol of Holland’s alliance with the bicycle, a city where 500,000 cyclists are on the streets
We checked in at the Yotel.
We are sure you will love this hotel.
It is a YO company hotel brand. They have hotels in cities like NY, A’dam & London. The company was founded by S.Woodroffe and G.Greene.
The rooms are a bit larger than those in capsule hotels but are very small relative to traditional hotel rooms. The founder saw Japanese capsule hotels, which were the inspiration for YOtel.
The first YOtel was opened in 2007 at London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports, in 2009, YOtel opened a branch at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and the company the Business Accommodation of the Year award at the Business Travel World Awards.
Personally I went back to my study time in A’dam twenty years ago @ the “Universiteit van A’dam” and enjoyed to ride my bicycle.
Things to do in A’dam: Amsterdam has a lot of fmuseums, among them the Stedelijk with a lot of modern art, the Rijksmuseum, the classical Dutch painting and Asian art, and the Van Gogh Museum.
The Anna Frank-House, the hiding place of the Franks during the Nazi occupation, is also open to the public. The city naturally has a number of buildings belonging to the Amsterdam School style of architecture, among them Het Schip by Michel de Klerk.
Designed as an apartment house it is today home to the Amsterdam School Museum.
You should try the trendy Cafe-Bar-Resto “Pulitzer”. Take a milk-coffea “coffie verkeert”. Yummy.
For foodies like me the perfect restaurat and my tip in A’dam is:
Ciel Bleu.
The restaurant is on the 23rd floor of the Japanese owned “Okura” hotel (it just became a 5 star plus hotel with 300 rooms)
The picture windows across one side of the dining room give a fine view over the city.
The dining room is luxurious, with generously spaced tables set out with fine linen tablecloths, and comfortable chairs.
The wine list stretches over 20 pages and is very well chosen, with excellent growers from around the world and a few grand cru. An array of nibbles appears as you browse the menu. We started classical with pasta.
Yummy.
The next was deep fried soft shell crab with avocado and beansprout salad, alongside langoustine with a spicy mango chutney.
The soft shell crab was very good with a clever mix of tastes. Next was a cornetto of scallop with truffle mascarpone, served alongside a single cooked scallop with green pea coulis and black truffle, and a Parmesan mousse. The scallop itself was beautifully cooked. I enjoyed it.
Strips of cod were garnished with almonds, garlic and coffee and served alongside a warm foam of “belle de Fontenay” potatoes and horseradish. I never find cod the most exciting of fish, so overall for me the dish was just nice.
Next was farm bread and topped with Iberico bellota pata negra, with lardo di Colonnata, glazed black salsify and a dressing of Amontillado sherry.
For the main course, saddle of roe deer was served with black pudding cream, cannelloni of green cabbage and dried ribbons of venison with clove jus. The deer itself was excellent, though perhaps this dish had a flavour more than was really needed.
We had cheese, of course, we are in Holland!! Fennel ice cream with star anise, white chocolate ice cream, mango and soufflé of vanilla and coconut ice cream. It finished off the meal.
Overall I feel this is a fantastic two star level restaurant, the Chef was engaging and clearly passionate about his job.
Give it a try, its worth it, especially when you are interested in architecture.
A short flight of 70 min, a happy landing, we are back in Berlin.
