A Travel Blog
Bougatsa Thessaloniki is a small cafe and bakery in the Psirri (aka Psyri) area of Athens. They sell a wide variety of products but they are named after their most famous: the bougatsa, a custard-filled dessert made with phyllo pastry that originated in the city of Thessaloniki.
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Varvakios Market, also known as the Athens Central Market, is located on Athinas Street between Monastiraki Square and Omonia Square. The main market building houses the butchers and fishmongers, but the market’s influence spreads into the surrounding streets where there are fruit and veggie stalls, dry goods vendors, and small specialty shops of many kinds.
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The neighbourhood of Gazi in Athens is not far from our place in Thissio. It’s just a short hop over a railway bridge… and then across a wide avenue filled with speeding cars and smog-spewing scooters. It’s a bit reminiscent of the waterfront in Toronto, so close yet so far.
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On one of our first nights in Athens we visited Mikra Asia, located a short walk from our apartment on pedestrianized Iraklidon.
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Just off Monastiraki Square is the Athens Flea Market, a warren of small streets filled with vendors selling antiques, used clothing, and countless other things of dubious necessity. The heart of this area is the smaller Avissinias Square.
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Following a friendly tip for places to visit in Amsterdam away from the tourist core we found ourselves in Amsterdam Noord, heading to a small pizza place called the Kebec Micro Bakery in a former warehouse canteen near the NDSM Wharf.
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Ubiquitous across the Netherlands are Indonesian restaurants offering rijsttafel. The name translates literally to “rice table” and refers to a meal consisting of many small dishes based on the traditional banquets served during Dutch colonial times to show off the exotic foods of their territories. Today rijsttafel is a popular choice when Dutch people go out with large groups for celebratory meals.
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We spent a day in the town of Delft, located just under an hour from Amsterdam by train. With a population around 100,000 it was the smallest town we visited in the Netherlands. Delft is popular with tourists for its picturesque canals, towering old churches, and landmarks related to painter Johannes Vermeer.
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We stayed in Amsterdam Zuid, a little south outside the busy core of the city. Separation from the overcrowded tourist areas was great for our sanity but the immediate surroundings didn’t provide many restaurants. Luckily, the neighbourhood of De Pijp, only a couple subway stops north, had many great spots for eating and drinking.
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We visited the city of Haarlem, a former port town with a pleasant medieval character, beautiful canals, and a fully-restored traditional windmill. Haarlem is located about 20 minutes from central Amsterdam by train.
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We’ve explored the Jordaan neighbourhood of Amsterdam on a few different occasions. There we’ve found classic canal views, small crooked buildings, and cozy restaurants and shops.
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We took a free ferry from Amsterdam Centraal to the new Overhoeks district on the Noord side. With multiple ferries in constant motion, we didn’t have wait more than 5 minutes to travel in each direction.
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