Today is our last day of fun on the trip. Tomorrows agenda is packing up, getting François an overdue bath, and heading to storage. But since we got most of the work done yesterday to prepare for storage, Ton agreed that we could go into the center for a last day of fun.
The reason we base out of the campsite in Gaasperplas is it is a 10 minute walk from the metro station. Plus it is the first/last stop of the M53 line so it makes navigating easy. Today we got off at the Nieumarket stop to head for a pastry shop Ton had picked out.
The city looked a little worst for wear after the long weekend. City workers were out in force cleaning up the debris from the party that must have been Whitsunday weekend. The first place was about 20 minutes from the metro stop but was not what we were expecting. Ton had a back up which was about 20 minutes from that place, but it was also not what she was expecting. I was hoping for some of the famous apple pie the Netherlands is famous for. I mentioned a place that looked promising, it was about 25 minutes from where we were. When we got there it didn’t look good either. So after over an hour of walking on the hottest day of the year, (part of the reason we headed into the city was to find some cool air) we hadn’t found anything.
We decided to give up on pastries and apple pies and head to a bar we like for a cold beer. After a short 10 minute walk we arrived at the bar, and it was closed. At this point we were close to giving up but Ton saw a bar that looked promising across the street and we went in. We were met with an empty bar, but a blast of cold air-conditioned air so we were hoping for the best. The bartender came in and asked what we wanted so we had found our place.
Our bartender was named Ank which couldn’t be more Dutch, but she was a treat. The bar was everything we expected from Amsterdam 6 good beers and lots of wood and old curiosities. Ank told us her clientele was still 80% Dutch with just enough foreigners mixed in to make it interesting. She asked about our day and Ton told her about our failed quest to find apple pie. A couple of minutes later she said I have an idea, and left us alone in the bar. About 5 minutes later she returned with an apple pie, she said her friends mother in law made it. Now that is service beyond the call of duty. The apple pie was delicious and the atmosphere and company made this the most memorable meal of the trip. A good end to the day.