When I hopped on a plane to Amsterdam last fall, it had been four years since my last major trip across an ocean. While my main motivation for the trip was a revisiting of Belgium to dig deeper into its beer culture, I arranged my travel into Amsterdam for a four day start to this trip in what is really a favourite city. When my wife and I had visited on our first trip to Europe together, we both quickly fell in love with the canals and the parks and the laid back approach to life. The return visit, this time as a solo traveler, had me head over heels back in love as soon as my feet touched the ground. Jet lag never felt so good.

To get reacquainted with this city after a seventeen year absence, I snuck into Cafe de Prins during a short afternoon downpour for a strong Belgian ale and a snack I fell in love with all those years ago – bitterballen.

After the rains passed by, I did what I ended up doing a lot of on this visit – wandering the canals and enjoying the fall weather. When I realized I was in the Jordaan neighbourhood, I made a point of walking by the hotel my wife and I stayed at. It was a modest and quirky place all those years ago, but was home to such great memories. Standing on this corner brought a wide smile to my face.

For the evenings in Amsterdam, I became a local and took up residence on the canal-side patio of Arendsnest Proeflokaal. In my good fortune of booking the hotel I did, it was only a short walk to this amazing beer bar every evening. As the sun set, I’d find a table and order a couple of delicious beers and watch the canal boats sail past.

Speaking of those beers…. While Belgium is known for their Trappist beers, there is one such brewery in the Netherlands and I tried all of their beers sitting on this patio. Their triple, double and quads were spectacular and great for slow slipping and bringing me some warmth against the cool evenings of mid October.

My time in Amsterdam was really about finding and leaning into a great vibe more than a number of things I had to see. Second visits are great for that. And while a visit to the Albert Cuyp Market would make most “to do” lists, I was visiting in search of a couple of specific culinary delights….

I had reached the age of 49 without ever having tried a freshly made stroopwaffel. I made up for lost time and loved gobbling one up about ten seconds after it was made in front of my eyes. Then, around the corner, I made a beeline for a seafood shop for a herring sandwich. I felt pretty Dutch with my two lunch selections. Maybe I ordered them in the wrong sequence, but it worked for me.

On account of simply running out of time, one of the things I missed doing on my first visit to Amsterdam was exploring the Rijksmuseum. I’m not sure I can put into words the feeling of walking past such amazing art over the course of a morning. Glad I made up for my first trip omission on visit number two.

One of the things I adore about my solo trips is the ability to wander aimlessly. The canals in central Amsterdam made for a beautiful backdrop…

While craft beer wasn’t a focus of this trip, while I was over in Amsterdam Noord to visit a modern art museum and installation, I made two stops that gave me great joy. Oedipus Brewing was an amazing and eclectic craft brewery with a lovely IPA to refresh me on a suddenly warm summer-like day. And at Walhalla, I probably had the best craft beer of the trip on account of an excellent recommendation by their bartender – this black IPA was a stunner.

Over everything I did on this trip, the evenings in Amsterdam stood out. I stayed away from the tourist and stereotypical Amsterdam experiences and focused on quieter exploration. As the sun set and the lights started to come on up and down the canals and the laneways, a unique kind of beauty emerged.

In each of those evenings, I would find myself back at my now favourite bar in Amsterdam, selecting a beer or three from their fifty-deep tap list, and occasionally pairing it with a plate of bitterballen.

These ended up being my favourite times – bundled up against the growing chill, taking in the beauty of the canals and feeling centred and content thousands of miles away from home. This was a great way to kick off a couple of weeks back in Europe.