A few weeks ago, we decided to "travel" to Amsterdam on our Destination Date Night in order to celebrate King's Day, the day when the Dutch throw a big party for their king's birthday. People wear a ton of orange and cram onto boats and the waterfront and drink a lot, because that's how most of the world parties. I also wanted an excuse to eat a lot of waffles.
If you want to know more about King's Day, you can see my post here, but we learned as we ate and had a two-person dance party to enjoy our own little celebration. My table was set with a yellow tablecloth, because I don't have an orange one (even though I thought I did) and adding extra orange may have been a bit much. I also used this watering can as a vase and added the must-have tulips that Holland is known for. It has been a bit that I included our sticker passport books, but we've been utilizing them. I also know that The Netherlands sound like a great place to just go and walk and enjoy the city, which is the perfect vacation destination for us. As such, I snagged a Monocle Guide to plan a future trip.
It's been a bit since I had a cocktail with my dinner, but I found a recipe for a version of a drink I like (French 75) called the Dutch 75. It uses vodka, champagne, and lemon, which I garnished with some fresh mint. It was a nice, refreshing cocktail, which would also pair well with a brunch menu.
Cheers! Eric went with a color theme and enjoyed a nice Bundaberg ginger beer. Other traditional Dutch beverages focus on gin, beer, and coffee (which we also had with our dessert waffles).
Look at this great waterside view. We did our part to put on as much orange as we own, which was not a lot, but we did our best.
And now for the waffles. Yes, we could have gone really traditional, but #1 I didn't want to have the same thing we had for Norway, #2 I didn't want to go all the way across town to get it, and #3 I didn't want to figure out how to make a bunch of new, weird foods. Also, there's a Dutch waffle food cart nearby, so I decided to just go for all of it.
Here you have the Chicken BLT with sriracha aioli, I chose the Black Forest which had ham, bacon, gouda, maple butter, plus I added spinach for some greens.
While we ate, we talked about Amsterdam and had on videos of past King's Day celebrations in the background. This was a fun way to feel like we were in the middle of the action and also gave us a wonderful view up and down the river front.
This last year was a weird one for places that are known for big festivals and parties, but they try to make do. I found a video of 2021 that was a party mix by DJ Martin Garrix done on the top of A'dam Tower. You got awesome skyline views and excellent party music. In normal years, you would be able to see lots of these music events with thousands of other people.
While we bopped to jams, we stuffed our faces with our dessert waffles and had some coffee...in orange mugs! On the left is the Smaaken waffle: brie, spiced apples, bacon, and maple butter. On the right is The Elvis: bacon, peanut butter, bacon, and honey.
Obligatory visit to a windmill and a field of tulips. We actually were going to go to the Wooden Tulip Festival this year near us, but because of the timed tickets, the price for two people didn't really make sense. It wasn't much less than for an entire family pass, so I decided this was a good compromise.
Don't forget to get your passport stamped!
Party down, guys!
You may not want to throw a King's Day celebration at home, or maybe you do, but that doesn't mean you can't also enjoy an Amsterdam staycation. Here are some things you do to make it special:
- Add some backgrounds
- Orange tablecloth (or another color you prefer)
- Rustic milk can to use as a vase
- Tulips to fill it with
- Amsterdam travel guide
- Passport books
- Bike for decor (biking is a popular way to get around the city)
- Stroopwafels
- A Holland table flag or a flag of the Netherlands
- A great YouTube play list - King's Day videos I watched
- Dutch copper wine glasses
- Women's Dutch hat
- Dutch Blitz game
There are so many ways you can make this staycation fun and special, whether you go for beer tasting or virtually strolling through some tulip fields, or even go for a "walking" tour from your couch. You can view more of my staycation vids and photos when they happen on my Instagram. All of my staycation stories are in my Covid Travel highlight. They have music!
Have you ever wanted to go to a big festival?
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