Netherlands

Kilimanjaro Restaurant in Amsterdam is not technically only Ethiopian. This wonderful local favorite serves a delicious menu of pan-African cuisine perfect for most any palate. Vegetarians have a bounty of choices; meat eaters can indulge in tasty morsels like Sengalese lamb curry; the adventurous can wash down their crocodile steaks with banana beer.

The seating in winter is quite cozy (i.e. small) with only around 25 seats (on the ground). This means that it is a great place to while away the rainy, cold days…if you can get a table. In the summer, the cool outdoor patio makes for a perfect place to savor the tastes of Africa. The décor is simple and manages to mix elements of Africa into the simple design without looking Congo-cabana cheesy.
Other menu highlights include spicy Ethiopian chicken and antelope goulash. The food is, of course, best eaten with your hands. Ask the wait staff for recommendations. If you are open to trying new, and seemingly strange, items, they will set you up with a memorable culinary experience. Expect to spend around € 20 on an unforgettable meal.

Kilimanjaro Restaurant is located on the east side of Amsterdam still within the inner city on Rapenburgerplein. The Waterloopein Station is your nearest transit location. It is not too far from the Maritime Museum.

Visitors to Amsterdam in the spring should take some time for a short, stunningly vibrantly colorful daytrip just outside of the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Given the small size of the country, no destination in the Netherlands is too far away and this is especially true for the flowers. The Netherlands are famous for tulips but spring blooms also run rampant with hyacinths and daffodils.

Two key destinations just outside of Amsterdam that are a must-see for even the most casual flower viewer are the gigantic flower market in Aalsmeer and the bulb fields west of the town of Leiden. Aalsmeer’s flower auction is the biggest in Europe and is housed in a mind-bogglingly enormous complex (imagine 100+ soccer pitches put together and you’ll start to get an idea). The auction starts early in the morning so it is most enjoyable before 9:00 a.m. From Aalsmeer, continue southwest until you hit the quaint college town of Leiden. West of Leiden, you will find endless expanses of blooming fields to overwhelm your vision and olfactory senses. Just north of Leiden you can find, Keukenhof, the largest flower garden in the world only open for a brief window in the spring during the bloom.

Aalsmeer and Leiden are both accessible from the Central Station in Amsterdam by bus and train. Car trips in the region are a wonderful way to enjoy the sights and the smells of the region. For my money, however, nothing beats a two day bicycle trip with an overnight stay in Leiden.

The Holly Hotel Carlton in central Amsterdam delivers on their promise of a great location. The hotel is right next to the famous Floating Flower Market and, as such, is surrounded by street after street of great shopping, eating and relaxing. We enjoyed the hustle and bustle going on around the Holly Hotel Carlton so much that we left our room windows open except for when we slept. Our room, at the front of the hotel, was quiet enough to sleep in undisturbed with the windows closed. Our room was spotless when we arrived and appeared well-cleaned every evening when we returned. The staff at the front desk was extremely friendly and eager to make sure our stay in Amsterdam was lovely. They succeeded.

From the Holly Hotel Carlton, we were able to easily walk to the Heineken Brewery (and easily walk back!), the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Dam Square, and, of course, the lovely flower market. We dined one night in the Holly Hotel Carlton’s Italian restaurant, Caruso, and had a very pleasant meal. Granted, it wasn’t real Italian cuisine (we’d just come from Milan) but it was definitely well above average for an Italian restaurant outside of Italy. All in all, the Holly Hotel Carlton makes for a wonderful stay.

One of the highlights of our visit to Amsterdam was the quirky and unique hotel we stayed in, the Hotel de Filosoof (Philosophy Hotel). This 3-star hotel has about 40 rooms that are each decorated in differing philosophical and cultural themes. We stayed in the ground-floor, spacious “Virginia Woolf” room that faced the lovely back garden. Even though it was winter, the garden was lovely and the room was warm and cozy; we sat in the chairs at the table in our room’s sitting area and enjoyed morning tea while watching the city wake up, before we headed down for the great breakfast.

Located at Anna van den Vondelstraat 6, the Hotel de Filosoof is in a beautiful and quiet neighborhood, just a few blocks away from the lush Vondelpark. The hotel is also walking distance from the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum. Plus, a tram line is just three blocks away. We also had a fantastic evening at the beautiful hotel bar, chatting with the friendly bartender and sipping drinks.

I stay in a lot of hotels, and what sets the Hotel de Filosoof apart from all the drab and boring business-style hotels out there is that is has something interesting, funky and different going on. There are photos, paintings and books all over the hotel, and the entire place has more of a B&B feel to it. This laid-back and fun hotel is a refreshing change of pace from the “average” hotels out there.