Exploring IJburg

Yesterday I set out with my friend Sally and her son that was visiting from England to explore IJburg and find "the beach". IJburg consists of 6 artificial islands that have been raised from the IJ Lake and much of it is still under construction. This area is quite easy to get to as the 26 tram line runs direct from Central Station. What's great is that this tram also allows you to take your bike on board. What is not so great is only 2 bikes are allowed at a time so the three of us had to travel over in 2 groups. Since the tram runs every 5 minutes, it ended up not being so bad. Once we had all made it to IJburg it was pretty obvious which direction the water was so we rode our bikes over there and checked out the very narrow beach and the harbor with some yachts parked. There were some historical replicas that were pretty cool, however I hadn't gotten into picture mode yet so I didn't take any photos.

This is where the Malee twist of the story begins. I noticed that my bicycle seat had come detached from my bike. When I looked under the seat, I noticed I was missing a washer and part of the underside of the seat was cracked. The best solution seamed like a new seat. I thought I had spotted a "fietsenwinkel" on the way in so I asked the Postman that was walking by where the nearest one was. He gave us excellent directions and so we decided to also inquire about the beach since the little strip of sand we saw didn't quite live up to our expectations. He was super friendly and told us that the place we were most likely looking for was about 5 minutes away and called Blijburg or "happy place". This sounded excellent so feeling "happy", we set off to first get my bike repaired. We found the shop rather quickly and the worker helped me pick out a basic seat similar to what I already had and installed it onto the bike for me. Wow!!! What a difference that new seat made. I think I can safely say that it was the best 13 Euros that I have spent in the city so far. So guests....you can thank me ahead of time for all of my bicycle mishaps because your bike is now in tip top shape for when you visit. With bicycle up and running again, we finally set out to Blijburg. We almost passed it as this is the entrance.

Blijburg is this little bohemian artists beach with a little restaurant/bar called Blijburg ann zee. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting after all the modern and new architecture that we had spotted in Ijburg but definitely had a nice cozy vibe. I can imagine this place being super fun and lively on a weekend or nice evening when it is filled with people and they have a live band or festival going. By this time we were all hungry so we sat down and ordered a bite to eat. Sally's son and I had the Blijburger and it wasn't bad. It hit the spot. Sally had the mackerel salad sandwich and that looked quite tasty as well. The menu had a nice offering a bar snacks, bitterballen of course, and some nice vegetarian options. Maybe next time we will be more adventurous and try a few different options off of the menu.

Not sure how this works but would of loved to see some wishes on this wall.

     

Loved all of the colorful murals. 

This is the patio where we ate lunch. I have a feeling it looks a lot better filled with people. There was definitely some interesting reclaimed and reuse furniture ideas going on.

 After lunch we set out on our bikes to find Steigereiland. This is a neighborhood just south of IJburg where people have built their own modern single family homes. The architecture is varied and it was fun to ride around and look at all the different homes. This yellow one is most striking and situated towards the front of the neighborhood. It's a positive sign that you've come to the right place.

It is super quiet and I think mostly families live here. You would most likely need a car which is why, however cool this area is to look at, I don't think I'd be ready to move in just yet. Maybe when Optimus is a bit older...Below are a few more pics from our neighborhood tour. I think this is a place I'll need to take Felipe back to as he would surely enjoy.

Interesting use of materials. Made me think of a project that my office was working on when I left the US.

As you can see, no 2 are the same. 

Look closely and check out the stairs. These kids have the coolest shoes as well!!

The streets are still a little quiet for my taste.

Thatch roof goes modern. I'm hoping there is one massive skylight in the roof, otherwise this house could be quite dark inside.

That's my quick tour of Steigereiland. I think this should be on the list of places to check out if you have any interest in design or architecture. 

The ride home ended up being a little longer than anticipated. While the tram takes you through a tunnel that is a straight shot from Central Station, when you are on your bike you need to do a BIG loop. Thank goodness it was on the cooler side yesterday with no rain so the hour or so long bike ride home was not so bad. It followed a really nice bike trail and was cool to see some new areas of Amsterdam. We rode past the zoo so I now know where that was and even spotted a giraffe and a zebra. Our ride home also took us past the Brouwerij 't IJ. It is a small brewery next to the De Gooyer windmill. It offers guided tours and tastings, and has a pub with a large outdoor terrace. I think it would be fun to take guests, you could also check windmill of your list, and I will look forward to going there even more after the arrival of Optimus.

This weekend Felipe has flown back to the states for a quick weekend trip leaving me 'alleen'. Alleen means alone and it was one of my new Dutch vocabulary words last night. :) Friday I'm headed to a lecture at the Van Gogh Museum to learn about growing and using herbs. I'm anticipating the edible kind and not the psychedelic kind but you never now in Amsterdam. This weekend is also Gay Pride weekend so the city is sure to be buzzing!!