IJ-Hallen
After several months of attempting, I finally made it to IJ-Hallen, the once-a-month mega flea market that happens on the other side of the water.
It was amazing. So much old stuff. And vintage stuff. And general junk. I made off with a coat rack, small table, dress, rug, and some tiny trinkets. The most expensive thing I bought was the table...for €3.50, not bad! I saw a tape measure made entirely of metal. Some swords. Some smurf figurines. Lots of old wall-mount coffee grinders. Old cameras. Train sets. A doll that looks similar to the one I received from Nana after her Holland trip a couple decades ago. Cups. Vases. Pea Soup. Sausages. Pots. Pans. Typewriters. Microwaves...it goes on and on and on. The warehouse it was housed in was massive. I have a feeling my sister, Heidi would have been a kid in a candy store in that place.
After the market closed for the evening, we decided to pop over to Noorderlicht cafe for a coffee before heading back across the water. The cafe is great. It looks like it's in some sort of old greenhouse. I definitely want to make it back there. I guess they have music during the summers.
Ran into Nacho and Edu, later joined by Chiky at Noorderlicht:
Museum Nacht
After digging through our treasures and making some dinner, Rachel and I headed out to Museum Nacht. 45(ish) museums open their doors for this once-a-year event. You buy a €18 ticket and you can get into any of the participating museums. Some of the places even have music and serve drinks. We made plans to meet with some friends and we hopped from one place to the next.
We first visited Museum Van Loon—an old Dutch home of a founder of the Dutch East-India Company (early 1600s). Much of the house was closed for the evening, but they did have the back garden and coach house open. They had a Halloween-esque display in their windows:
Next we headed to FOAM—photography museum.
Then off to another old Dutch home— Museum Geelvinch Hinopen Huis. This one did have a bit more activity happening in it. They had a ton of people dressed up in proper 18th century style. In one room they were giving dance lessons, in another you could make sachets, or nibble from the dining table. It was fun to see.
Next stop was De Hortus Botanical Gardens. They had a full-on party here. Great band, a burlesque dancer, and later a DJ rolled up in this weird van/wagon contraption.
We were going to head to the Planetarium next, but the line was a bit too much for us, so we went around the corner to the Artis Aquarium. Before tackling the Aquarium, we tackled some hot dogs that were sitting conveniently outside:
The aquarium had some stuffed animals too. I spent some time laughing at this guy:
A replica of our canals (I think they forgot the 12" of sludge and murky brown water):
After the Aquarium we headed North to NEMO— the children's science museum. I've been meaning to make it in this place. It's basically a giant play ground. Lots of different contraptions to play with from a Rube Goldberg Machine, to playing with huge bubbles, to 'this is where babies come from' booth.
Oh yes, and they had a bit of a party as well:
Giant pulsing heart on their roof terrace:
After NEMO we headed to Lime Bar for a night-cap and Pringles. And that is where I ended the evening. It was after 3 at this point and I was ready for some sleep!
Sunday was perfectly uneventful. Spent most of the day sleeping and did a little laundry. Saturday had all the activity I needed for one weekend :)
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