Amster-dam(n) Good Trip
Myself and Bobby recently got to take a business trip to the very beautiful and picturesque Amsterdam in a quest for some new furniture for the store. Here are a few bits and pieces that I thought would interest you lovely people.
We stayed in the wonderful boutique Hotel Weber in the buzzing Leidseplein area. Each room had a quirky but luxurious feel, superb attention to detail displaying interesting artwork and light fittings in each room. The staff were brilliant and we received an impressive continental breakfast platter each morning and enjoyed devouring it on the balcony - in short WE LOVED HOTEL WEBER.
I have visited Amsterdam a few times now but I am always shocked and impressed by how many bicycles there are! Every minute cyclists shoot past ringing their bells and every street with a railing seems to have 100 bicycles attached to it. It is estimated that there are around 881,000 bicycles in Amsterdam!
Amsterdam is often referred to the Venice of the North but in fact it has more canals than Venice (165 to be precise). Me and Bobby failed to squeeze in a boat ride on this occasion but enjoyed the views nonetheless!
We visited a brilliant store called Raw Materials (Rozengracht 231). It primarily concentrated on industrial and antiqued furnishings. The layout of the store meant that you glided through various rooms and settings, each one a different colour from the last.
I could have spent hours in there!
We stumbled across this sensational design store called Droog. It was full of furnishings, lighting and studio art and we adored wandering around this creative space taking it all in! Like Inspitalfields, Droog creates products, projects and events in collaboration with designers, clients and partners and I think this is why we loved it so.
I thought this bamboo bicycle was simply amazing.
These unusual shelves caught my eye. The eerie design makes me think it could sit in an Alice in Wonderland or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
This garden incorporated plants and textiles in quite an organic way. The colour scheme is carefully considered and it was a real delight to walk around.
During our visit we got some surprisingly good weather and we were advised to take a trip to Vondelpark, the most famous in the Netherlands. We celebrated in true Inspitalfields fashion and drank champagne by the water, people watching and taking in the scenic views.
I absolutely adored this Theatre building, Amsterdam has some architectural beauts, mixing many eras and styles.
We took the ferry over to the north and visited the EYE Film Museum. Architecturally, a stunner of a building and a nice contrast to the Theatre. There was a great Stanley Kubrick exhibition on too! We ate lunch here looking out over the water and Bobby indulged in the local specialty, pickled Herring!
I am hopeless at languages but was enjoying listening to the Dutch language on the tram and by people passing by. This was the first sign that caught my eye when we got off the tram. A real mouthful of a word, try and give it a go.
I could go on and on but to conclude we had a wonderful business trip…and we did do work (honest) In fact we will be getting lots of exciting and unique furnishings in in the Autumn so be sure to pop in!
