Yesterday was a holiday here and Adele and I had a fantastic time walking around the city. We walked and shopped from 11am until 7pm. It was tons of fun.
We stopped at a bar on the Amstel river, had some Amstel beer, and bitterballen which is a typical Dutch food. Here is how they are described by Wikepedia:
Bitterballen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɪtərbɑlə(n)]) (plural of bitterbal) are a savoury Dutch meat-based snack, typically containing a mixture of beef or veal (minced or chopped), beef broth, butter, flour for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper, resulting in a thick ragout. Most recipes include nutmeg and there are also variations utilising curry powder or that add in finely chopped vegetables such as carrot. The ingredients are combined and cooked, then refrigerated for the mixture to firm up. Once firm, the filling is rolled into balls roughly 3 to 4 cm in diameter, then battered in a breadcrumb and egg mixture and deep-fried. They are typically served with a ramekin or small bowl of mustard for dipping.
The bridge in front of us is also quite famous, called the Magere Brug ("Skinny bridge"):
Use of the bridge has been limited to pedestrians and cyclists since 2003. It is however opened many times a day in order to let through river traffic. The boats used for sightseeing tours are low enough to pass underneath the bridge when closed. The bridge is decorated with 1200 light bulbs that are turned on in the evening.
A story told to tourists about the origins of the 1691 version of the bridge is that it was built by two wealthy sisters who lived on opposite sides of the Amstel river and wanted to be able to visit one another every day (and were presumably too busy, or not in good enough health, to go the long way round via another bridge, of which there must surely have been at least one). In one variant of the story the sisters, although wealthy, were not quite wealthy enough to afford a bridge of adequate width for general use and so built a very narrow bridge, hence its name. In another variant of the story the sisters' last name was Mager, hence the bridge's name (rather than from its narrowness).
The bridge can be seen in a number of films, such as the James Bond film
Diamonds Are Forever from 1971.
