The travel business is one of the biggest market in the world! We, at Robin Travels, have a dream: transforming money into human development.
It’s hard, it’s a long way but it is the best way we found to spend our life!
We have been working for some years on our online booking website: LivingAmsterdam.com. It is now possible to support the project by booking through our new partners:
If you’re in a college or a school, you might have stayed with your friends from high school in their college towns, or perhaps visited a friend from college who departed for a job or graduate program in another city. Despite lacking some of the comforts that come with having your own space in a hotel, the experience has always been fun and you didn’t have to spend a lot of money to see a new place. With CouchSurfing.net, a relatively new phenomenon utilizing online social networking to connect fellow travelers, you can make new friends throughout the world, surfing from couch to couch as you explore new places and cultures. Conceived by a former American college student who wanted to lower the cost of his trip to Iceland, the site was founded in 2003 and has grown rapidly over the last few years, attracting 2.5 million users. Searching for a new adventure this summer? Want to host someone else’s new adventure? Consider the following 10 reasons to couchsurf — you could be in for an experience of a lifetime.
It’s free: CouchSurfing.net is a nonprofit organization funded by donations from its members. All commercial activity is forbidden from the site, which is entirely free to use. Hosts who attempt to charge couchsurfers essentially break the site’s moral code and are therefore removed. Read the rest of this entry »
The Netherlands might be famous for a lot of local brewed products, but something tells me that the first thing tourists try probably isn’t beer. For a reason, Heineken tastes like bitter water and other beers haven’t made it abroad.
However, Brouwerij ‘t IJ they did a courageous attempt to get rid of this stigma. And with some elements of success, as the beverage card features 10 local brewed beers.
A quick tasting of the first four tells that this attempt was rather fortunate.
A Friday afternoon is probably the best time to visit this old brewery that is located right next to an old windmill. In the pub, that slightly reminds the visitor of a tasting room, it is crowded with a vivid mixture of die hard locals just having finished their work and Loney Planet tourists.
Having drunk a few of their local brewed specialities like Natte and Zatte, people start to interact with each other and in only one hour an open minded and well willing traveller could get to know half of its local pub population. Besides, there are no other options than talking to the stranger next to you at the bar, as tables don’t seem to exist in the first area of the tasting room.
A sweet blonde one, an amber coloured bitter brew or a trappist beer, each beer has its own quality. With a local snack called Osseworst, a sausage of raw meat, and a portion of Dutch cheese with mustard a pub crawl should probably start here. Not end, because the brewery is officially not a pub and therefore closes at 8.00 PM.
The brewery is located on a stone’s throw from Artis Zoo. The tasting room is open every day from 15.00 to 20.00
Regular guided tours of the brewery. A tour lasts about half an hour and are suitable for groups of up to a maximum of 30 people.
From Amsterdam, Socially Responsible Tourism now has a name: Robin Travelsand LivingAmsterdam.com. When you reserve a hotel room, B&B or apartment through LivingAmsterdam.com, part of the room rate will support educational project in developing countries… at no extra cost for you!
They have Style! This is what Charles Bukowsky would say about Wynand Fockink after a visit at the tasting room, 10 seconds walk from Dam Square.
Born in 1679, Wynand Fockink liqueur distillery is acually managed by the two eager owners (no more part of the Fockink family). They spend their time to experiment new mixtures and tastes, producing the best jenevers ever! This is what you can see (and taste!) during the visits of distillery (Monday till Friday from 10.00 until 17.00 hours, Saturday from 13.00 until 18.00 hours, 9€) and at the tasting room (open daily from 15.00 until 21.00 hours).
I have been just yesterday and I tested something completely new: liquors made with the receipt of 300 years ago, when sugar was something missing in Europe.
In the same place Wynand Fockink organizes workshops (in English 14-16 every second Sunday of the month and in Dutch every last Sunday) and sells his products (a range of over 60) at the Liquor Store (sunday closed).
So, folk, when you are near Dam square and when you want to experience a well done liquor (every shot costs about 3€), stop in Pijlsteeg 31 & 43 (10 seconds far from Dam Square).
Who lives in Amsterdam knows that finding a good pizza is a hard work! To prepare a good one you need:
1. experience,
2. the right ingredients,
3. the right oven,
4. love.
Well, you can find all that stuff in Amsterdam at Mangiamore (“eatlove”), Mangiancora (“eatagain”) and Mangiassai (“eatalot”), the answer to the needs of a wise stomach.
Ciro, from Napoli, came to Amsterdam and funded Mangiamore in 2007 with his Dutch wife. It was a success! Two years later in 2009 part of his family came along and with their deep knowledge they funded Mangiancora: another success. That is why to greet the new year he funded the third pizzeria, Mangiassai (2011).
Ingredients, recipes and even the bricks of the ovens (made with the sand of the volcano Vesuvio) come directly from Napoli, where the typical rounded pizza was born. The basic ingredients are basil, mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and every peace of dough is weighted.
At Mangiamore and Mangiancora it is also possible to buy some selected food from Napoli like olive oil, wine, vinegar and pasta.
So, wise stomachs, next time you want to taste a well-deserved pizza in Amsterdam, try out one of these 3 places:
October 29, 2010 at 12:56 pm · Written by Christien · Filed under Going out
Are you a lonely tourist lost in Amsterdam and you don’t know where to go on a Saturday night? Fear no more, because you are probably not the only one!
Saturday night, 10 PM. Location: Cafe de D’oude Herbergh, within a stone’s throw from the long and famous shoppingstreet Kalverstraat. I am on my way to a Couchsurfing meeting.
Couchsurfing is a travel website where you can get in touch with people from all over the world. Members can decide to meet up, to exchange couches or to go travelling together.
When I enter the small and cozy bar I see a crowded place with a colourful mix of people from all over the world talking vividly to eachother.
Time for a beer. When I walk towards the bar to get myself a Heineken I start talking to this German girl who stands next to me. Within two seconds I am in the middle of a conversation with someone I barely know. She tells me that she just recently moved to the capital to do an internship. And like so many others in this town she is looking for a cheap place to stay.The darkhaired guy standing next to us overhears our conversation and joins in.
Three hours later I have spoken to at least ten people of ten different nationalities. From ‘locals’ to tourists just visiting town for a couple of days: The differences between those travellers seem endless. But what these bunch of young people do have in common is the fact that they are here, this Saturday night, to meet other people and to share stories, experiences, humour and…Heineken beer.
When I leave the bar to go dancing with my friends in the OT301 (another great place to go) I am happy to have met so many different people who all share one passion. Travelling.
October 9, 2010 at 11:49 am · Written by Christien · Filed under Rerlax, Sauna
Sick and tired of the raindrops falling out of the sky instantly? Do you want to relax but you don’t know where to go? Here is a selection of a few saunas for you where can forget about the crappy weather outsite and where you can reload your battery.
In the Indische buurt, hidden in a small side street, a huge church-like building shelters a big sauna. Being the only visitor on an early Saturday afternoon, the enormous Finnish sauna, the Turkish steambath, the solarium, the relax room upstairs and the bar looked deserted. The sauna is very simple and old fashioned, but cosy and pleasant. The entrance fee is 12 EUR, to be paid cash.
In Oud Zuid, at Culture Center De Binnenpret, the sauna has a rather ecological character, where the stress is put on promoting a ecologically responsable lifestyle. A team of volunteers is ready to give a wide range of long massages for only 25 EUR an hour.
The prices for using all the facilities of the sauna (Finnish sauna, Turkish steambath etc.etc.) vary around 8 EUR depending when you leave.
Are you a big fan of LP’s? Then you shouldn’t miss De Weergever.
This is a small bar and library where one can exchange gramophone records. There is an impressive collection of LP’s from all over the world. Around the big table in the middle of the small basement music fans of LP’s rotating on 78 RPM listen to music. At the bar there is fresh soup and beer for small prices.
At the Weergever one can also buy record players, needles, sheet music and everything you need to have when you are a collector of LP’s.
Every Thursday evening members of the society come together to exchange LP’s, to drink beer at the bar and to talk about their hobby.
If you want to join this unique society in the northern part of Amsterdam, you should become a member. For 25 euros a year you can get in contact with the 650 members of the club, buy your own LP’s and get the society magazine.
The club is open every Thursday from 19.30 to 22.30 and every Sunday from 10.00 to 17.00. The address is: Zamenhofstraat 116C, Postal Code: 1022 AG, Amsterdam (North)
Visitors can call chairman Dirk Woerlee for more information: 020 – 631 45 48
Mezrab is growing, Mezrab is alive, is playing music, is telling stories, is explaining the reality through cinema, poetry, colours… life!
One week ago I had the pleasure to spend half an hour with the Iranian-born Sahand. His idea is something inherent to the basic nature of mankind: sharing experiences and learning from each other.
“Amsterdam is a multicultural place but often people withdraw with people from their own culture. We create a space for talent from various disciplines and countries to meet and share.”
Activities organized at Mezrab (click here for agenda):
- Every Monday: documentary film, 20:30
- Every Wednesday: fiction film, 20:30
- Every 1st Friday of the month: Dutch storytelling, 20:00
- Every 3rd Friday of the month: English storytelling, 20:00… drop by and tell a story!
Entrance is free, but donations very welcome.
All films are spoken or subtitled in English.
Tea, Iranian soups and more!
So people, again: if you want to enjoy something really authentic and free in Amsterdam, consider to pay a visit to Mezrab!
LivingAmsterdam.com comes from the desire of a better world through a more conscious tourism. This blog will guide you to the unforeseen and hidden part of Amsterdam, beyond the Coffeeshops and the Red Light District.
avel business is one of the biggest market in the world! We, at Robin Travels, have a dream: transforming money into human development.
One week ago I had the pleasure to spend half an hour with the Iranian-born Sahand. His idea is something inherent to the basic nature of mankind: sharing experiences and learning from each other.
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