Noordermarkt and Lindengracht markt

The Noordermarkt and Lindengracht markets are a block apart in the Jordaan area of Amsterdam and are great in terms of produce and have a better quality of clothing and other goods than I’m used to from a market. Both markets are equally good. All of the photos below are from the Noordermarkt.

It was great to see the variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh herbs,spices, flowers, artisan bread, cheese, olives, fish, meat and more.

There was also a child hiding…

After wandering through the Lindengracht markt we relaxed with an espresso at a cafe on the edge of the market and listened to the beautiful sound of a clarinet, piano accordion and bass cello. It was a nice way to start the day.

A tour of the Jordaan (guided by geocache)

We walked several kilometres this morning around the Jordaan district in Amsterdam, guided by a multipart geocache (GC20DV1). If you want to know what a geocache is check out my this previous blog post.

This multipart geocache consists of 12 different stops throughout the Jordaan and therefore we got to see a lot we would never have got to otherwise. We started off at this statue of Theo Thijssen, a Dutch writer from the nineteenth century.

and then came across some bird houses on a wall.

There are some lovely shops in the Jordaan and in particular this bakery and butcher looked excellent. I will have to try and find my way back here some time.

There were some lovely buildings located along the canal.

We saw kids playing football on a concrete area between parked cars; the ball occasionally landing on or going under a car. They even had a metal cage for a goal at one end.

With some buildings that seem to emerge from the canal, house boats and normal boats, there is a lot to see.

There are even some mammoth birds walking around.

As per the wikipedia definition “Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people (typically elderly people who can no longer work to earn enough to pay rent) to live in a particular community”. The almshouse pictured below founded by Daniël Stalpaert in 1650 is probably the biggest in Amsterdam and is just tucked away from the roadside and you wouldn’t know that a beautiful courtyard was within.

We also came across some interesting art along the way.

The Westerkerk church that resides next to Anne Frank Huis is also prominent from many locations in the Jordaan.