How come nobody ever told me how much I would like Amsterdam? A cyclist's playground with the café culture of Paris, it’s altogether the most pleasant city I’ve been in so far. I was visiting Andrea, who thoughtfully art directed the photo of me with a syrup-filled flowerpot at a total tourist trap: The Pancake Bakery. It was her idea, even though she admitted she hadn’t been in over two years – locals just don’t do this kind of thing.
And these are nothing like my pancakes. Each one comes out blanketing a dinner plate and is – dare I say it – shareable. We ordered banana and apple, so I thought it was also time to revisit that old post. Is dating different for the Dutch? Andrea, still her fantastic self, is still single. But she’s British, and she lived in New York before moving to Amsterdam. She can’t figure out how dating works there. I need to interview some Dutch dudes. The Pancake Bakery is clearly not the right venue.
Later that night, after a wonderful Thai dinner at Me Naam Naan, we meet two of Andrea’s male friends at Lime, a laid-back (if you don’t count the disco ball) cocktail bar.
Both Ben and Jerry (clearly not their real names) are polar opposites. Ben is your typical towering Dutch prototype whose last girlfriend was a runway model. Jerry is a self-proclaimed “Little Dutch” who wants to know how Ben got a runway model. They’re so different, yet the only thing they're both taking home these days are those breathtakingly practical Dutch bikes.
“So what are British men like?” asks Ben with a little mischievous glint in his eye.
“Well, it’s not really fair stereotyping,” I respond.
“Oh, go on,” he enthuses, “Be narrow minded.”
“Ok. They have a good sense of humour,” I offer.
And then I launch into a summary of that old post, only to realise that what I wrote over two years ago is not really relevant. Nobody can seem to figure out the (un)dating game – here, there, anywhere. Maybe there's nothing to figure out after all.
We're a little like pancakes. Triple-stacked or single layered, they’re all made of flour and eggs. Cultural differences aside, people are fundamentally the same – we all have the same fears and the same desire to be loved. The unexpected touches are what keep things delicious.
A fine day in Amsterdam:
The Pancake Bakery is at Prinsengracht 191-A, 1015 DS
Me Naam Naan is at Koningsstraat 29, 1011 ET
Lime is at Zeedjik 104
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