Apple Pie Update: Café Papeneiland

Today was yet another cold, rainy, and dreary day in Holland, which naturally called for an evening slice of appeltaart and some English breakfast tea. My roommate (Sarah) and I had already tried the alleged #1 pie in all of the city, so this time we went for the #2 slice from Café Papeneiland, a little whole-in-the-wall establishment that seems to cater exclusively to elderly locals. I know this because a man approached us and essentially asked what we were doing in an old person bar.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about this pie choice. The appeltaart was still in the springform pan, uncut, and looked a little overdone and unassuming compared to Winkel 43’s #1 pie. However, I was pleasantly surprised. What this pie lacks in aesthetic grandeur, it makes up for in simplistic, delicious ingredients. The crust/filling ratio was much better than Winkel’s, and the pie is not overly sweet, perfectly complementing the heaping mound of whipped cream that it’s served with.

Sarah and I did not come to a conclusion on whether this pie is better than Winkel’s because it is so different, but it’s definitely on par. Another 5/4.

Sarah and I share the important roommate-compatibility-factor of having the good taste in food, allowing us to share most meals and therefore eat as many things as possible. This week alone, we have had nachos, pizza, a mango, waffles, crepes, Indian barbecue, and fries. It’s great.

But that being said, traditional Dutch food is largely disgusting. A “typical” breakfast is a slice of bread with these weird sprinkle things on top. Lunch is usually a cheese sandwich and a glass of buttermilk, and dinner is something hot that usually includes a weird sausage and potatoes. While I am not looking forward to leaving Amsterdam, I’ll admit that I have a dream of walking through Chicago’s beautiful, organized grid of city streets while drinking my favorite coffee and eating a taco, and I intend on living out this fantasy exactly one week from today.

There is a lot that I’d want to write about, like touring Utrecht, visiting the only Dutch “ghetto,” and the phenomenon of the Dutch artificial beach canal bar, but I’m frankly too tired from day after day of staying up far too late, getting up far too early, and taking unsatisfying naps during long bus rides.

Instead, here is an assortment of photos, with context when needed:
Bijlmer Tour
This week, we toured the Bijlmer, what the Dutch consider to be their one “ghetto.” A majority of the residents are Amsterdam’s Surinamese population. It used to be the site of a massive “garden-city” housing project, but the Dutch government intensively intervened, constructing other forms of housing, business complexes, a train station, and other infrastructure. Apparently, when William Julius Wilson visited the neighborhood, he questioned whether it was actually a “disadvantaged” neighborhood. My professor described it as “the worst place in Amsterdam, but it’s actually quite nice.”

Our lecturer said that the Americans would probably laugh when they see what the Dutch consider to be a ghetto. I didn’t laugh, but I did find the Bijlmer to be a very nice neighborhood and question whether you can really host an IMAX movie theater and still be considered a “ghetto.” I have a lot of thoughts on this and how Amsterdam perhaps tends to brush over segregation and other urban issues, but I’m going to save that for the 3,200 word paper I have to write. Here are some pictures of “the worst place in Amsterdam,” which notably looks pretty good but also NOTHING like the rest of the city:

Utrecht
We also went on a tour of Utrecht, which is the third (I think) largest city in the Netherlands. It was basically a sleepier, less crowded, tourist-free version of Amsterdam. I’m not entirely sure why we went there, but it was cool.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope to update soon about my trip to Belgium which was definitely one of the best things so far, but for now, I am going to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.