amsterdam it is a city known throughout the world; tourists overflow streets and bridges, bikes and canals They don't stop for a moment and the wind, at this time of year, blows cold at nightfall. The bruin cafes They are the perfect shelter: wooden furniture, dark walls –they say that from the number of cigarettes smoked–, dim lighting, good beer and typical Amsterdammer food.
Most of these cafes They date from the 17th century. Visited, in their day, by queens, painters and philosophers, today they serve as meeting place, reading, chat and celebration for locals and tourists. The bruin coffees –or brown coffees– they seem to stop time: outside, a modern, bustling, colorful city; within, walking through a wooden door , the pause and the silence of some past century.
Corners to savor Amsterdam in winter.
DOKTER'S COFFEE
In the Rozenbomsteeg (Rose Tree Alley) you will find the most special, smallest coffee – just 18 square meters– and with more charm of the city. In this café the myth becomes reality: a layer of dusty, old and several centimeters , accumulates in The lamps that hang from the ceiling; and the bottles, in the highest parts, they wear a gray cloak.
“The smoke from the many cigarettes smoked at De Dokter” , Explain Maria, owner and seventh family generation that runs the coffee, "added to the powder and a very short cleaner that my grandmother had, were forming this characteristic mantle”.
Doctor's interior.
The rest of the place, it must be said, is spotlessly clean. Sounds Miles Davis's trumpet and the waiter finishes serving the beer, the candles flicker and, outside, the darkness is totalizing: get out of this bar It's like waking up from a dream.
Hoppe Coffee
Located in the spui square , the hoppe coffee accompanies night life from the city since 1670. They have passed through him from former Queen Beatrix (of the Netherlands) to Freddy Heineken, heir and director of the illustrious Dutch brewery. The Hoppe cafe has a long bar, where its experienced and elegant waiters they move in step.
The wall mounted barrels and dimly lit, and the stained-glass windows that cover the windows reproduce a perfect setting for long candlelight conversations , yes, with the company of a good draft beer (and seasonal) and a table of cheese , grapes and jam.
PELS COFFEE
In the midst of the well-known Negen straatjes (Nine streets), essential shopping area in Amsterdam, this cafe has international magazines and newspapers: The New York Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, Der Spiegel, The New Yorker… In De Pels you read and write a lot. There is also conversation, mainly in Dutch, which is rare in the bars of the city, where the usual thing is listening to English because of the abundance of tourists.
When leaving the Pel's Cafe , just around the block, you can visit the famous bank of the movie Under the same star, shot in Amsterdam in 2014.
COFFEE 'T SMALL
Very close to the anne frank house museum , on the Egelantiersgracht Street, we found the coffee 'T Smalle (the small one). Located in the emblematic Jordan neighborhood , which for centuries was one of the poorest neighborhoods in Amsterdam, the café 'T Smalle is surrounded by designer shops , art galleries and international food restaurants.
The corner that houses the café boasts two beautiful rose bushes (of red roses), and the terrace, that awaits the arrival of spring extends, literally, over a channel.
DOELEN COFFEE
Two blocks from the little known statue of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza , on a corner facing a beautiful canal, is the DeDoelen coffee. The decibels go up a bit in this café. The groups sit around long wooden tables and share biterballs (similar to croquettes), smoked sausages and apple pie.
The jugs of beer and the bottles of wine they extend the conversation until after midnight. The city falls silent, until you cross the threshold of Cafe De Doelen again, the streets, out there, do not exist.
The decibels go up a bit in this café.