My favorite food is fish. If it swims, I'll probably eat it. The samples at Urker Viswinkle fish shop were a treat.

I was excited to try the traditional Dutch way of eating herring; raw with pickles and onions. The non-seafood fans in the group treated this like a Fear Factor Challenge.

The other traditional way that the Dutch eat herring, is the whole fish down the hatch. Check out the picture below, it had a poster of a little girl eating fish. I'm not sure that I could have handled that!

For the less adventurous, we also sampled fried fish. Excellent.

Next it was back to where we started the tour, Cafe Papeneiland.

Cafe Papeneiland is well known for their apple pie. At nearly four hundred years old, Cafe Papeneiland is one of the oldest "brown" cafes in Amsterdam. Here is an interior shot.

We were told that Bill Clinton had visited and was a huge fan of the apple pie. He couldn't just eat one slice. We were each given a generous slice, ala mode.

The desserts continued with Stroopwaffle Heaven.

Stroopwaffles are everywhere in Amsterdam. I had actually tried stroopwaffles before visiting the Netherlands. They are sold in prepackaged tins for gifts and Dan had brought some home to me from his previous trip to Amsterdam. Also, KLM served Stroopwaffles as a mid-flight snack on our journey over.

The stroopwaffles at Stroopwaffle Heaven were freshly made and this makes all of the difference. A stroopwaffle is like taking a waffle cone and making it into a circle, rather than a cone, then taking two circles and creating a sandwich with warm caramel in the middle. It's as yummy as it sounds.

We were given a tip for refreshing the pre-made stroopwaffles: The stroopwaffles are made to be the perfect size to rest on top of a cup of tea or coffee. You let the steam warm the caramel and make the stroopwaffle gooey again. Although it isn't quite as nice as having one freshly made, it does do the trick.

Our last stop was the Cafe De Blaffende Vis for local beer and bitterballen.

We drank the Funky Falcon from Two Chefs Brewing and learned that microbreweries are popping up all over the city.

I've blogged about bitterballen in previous Amsterdam trip reports. I ate it every single day of the trip. I didn't notice enough of a difference in the dish to where I could say "so and so has the best bitterballen in town", but I can say that it was across the board consistent and yummy. I'd never turn down a chance to eat those cheesy/meaty fried balls of joy.

A picture of our tour group. Our guide, Jelte, is on the far left. Nice people all around and a fun tour.

Here are some neighborhood pictures that I took while we walked around Jordaan.

The Eating Amsterdam Jordan Food Tour was a highlight of my Amsterdam vacation. It was a wonderful way to tour the city and get a taste of Dutch culture. Make sure to book early to avoid disappointment, this is a popular tour. And whatever you do, arrive with an empty stomach and pace yourself. This is a marathon, not a sprint!

Amsterdam has a lot of museums. I'm not sure if this is an actual fact, but I was told that Amsterdam has more museums per square feet than any other major city. I walk by multiplemuseums dedicated to cheese. As if there can be too many cheese museums, right?

I left the hotel around eight-thirty on Friday morning, and made my way to the Jordaan district for a food tasting tour. Here are pictures that I took on my walk. Again, I noticed the absence of people on the streets. Besides construction workers, I was often alone. T

My favorite Amsterdam graffiti.

My original plan was to visit the Anne Frank House before the Jordaan Food tour, but the line was around the block. I soon learned a valuable Amsterdam lesson, the Anne Frank House is the single most popular attraction in Amsterdam. It's always busy and there is always a wait. I didn't have time before my tour, so I went across the street and discovered the Amsterdam Tulip Museum.

It was inexpensive ( 5 euros), absolutely empty, and it only took thirty minutes to visit.

The first part of the museum is comprised of a single room with a continuously looping museum introduction video. The walls are filled with colorful photos showing a wide variety of tulips. I had no idea that there were so many different types. I wouldn't have even realized that some are varieties are tulips: they look so different than what I know a tulip to be. The Amsterdam Tulip Museum is educational!

Downstairs, I learned about "Tulip Mania". During 1634-1637, people went nuts over tulips. Seriously bonkers. The value of tulips was inflated and people were sinking fortunes, mortgaging real-estate, to get their hands on rare bulbs. Tulips were a status symbol. Here is a cartoon to explain it in modern terms.

Here are some other snaps from the lower level of the museum. Besides "Tulip Mania" the lower level explored how tulips came to the Netherlands from the Ottoman Empire, and the general fascination with the flower.

I bought a tulip magnet and headed off to find a snack before my food tour. I know this sounds crazy, but I had not eaten breakfast and I had no idea that I would be served several pounds of Dutch delicacies on the tour.

Along with the quiet streets, not many businesses were open. This was about ten am and the only place with an open door was the Cafe de Zon. I don't speak Dutch and nearly everyone that I encountered in Amsterdam, spoke excellent English. Cafe de Zon was my first encounter with a language barrier. Luckily the man working at the cafe ( possibly the owner) was very patient and friendly: a kind smile and hand gestures go a long way!

At Cafe de Zon, I enjoyed a latte and read my book, while sitting in an empty neighborhood sports bar.

Cafe de Zon was wonderful, unfortunately, I would soon regret the valuable stomach space that the latte occupied. Coming up, Eating Amsterdam's Jordaan Food Tour!