They claim to be the biggest flee market in Europe. Well, I don’t know about that, though. I haven’t really seen other flee markets outside of Holland, so I can’t really say I can compare it with anything else I’ve seen outside of my country so far. What I can say, however, is that it’s totally worth the while to check it out sometime.
Yesterday morning we (a friend, her kid and my friend’s sis and my mom and I) decided to go and see for ourselves what this flee market had to offer.
The best way to visit this flee market, which is located at the NDSM WERF (an old ship yard or something like that) at the IJ dockings in Amsterdam, is I think the way me and my mom traveled towards it. Cause we went by train and then at the Amsterdam Central Station took the ferry. That way you get to have a little tour of the Amsterdam harbor. A nice fact about the ferry is also that you don’t need to buy a ticket, they transport you across the water for free of charge.
Anyway…
I managed to score myself a few clothing items there for cheap. Two vests, a cool x-mas present for a loved one and a cute top. My friend’s kid kept eyeing this cool Michael Jackson hat and it looked so cute on the 7-year-old’s little head that I decided to buy it for the little girl. What’s 2 euro’s anyway?
Saw a lot of interesting stuff there at the supposed biggest flee market of Europe, actually. Like these nice vintage Delft’s Blauw ornaments, lots of vintage clothes, old school video game consoles and classic video games like Super Mario Bro’s World and Sonic The Hedgehog. There were even people offering tools. There’s was a bit of everything they offered there, really. Also seen some really neat paintings.
Some stuff really cracked us up, like this Snow White dress and some furniture pieces from the 50’s. Yes, it sure was an interesting stroll through the two halls filled with diverse market stalls of junk and forgotten treasures. Totally worth the try. Totally worth waking up early on a Saturday.
After about 3 hours of strolling through the flee market we went to check out the rest of the dock. They have a cool restaurant there, built from old intermodal containers and other scrap metal. They call it the Pllek (pllace). It’s quite the visual, really.
Right across the restaurant made out of scraps, there were these two vintage trams on the dock, decorated with curtains and everything. They appeared to be someone’s home, because there were locks on the doors and there were tables and chairs outside of it. God knows what hippies or other folks mind to live there. Sure is brave to live on a cold deserted harbor (especially at night that must be quite… different).
We also saw an old submarine. Yes, it sure was a nice trip down memory lane on the NDSM Werf. Pure nostalgia. I just love sights like these. It gives you a little idea of how things might’ve been back then.
After snooping around on the NDSM Werf docks, we decided it was time for some grub. Eventhough the scrap metal restaurant might be worth the while, we decided to find the golden M instead. There is no McDonalds on the NDSM WERF, so we had to take the ferry to go back to the Amsterdam Central Station and found the golden M there. Yummm…!
All together I think this might become a re-accuring event; visiting this flee market. They have a flee market at the NDSM WERF every first weekend of the month. And I do want to try out that scrap metal restaurant sometime. So this won’t be the last time for me to visit the old ship yard at the IJ.
And today? Today I will prepare myself slowly for another fun visit. Going to Hilversum in about 8 hours from now.
But first I need to feed the two lovely fluffies who have been staring at me throughout the entire time that I’ve been typing away on this blog. Them four brown eyes sure know how to ask for food. Best beggers ever. I better go get them two lovely cuty buns some grub.
[insertniftyphrase] 