Moms in Amsterdam, NL (September 1, 2025)
Checked into our hotel and ready for our first traditional Dutch dish. “Hey Violet, why don’t you see what you can find that would properly feed us in the most culinary appropriate Dutch tradition?” Asked and answered. Moders. Boom!
If my Dutch were better, I would have instantly recognized that “Moders” is Dutch for “Mothers.” But while I didn’t recognize the word before we entered, I instantly got it once we sat down and looked around:
Yep, that’s exactly what you’re seeing. Hundreds upon hundreds of framed pictures of moms on top of every square inch of this restaurant. The restaurant opened in 1990 and began collecting framed pictures of moms to install. My only regret coming to this restaurant was that I didn’t have mine to contribute. This reminds me so much of “the picture room” from Connie Knines (my mother-in-law). In her house she dedicated one room to family pictures and it looks almost exactly like this.
I knew that my mom, Mary Jo Carmody, as well as my step-mom, Georgiana Maddux would also love this restaurant. I mean, how can you not fall in love with a restaurant dedicated to moms. Guess where everyone wants to go to eat on their birthday and Mother’s Day? Such a cool concept. And of curse, the food was “just like mom cooks” if she were Dutch and grew up in Amsterdam.
Beef Stew with various potatoes (boiled, mashed & baked) sauerkraut & apples
Violet and I devoured the whole meal. It was, of course, “family style” as was the table seating itself. We met a guy who came to Amsterdam as part of the Redhead Days Festival. What’s that now? Did I hear him right? There’s a whole festival for redheads? Man, I’m so out of it. Just when you think you understand something, there’s a whole festival I’ve never heard of that’s been going on for decades (since 2005!) Our table mate had flown in from Japan just finished work to enjoy this festival. And yes, he was full red haired and red beard.
Turns out, you can attend even if you don’t have red hair, but are interested in supporting your friends and family members with red hair. So while Frankfurt was hosting Museumfest, Amsterdam was gathering Redheads globally.
THIS. This is why I love traveling the world. How else would I have possibly stumbled over either of these festivals? This is that exposure to the third circle of knowledge, “The things you don’t even know you don’t know.” In my experience, travel exposes you to all the things in life that you don’t even know that you don’t know about.
And then, there’s spontaneous “Let’s Do THAT” opportunities. After dinner, Violet and I were taking a stroll down the canals and we saw an opportunity to rent an electric “powered” motorboat. I put the quotes around powered as this was one of those slow trolling motors. At full speed you were wondering if the boat was “on” or not. No noise and a little motion … eventually. No wonder they give you 2 hours with the boat — you don’t get all that far going that slow, but you do get to see quite a bit more of the canals than you’d expect.
And no, I don’t know what the blissful looking man in yellow is promoting, but it was such a visually striking image, I had to capture it. Along with the “reminder” that women own their bodies. Seems like a “duh” but the fact that we have to remind people (I should more accurately say “men in politics”) of this fact feels like such a step backwards in this day and age. And yet … here we are.
After boating around the canals for two hours, we headed back to our hotel satisfied with a great first day in Amsterdam. Did I mention again how wonderful it is to be doing all of this with Violet? I love being with her as we explore these parts of the world together. Just feels right.
