In ‘t Aepjen is a must-see in Amsterdam! This cafe and authentic tasting room is located in the famous medieval wooden house at the beginning of the Zeedijk (5 minutes walking distance from the Central Station). Come to enjoy a drink and the relics of the cafe: old jars in which strong spirits were kept, the picture of a monkey, an old tap with a bronze image of a 17th century man, old paintings and then you haven’t even taken a look outside where uncountable residents and visitors walk along each day.
In the 17th century the owner of ‘In the monkey’, at that time a tavern, asked one of his guests to bring back a monkey from the tropics in order to settle a debt. Other sailors started to bring back monkeys until the tavern was full of monkeys… and lice. Someone who scratched his head back then had probably spent the night here. The Dutch expression ‘je bent in de aap gelogeerd’ (you spent the night in the monkey) is still used, meaning that you are in trouble.
