Sola Muno began working in our Ann Arbor, Michigan store almost two years ago and has witnessed firsthand just how far Shinola has evolved over time. This creative soul spends as much time traveling as she can. Last month she flew to Amsterdam, one of her all-time favorite cities. We sent her with a few new pieces to make her trip feel close to home.
Be sure to show us where your Shinola products travel by tagging your photos with #TravelWithShinola.
“I love the way the gabled, crooked buildings rim the canals, creating the perfect backdrop for sloping bridges and tangles of bikes,” she says.
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“The Saturday market in Haarlem is well worth a day trip. It’s smaller, but also more authentic than any market you might find in Amsterdam. In Haarlem, you get baskets of fresh baked bread, rows of fresh squeezed juice, flowers spilling out of tents and hundreds of bulbs just beginning to sprout, not to mention the wide booths hung with bike wheels and tires, and bells and anything else you might need to tend to your bicycle (the preferred mode of transport for the Dutch),” Sola says.
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The Medium Shopper Tote (pictured above)
“The Shopper Tote was perfect to load up with my market finds: fresh bread, pressed kiwi, mango or strawberry orange juice, a few souvenirs, and of course, a few bouquets of tulips,” Sola says.
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The Saturday market in Haarlem is one of Sola’s favorite spots in Amsterdam. (pictured above)
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Sola wore The Runwell 41.5mm watch with a natural strap to keep track of time as she biked through Amsterdam. (pictured above)
“We stayed in Haarlem, about a 15 minute train ride from downtown Amsterdam. I loved having my watch with me, so we could always keep track of our train schedule, even while biking,” she says.
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She also brought The Agnes Varis watch from The Gomelsky Collection on her trip.
Left: “We spent our days visiting different museums, but not without our morning coffee stop. My favorites are FOAM, a photography museum with exceptional rotating exhibits, and the Stedelijk, a world-class museum of modern and contemporary art.”
Right: “The small cosmetic case was perfect for carrying around rolls of film,” Sola says.
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“Houseboats line the canals, and long-and-low tour boats chug along beside. This is a city best seen from the water. Hopping on one of these tour boats gives you a completely different perspective, shedding light on the lives of the seafaring, enterprising Dutchmen who build it hundreds of years ago,” Sola says.
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Left: “The Jordaan neighborhood is slightly off the beaten path, and full of hidden cafés, delis, boutiques and quiet residential streets.
Right: “The Agnes Varis gives an understated sophistication to an otherwise all-black outfit,” she says.
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Near the Nine Streets, a block of winding cobblestone streets lined with independent boutiques that make for the best shopping in Amsterdam. (pictured above)
“Twilight is my favorite time in Amsterdam. As the sun sets, the sky dims, tinged with orange and then purple. The streets begin to glow with light from shop windows and apartments, and the city comes alive. The orange glow from street lamps illuminates whizzing bicycles carrying groups of girls on their way to drinks, a lone man heading home, or friends on their way to dinner,” Sola says.
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“We flew through Iceland on the way to Amsterdam, and were lucky enough to sit by a north-facing window. In the middle of the night, we had a magnificent view of the Aurora Borealis. The dancing green ribbons stood out against the deep black sky ,and stars sparkled through the hazy Northern Lights.”
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