Shaits, greetings from the land of coffee shops - I'm at the L'opera cafe in Rembrandt Square, Amsterdam.
You sure is not the Grandcafe l'Opera by Rembrandtplein?
Same thing. Plain is "square" and the eating place is a cafe called L'opera and yes it is Grand Cafe.
Cafe, brasserie, bistro - they all have specific meaning in Europe. Grand cafe simply is a cafe with indoor as well as "terrace" seating with a wider variety of food than a simple cafe.
There is a different quality to life in Europe. I lived on London for a few years and it's like half-way US and Europe.
I man has Dutch connection and I am also Dutch educated. So I know the place. It's however incorrect to call a plein a square, although the English translation would lead one to believe so.
T, the Dutch would call Trafalgar Square Trafalgarpliein.Your exercise in semantics is quite simply humorous and bordering on the sophomoric. You see T, Surinamese may not have "squares" like we have Union Square in Manhattan and so when they have "fairs" like you know, with Ferris wheel, etc. They refer to it as a plein. But a plein is a plain square as a square like you would not imagine.