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Published: August 9th 2022
AMSTERDAM
All the canals are beautifulGreat trip to Amsterdam on the Eurostar, just over 4hrs, even with going through the black tunnel etc the time just flew, arriving in Amsterdam at 4.11pm bang on time! Our NEW hotel was probably a 400 metre walk from Central Station so that was easy but were very lucky to get in somewhere after we were defrauded with the apartment we had booked six months ago, it just didn't exist, but thank God we just didn't show up, John had been trying to contact him for about 2 weeks but no answer to anything. STAYZ were NOT easy to get hold of, their contacts were hidden, many conversations, logging everything it took a few days but they eventually refunded our money in full and delisted the apartment! Over the years with all the apartments we have booked through AirBNB, Stayz, VRBO etc this is the first that hasn't existed! Ended up in the Movenpick but an extra few hundred dollars booking last minute! Anyway its in a great spot walking distance everywhere. Needed to do washing etc so found laundromat first full day and got all that done. Did quite a few big walks in the last three days, its
AMSTERDAM
1st nights dinner at Pepe Cucina not far from our hotel so pretty, were here last in 2012 but only for a day as were on the World Cruise. So many canals, bridges and 1000's of pushbikes to contend with but when you get used to it its OK. Took a ferry to the North side of town today to the A'DAM - the Lockout which is housed in the renovated old SHELL building with a few additions to the top etc, its really great, not just a lookout, but there is a restaurant, bar and several outlets within the building - was totally relaxing sitting over a couple of wines and watching the world go by in Amsterdam below - they very smart buy a ticket for the outlook and then online discounts for tokens for drinks etc, great day out! Now we have had email from APT stating there could be a few disruptions as water levels on Danube and Rhine at critical levels, like busing to certain points and changing ships....argggg! They say things happen in 3s! We will see what happens we are 5 days out before we leave! Well its our last night in our hotel a week has just flown by......we have managed to walk
AMSTERDAM
Drooling at the cake shops everyday between 12 and 24 thousand steps .... been to a lot of sights Anne Frank House, Ryks Museum, Van Gogh Museum, local markets, many pubs and bars and lovely restaurants. Saturday was a full on day, Pride Celebrations here in Amsterdam and it was totally full on, every canal full of people on boats and streets just chockers with wall to wall people, they say they had an influx from out of town of over 600,000 for the weekend of festivities, we escaped at one point and went to a nice bar in the Belushi's a hotel... it was nice to have a breather but then we went out to attack it again, lots of fun and laughter, they had portable bars on the street and a lovely guy who we bought a beer from offered a keg for me to sit on so that was great to watch all the characters go by. Sunday was a different story very, very quite and loads of rubbish everywhere and still has not been all collected by today Tuesday, today we sourced out an amazing little shop called Smoked Crispy Bacon Sandwich in the back streets of Jordaan, a delicious crunchy
AMSTERDAM
Walking the streets in red light district roll with lettuce, tomato, chicken, a tasty herb may and then packed on top with crispy bacon..... so tasty! Monday we booked a food tour, we love food tours and have done quite a few, this one was brilliant, small business and owned by a guy who is born and bred Amsterdam, Thijs, such a lovely guy and a wealth of knowledge, so if you ever come to Amsterdam try Amsterdam Food Tours, we had everything from raw herring which is a delicacy here to smoked herring, their famous apple pie with beers, then a butcher/deli in which everything in there is made from the animals he has on his farm, the sausages were amazing, a fabulous cheese shop to taste their Goudas with a glass of wine, nothing like the plastic ones we get in Aus, they were do die for, then to a Surinamese, Javanese little restaurant, lot of these people live in Amsterdam because of World War II and who Holland took over so there is a big influence here, then a cafe and beer with bitterbollen like little round croquettes filled with a veal mixture and others with a beetroot filling both very nice and last
AMSTERDAM
On our walk to dinner stop was for the little fluffy pancakes Poffertjes and more beer. Great day had by all, we were a group of 8, family of 4 from Philadelphia, a couple from Alberta Canada and us. We then set off to catch the show a this tiny little Jazz Cafe called Alto, listened to a few musicians, went for a pizza and headed home. Tuesday another big day of walking John found this great schnitzel place quite a long walk away so took some different streets and walked about 13klms.... around every corner in this city is something different we have loved it. We were due to board our boat tomorrow but not happening, we have been booked into the Marriott with dinner etc and will do our Amsterdam tours as planned then head by bus to wherever boat has been able to get to, unfortunately the river is drying up before our eyes, the Philadelphia family told us they had two boat changes on their 7 day cruise to Basel so ours being 14 do not know what is in store for us. Anyway we will go with the flow and hope we get to Budapest to continue our journey.
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Rhonda Brand
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Hi…..catching up on your fantastic blogs xxx
Hi Glorsy, Amsterdam looks incredible. You guys really gave it a good go!! Walking so much, you would have seen and experienced so much. Must say the foody tour looked the terrific and the pride event…..something to experience and really lucky to just being there. Love to you both xxx