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Not having had children, I would think that flying must be similar to giving birth. You endure 30 hours of being a pretzel in every imaginable position to try to find comfort, there’s little sleep to be found, we wonder why we’re putting ourselves through this and noting not to do it again any time soon.
And yet, the pain quickly fades once it’s all over and before you know it, you’re planning the next arrival.
That’s how this journey felt. Garuda were good between Sydney and Jakarta with a new plane and most of it empty. They also provided complimentary lounge access in Jakarta for our 4hr stopover, which was most appreciated. We also discovered that you could enter for $11 if you don’t have complimentary access, which I think is more than reasonable. I’ve not come across any other airline that does that. Unfortunately the same cannot be said on the Jakarta-Amsterdam leg. It was a packed flight and the plane was old, the leg room was noticeably more woeful and the seat width clearly made for Indonesian midgets. Dwayne only just fit his hips between the arm rests. They didn’t recline much so needless to say sleep had left the building. However, we’re not pasted on the side of a random mountain so that’s a positive.
Made our way to our apartment and met the host, dropped our bags and left him to finish cleaning whilst we grabbed some lunch. Amsterdam is charming. There are canals everywhere and even in the fields there are tons of water channels. We knew there was water surrounding the Netherlands but we didn’t realise just how much water there is IN the Netherlands. Spring has heralded in fresh new leaves on tree-lined streets and the people are out in the 24C sun enjoying its parks, cafes and canals.
Our neighbourhood, De Pijp, is a cool suburb and our 1bd apartment is wonderfully quiet on a residential street – 100m from the hub of local coffee shops and eateries. We wondered through Amsterdam’s biggest street market (Albert Cuypmarket) buying cheese, bakery items and local fruit and vegetables for dinner. The prices here for everything are so cheap. A litre of milk is €0.62, 9 pack of 500ml water €1.05. Even our bus from the airport was only €4pp.
We are trying to stay up until sunset at 9.45pm, although the heavy lids are getting the better of Dwayne. Even watching Eurovision live isn’t doing it for him!
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Seaweed&Raine
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Sounds like you are off to a good start! I can't wait to see your photos (going to post some teaser shots of some of the food for us???) Second pregancy labours go faster ;) like 2h 15min. Not sure which I would prefer... I'll get back to you in a couple of weeks with an update! LOL (Although I think the sleep you will get in the weeks following will be MUCH better than what I will get post-labour). Eat something scrumptious for me! :D S x0x