The final countdown

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So here we are. In Amsterdam airport with an hour and a half before boarding our first of 3 flights home. This final edition starts in Prague, where on Friday 12th May we ventured out, walking down to the Dancing House - (note - NOT a house for dancing, or any historical connection to dancing - just a kind weird shaped couple of buildings that look a bit like a couple dancing)...along the river and on to Charles Bridge - which was filled with musicians, artists and jewellery makers selling their wares. We stopped for what I think was the second worst coffee of the trip, and then wandered through the cobbley streets of old Prague, and stumbled across one of the restaurants recommended to us by our airport driver dude - a genuine medieval cavern lit by candles with chains, axes and animal skins adorning the walls. We sat at a massive wooden table, had a light lunch (by which I mean slightly less meat and potatoes than you would eat for dinner) and had our bill delivered by being stabbed into the table on a knife!! Much fun! Apparently there is carousing and cavorting in the evenings.. from there we walked up and up and finally arrived at Prague Castle and the extremely tall church. We walked around, saw the gorgeous view of all Prague and sat to rest our weary feet. On our way home we walked along the other side of the river and hung out at a cool outdoor cinema next to the river, before heading home for a while. In the evening we went to a local restaurant - Princny Rez, where I had a pretty authentic goulash (yes, I know it's a Hungarian dish really, but we're not going to Hungary, so this was as close as I was going to get). On Saturday we took the morning to wash clothes again, then headed out in afternoon to see our side of Prague - we walked to Wenceslas Square, then on to Powder Gate and the Palladium shopping centre, and from there on to Old Town Square and the famed Astronomical Clock. We visited the Hard Rock Cafe which was very close-by - and had mocktails and the biggest brownie ever for afternoon tea. Stuffed, we didn't head out for dinner till close to 9 - and found the 2 places I had been considering for dinner both closed on weekends (this is weird, right?) - so we stumbled upon and Indian place and had butter chicken for the first time in AGES!!! We had an early morning pick up the next day, so packed up and sent mothers' day messages to family at home. Mothers day didn't start well. With a 6.45 am pick up, I got us up at 6, left the apartment at 6.30 and were outside waiting at 6.35 am. At 6.36 I realised I had left my phone in the apartment - which was locked with keys inside...and contains boarding passes, bookings for airport transfers, and you know...MY WHOLE LIFE.... Evie saved the day by installing airbnb on her phone, where I was able to locate the phone number of our hosts, who unbelievably kindly came within 10 mins to let us in to get my phone. Our driver however, was not happy with having waited 8 mins past our pick up time (which he said meant he had to cancel another job) so was very stroppy with us, demanding compensation when we got to the airport. Not being familiar with the currency I didn't really know how much to offer - but my initial offer was clearly insulting - so I came up with something he considered more reasonable - at which point he became as sweet as pie again, wishing us a very pleasant trip... lesson here -ALWAYS, no matter how early you have to leave - do a dummy check! Once at the airport, things improved - the flight to Amsterdam went fine, we easily found our shuttle bus and arrived at our B & B no problems. Has anyone mentioned that Amsterdam is famous for narrow stairways? Well - it is and they are SO steep and SO narrow! Our accommodation had a gorgeous view of a canal so once settled in I went for a walk in search of a coffee, and ATM and a supermarket.. Evie chose to stay at home - which is lucky cos just following my google map directions to a Starbucks, I ended up slap bang in the middle of the Red Light District - Hello Amsterdam! So many shops with some really eye opening windows...found my coffee, my ATM and my supermarket and came home - when we went out for dinner I took Evie the long way around to Dam Square to avoid as many "what's THAT" questions as possible! Monday Evie decided she had had enough of sightseeing, so I went on my own, walking through as many streets as I could - taking in the sights and wandering in the shops while on my own just to see! I fuelled up on a chai latte and a muffin then walked another 45 mins to the Riksmuseum - well worth the entrance fee and no lines at all woohoo! I was able to see a great selection of Rembrandt and Van Gogh, as well as many other gorgeous dutch artworks from the 16th - 19th century. Got lost on the way home so promptly collapsed once I finally got there! In the evening we headed out to The Grasshopper - a good pub with reasonable (for Amsterdam) prices...we spent our final night in Europe and today - was just wandering the streets, looking in shops, coffee, lunch at the Hard Rock and general chilling before being picked up for the airport. Will have to add photos from this leg later, as cant download them at the airport...but that's it ! It's been an amazing 6 and a bit weeks! The first days of the trip feel like a lifetime ago. Hope you have enjoyed reading! Love, Jen and Evie xxx

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Comments

[Dad]

Thanks for all the fish
Yes we've enjoyed every episode! Thank you both for all the IGs, FBs, Skyping and bloggings, looking forward to catching up with the unprintable details in person when you arrive home... xx