Blogs from Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 183

A night spent nursing a sick boy and cleaning up a bathroom without any rags has left me a little weary. The boys all slept until after 12 so I took the opportunity to do some laundry. The laundromat was next to the Norderkerk square on Market day. I was in my glory listening to all of the families and enjoying the sights and smells of a summer market day in Amsterdam. Wow. It is truly amazing what they can carry on their bikes while manouvering through traffic. On returning to the B&B the family was stll asleep. Waking them was not easy but if we ever hope to live on a normal timeframe we needed to. Troy was still not himself but beginning to recover. A trip to a toy store and then the park ... read more

We made it! After too many hours folded into our airplane stalls we arrived in Amsterdam. There was a power outage at the Schiphol airport and it resembled an episode from the twilight zone as all the tired travellers stood still waiting for their baggage to start rolling again. The trains were also not running so we stood in a long queue for a taxi. We arrived at the Bed and Breakfast in the Jordaan. We forced ourselves to stay awake as long as we could. Longer for Kurtis and Troy than the rest of us. Our B&B is within a short walking distance of most sites and we wandered around to get our bearings. Supper at a recommendation from our host was Chinese (Kam Wah) and just wonderful. Although they do not have 'no smoking ... read more

We caught an early train and took the 2 1/2 hour ride into Amsterdam from Brussels. Amsterdam immediately felt more welcoming than Brussels.. and there were people EVERYWHERE! We worked our way down through the city to just below the "U" of the canals to where our hotel was. Thorbecke. Climbing up narrow stairs (which were apparantly normal for the city) we checked into the hotel. We got an upgrade on our room because they overbooked and it was quite nice! All was not so well in other parts of the world, this was the day the London bombings happened. We caught some of this on the TV in the hotel lobby. We had plenty of plans for what we wanted to see while in Amsterdam. We decided we would do the Heinekin Experience first - ... read more

Whoever is responsible for coining that phrase was a shortsighted fool. Amsterdam is infinitely nicer and more interesting than Venice is, and even though they both share canals, it's still an insult to Amsterdam. Quick useless stat for people like me that love them: 70% of the Netherlands is under sea level. There you go, and now on with my journal. During my time in Amsterdam I am staying at a christian youth hostel called "Shelter Jordan". Why? several reasons really. The key reason is that it was one of the only places with rooms available, and it was cheap. but after some thought I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to stay in a place with at least a few morals. Amsterdam is a party city to be sure, and it is packed ... read more

Hello there. I arrived after my 30 hours and Caleb and I went into Amsterdam and went on a canal ride. The heat-wave was still in force and the canal boat was somewhat like a glasshouse. We had an excellent dinner with Jan and Ingrid at a Chinese restaurant and headed to Larissa and Dennis' place the next day. We stopped in at Enkhuizen, an old fishing village for a coffee and a sampling (which was all that was required) of the dutch delicacy salted herring and also smoked eel. Sunday we chilled out in the country at Larissa and Dennis' place and Monday went for a trip to Giethoorn - the 'Dutch Venice'. Off to Scotland Tuesday and back Thursday. 30/6: Back again and I have a cold! Am staying at Mum Ingrid's place trying ... read more