Got back this evening from a weekend in Amsterdam with Steve. Most of you should know he's the fella I met in Ireland over xmas, from Australia. So this makes three countries we have now had "dates" in, and five separate occasions so far we have spent time together;) Fantastic weekend, and a great city with a wonderful atmosphere.
Tired, so more laterz...
10 hours of sleep later, let's hope I can speak more coherently:) Amsterdam really is a wonderful city. The people are vibrant and friendly, many riding around on bicycles (they actually have bike parking lots that hold up to 2,000 cycles!). On our first night in, while trying to locate our hostel, we got directions from a nice older man and his grandaughter (?). He even took out his newly bought reading glasses and ripped off the tag so he could read the address I had and walked us over a bridge saying "follow me and then i'll tell you more." Everyone seems to speak English there, even if it is not fluently.
The weather was the most chilly I've encountered since being away from home, but that didn't stop us from enjoying some Haagen Daaz ice cream on Sunday. They had a fantastic posh shop (Aunt Liz, you would have loved it...will attach a pic soon!). Got some excellent food every day, really, from Mexican (finally...been missing that), Greek (seriously orgasmically good lamb in tangy yogurt sauce), to Irish pub grub, and even a great sandwich on the flight home. KLM is the bomb. Hmmm, I think the only Dutch food we tried, if I am remembering correctly, was baked goods:) Well, actually, we went to a local-ish pub the first night and had some nice meat and potato dishes.
As far as sightseeing goes, we did a lovely canal cruise and saw the Anne Frank house, and just generally did a lot of walking around. Good stuff and highly recommended...
Edited to add:
Ladies, the things we whine about but often take for granted... Fully enjoyed the fact that I could rely on someone else to figure out directions for how to get around the city while in Amsterdam. And had loads of help in planning the trip. Again, good stuff :)
And a funny...to point out more linguistic differences. Here, and in Australia I guess lol, jelly means jello. Imagine what some peeps must think when imagining a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That was a great laugh!!
