The unDutchables

After our very late night last night, it was past midnight before we got back to our room, there was nothing much planned today, and certainly not for this morning. It was a very lazy morning, drifting in and out of sleep but never feeling like I had had quite enough. Eventually though we need to rouse ourselves, Lily was starting to feel hungry. One thing that Jess always likes to do when she is in a big city is have eggs benedict as we can’t get it in Brive and it is her favourite, when we found a place called Eggs Benaddicted in Amsterdam there was literally no doubt that that is where we were going to go. So we got ready and headed out, catching a train to Amsterdam Centraal. When we got there Lily realised that there was a 30 minute walk to the restaurant, she was not happy, in fact she was a little hangry and set off at a great pace. She was not happy when I called her back as there was one place we wanted to show all the girls. It was the hotel where Jess and I got engaged, and it hadn’t changed much in almost 25 years. They were mildly impressed but did point out that it was not as if any of them were conceived there so it was no huge deal. They allowed us to take a few photos though before setting off again for the restaurant. Lily and Ruby got there first and nabbed a table then we all rocked up and joined them. Food was ordered and to be honest it was nice enough but given the name of the restaurant maybe not as good as we hoped, probably not worth a 30 minute walk.
After that we strolled around a little, picked up some tulip bulbs for some gifts and checked out a couple of English bookshops. It was a bit strange walking about, in one way it is a very unique city but in another it was the same as any other, the same store brands selling the same stuff or tatty tourist shops selling tatty tourist stuff. So we weren’t feeling it to be honest, we were all a bit tired and so we decided to get off that tourist track and walked a little next to some canals which was nicer, although this then turned into the red light district with coffee shops every second store and loads of people already a bit the worse for wear at 4 in the afternoon. We got through there eventually and headed for the main library, mostly so we could take advantage of the facilities. After that it was time for us to head back to base, as I said we weren’t really feeling it, not up to big city exploration in the way we normally are. We got the train station and got on a train very quickly, got seats and everything. Three times the train tried to take off and three times it got a few metres then stopped suddenly. We sat there for a while with not so much as an announcement but then some Chinese whispers made their way along the carriages and it seems the train was cancelled. So we had to get off, switch platforms and wait for another train. We managed to get seats again which was lucky as I was feeling very tired.
We got back to our hotel but needed to work out dinner. The hotel buffet at €30 a head with hardly anything meatless was quickly ruled out even though there were not much in the way of other options. It was a bus ride away to where anything was possible and after wandering and checking the choices we managed to settle on some falafel and halloumi burgers, picked up some desserts from a supermarket and then jumped back on the bus to get back to the hotel and eat. We now have a small amount of time to relax before bed, we have ridiculously early start tomorrow.
So to sum up Amsterdam, it was a bit of a mixed bag really. Obviously the concert was a highlight for Tate and Jess and I had a nice meal and some fun dancing, but I think it was all very rushed and we are all way too tired to deal with the crowds of tourists which is not really our thing at the best of times. I think we are all looking forward to chilling and some island time.Read more