Amsterdam

This morning Helen & Andrew arrived after a reasonable Easyjet flight from Stanstead - only 15 minutes late!

I went inside with the sign while Jon guarded the van in it's slightly illegally parked position.

I managed to get to the arrivals gate in time - and was stood with the sign waiting for them to come through the doors - unfortunately my attention was diverted by a very enthusiastic reunion going on just as the two of them appeared - so I kind of missed them!! oops. Still, I was there, and they loved the sign that Jon had made - obviously.

So, all in the van and back to the site we stayed on last night - we decided that was the best option - so much more convenient - so we were there and the tent was up in a good time, but - as ever - it had started to rain while we were having a cup of tea and a bit of brunch, and I was having a sly read of this week's Heat mag that Helen had brought (doing well so far), so we hung around a bit longer than anticipated - hoping that it would stop. It didn't really - but we had to go, so we braved it.

On the 15 minute walk to the tram station we got a bit wet - and then, we got a bit wet walking from our arrival point in Amsterdam to our first 'activity' - the Heineken experience!!

What a place :) Apart from the 3 x small beers that you get as part of your entry fee - there is also a show "a day in the life of a beer bottle" (draw your own conclusions) and an opportunity to make a video message and a photo message and.......... it was pretty good fun - if a bit pricey. And we had had some beers - AND, by the time we left it had stopped raining!! Bonus!



Next stop - Van Gogh's museum - which was interesting, although I don't really see what all the fuss is about. I am clearly a bit of a heathen in these matters - how can his paintings be worth so much??

Anyway, it did provoke some discussion - mostly me saying that I didn't see what all the fuss was about, and then the associated debate! Good value.

After that we went for another cheeky beer (actually, Helen had a coffee) and then on to "the Dam", the square where the Amstel Dam used to be - that gave Amsterdam it's name. No dam there now - just a bunch of big buildings, this big monument (perfect for a photo opportunity) and a load of people.

Also, on the way to The Dam, we saw the first of our famous, and very blatent Dutch "coffee bars" not so subtly painted with Bob Marley pictures and the like!

Amsterdam was really interesting - much more so than any of us were really expecting. The little streets and loads of canals were busy and full of shops and bars way out of the town centre (we had thought it would be quite concentrated) and although some bits were obviously a bit more run down than others - it was all really buzzy - brilliant.

Of course after a bit of a walk about we were really heading for the red light district - everyone says you have to go, and really you do!

We stopped on the edge for a beer in a bar with an outside seating area. None of us felt particularly happy there as there seemed to be a lot of drug dealers and / or pimps hanging around at the side of that particular road. But, I suppose it is all part of the experience.

After that beer we were into the district proper - and it is quite amazing. These ladies in the windows, very odd - quite surreal. I tried to take a blog photo, but forgot to turn the flash off and was clearly spotted by the window occupant - I got the finger for my troubles and nothing but a dark blur for the blog - so I haven't bothered. A sign for you instead!

Fascinating place though.

Finally - we saw this condom shop on our travels, and it really amused me - this is a picture of the sort of thing on offer. I mean. Can you imagine???? ;)



After a couple more beers - one in a gay pub, which was a lovely place and I didn't notice that it was anything other than an 'ordinary' place until someone pointed out the two blokes kissing - we caught the tram back and that was the end of our day! Helen and Andrew did really well - having got up at 3am to set off for their flight, the fact that they could still walk back to the campsite was amazing!

It was a good one today - and we have decided to go back in again tomorrow as we didn't see Anne Frank's house, which we really wanted to - and we are thinking that hiring bikes might be an option!! How much fun would that be?