Amsterdam: Monday 9 June

This morning we walked along the Herengracht canal to the Flower Market, which is the only floating market in the world - the flower stalls stand on house boats floating on the Singel canal.

Stalls on the floating flower market

We then walked to The Begijnhof, which is a former convert dating from the early 14th century and one of the oldest inner courts in the city of Amsterdam. It’s an oasis of peace, with tiny houses around a courtyard which was originally for unmarried or widowed women to live in.

Inside the Begijnhof

We then moved on to the Amsterdam Museum which gave you the history of the city. After lunch, we had a walk round just taking in the city, and then decided to get a tram to the Plantage area. Unfortunately we got on the wrong tram and ended up in another part of the city! When we realised we jumped off and had a walk round a park that was close by, and then jumped back on the tram back to our apartment.

In the evening we strolled up to the Rembrandtplein which is about a 10 minute walk and went to an Italian restaurant in the square. As the weather was so nice we sat outside for our meal.

We fly back to the UK tomorrow but have really enjoyed our short time in Amsterdam.

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Amsterdam: Sunday 8 June

After having breakfast in our apartment we were just about to leave when it started pouring with rain - this wasn't forecast! Luckily it didn't last too long and we made our way, walking via the 'skinny' bridge and along Prinsgracht Canal, to the Van Gogh museum.

The 'skinny' bridge

Pretty canal houses

As the weather wasn't great I think everyone had the same idea and there were massive queues! Because we had an amsterdam card for our visit it allowed us to get in to a shorter queue but we still had to wait for about 15 mins before we got in. We are not really in to art but it was very interesting to see the paintings, especially his more famous ones, but I was getting a bit bored towards the end! After we came out it was glorious sunshine so we walked around the Museumplein (Museum Square) which is a large park with a number of cultural museums around the edge, including the very grand Rijksmuseum.

Guess which City we are in!

Rijksmuseum in the distance

It was then time for lunch, and as there is one food that you must have when you come to Amsterdam it would have been rude not to....it was pancake time!

Hmmm pancakes

After our delicious pancake feast the next stop was a canal cruise which took us all through the canals, including past our apartment!

Our canal boat

After our canal trip we stopped off at the Leidesplein, which is lively square with bars around the edge and outdoor seating in the middle of the square, with buskers and other musicians playing to the crowd, for a quick drink.

In the evening we went to a local restaurant down the Prinsgracht Canal and had a lovely meal overlooking the canal.

 

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Amsterdam: Saturday 7 June

Today we got up at 4:45am to catch our flight from Southend Airport to Amsterdam! Thankfully the impending storm hadn't reached us yet so I didn't have to drive through torrential rain to get to the airport!

Even though it was an early flight it was full and everyone seemed to have arrived at the same time to check-in - it didn't help that they only had one desk open so it took a while to drop off our bag and get through security and, by the time we got through, it was time to board! Once we arrived at Schiphol Airport, we jumped on a train and were in central Amsterdam by 10:30am.

As we couldn't check in to our apartment until 2pm we stored our bag at the train station and went for a walk around the Jordaan area of Amsterdam. In our past ventures to Amsterdam (we have been 7 times between us but have not been back for 10 years) we have not spent much time in Jordaan and it was a lovely area to look around - it has a village feel to it, very few tourists and it is where people live so you see everyone going about their everyday business.

One of the canals in the Jordaan

Typical canal-side houses

I had printed off a walk of the area and stopped to read where we should go next - as I was reading there was a sudden splat and a bird in the tree above did a massive poo on the bit of paper I was reading! If I had been an inch or two forward that would have been on my head or my cream t-shirt!

After the bird poo fiasco we moved on to one of the local markets - they sold all sorts including loads of different sausages and cheeses!

Fancy a sausage? Me neither

The walk was very good and took us into places that we would never have found ourselves such as hidden gardens and courtyards which were hidden behind unassuming gates.

One of the hidden courtyards

We stopped off at a canal-side cafe for lunch and it was lovely to watch the boats go by whilst we were eating - as the weather was nice everyone seemed to be out on their boats!

Lunch by the canal

After lunch it was time to check in to our apartment - it is right next to the river Amstel and we have lovely views of the river.

Our living room overlooking the Amstel

The view from our window!

The canal house where our apartment is

We are staying in the house above - our apartment is the two large windows to the left of the black door with the star above it (with the A-team style van outside!).

After checking in we went to explore the local area - we visited two canal houses that belonged to rich merchants, both from the 17th century. They were very grand and it was nice to see how the rich used to live!

One of the merchant houses (viewed from the garden)

A very crooked house!

In the evening we went for an Indonesian 'Rijsttafel' which is Dutch for rice table and is a Dutch tradition from its past colonialism in Indonesia. It consists of a number of side dishes that you share which allows you to try a number of different dishes - it was delish and we were very full by the end of it!

Peter just wants to tuck in!

 

The Magere Bridge, also know as the Skinny Bridge, is just outside our apartment and is lit up in the evening - it looks very pretty.

The Magere Bridge

 

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