I-am-sterdam

As a 'Welcome to London' trip for Kristy, the three of us decided that Amsterdam was the place to go. So, armed with some winter woollies, umbrellas and strict instructions to steer clear of the citiy's 'coffee shops' the three of us boarded our ryan air flight bound for The 'Dam. After what felt like 30 seconds of flight time (everything is just so close!) we landed at the airport and got the train to the city. Our hostel "The Flying Pig" was situated about 10 mins walk from the main part of town , right along the edge of the main park. Whilst the weather was pretty terrible for the weekend we still got out and about and saw the main sights including the Van Gogh museum (OH MY GOD!! So cool!) which was near the 'I Am Sterdam" sign which features frequently in our happy snaps, the Anne Frank Museum (very sobering) and some of the markets in town.

As usual the trip was centred around eating and drinking with delicacies such as poffretjies (small dutch pancakes, not too sure about the spelling) and my first steak in about a year. We spent a night at the Grasshopper pub near the Dam Straat and consumed huge steaks along with copious amounts of red wine. We ended up making friends with our waiter who could speak about five languages and the italian guys sitting next to us. Kristy excercised her Spanish skills and we ended up having a bizarre english / italian / spanish / french conversation with them. By the end of the night we were all hammered and ended up in a McDonalds sharing a Happy Meal - dodgy brothers!! Another element to the night was visiting the city's red light district and seeing one of the famous live shows which was probably the most boring thing that I have ever seen - I would honestly rather watch paint dry but I guess that I would have been disappointed if I didn't go. Still, it was just soooooooo dull!

Some other interesting aspects about the city were the canals that divide up the city, the narrow buildings that are on really crazy angles and look like they are going to fall over and the millions of bicycles in the city. Once you add in the almost silent trams and people and cars and it is a bit of a sensory overload when you first get there. Once you get used to it it is fine but I felt like I needed eyes in the back of my head when I first arrived!

Enjoying some pints and potato skins at Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam.

The Van Gogh Museum which chronicled the life of Vincent Van Gogh. It was amazing to actually see some of his works in real life.

The I am sterdam sign outside the Van Gogh museum. There was a group of Italian tourists in front of us that insisted on taking a multitude of photos from every single angle with every combination of the different people - grrrr...

Poffretjies from a little cafe by one of the many canals - so small but so delicious!

The random Italians at the Grasshopper.