As we flew into Amsterdam I think I was just beginning to realise that our holiday was about to begin.  It was really happening.  For some reason our suitcases are about the last to come out.  Stress over, through quarantine and we head out the door, and of course it’s raining!  I smile and pretend I can’t notice it and head for the bus stop armed with my printed out directions of our hotel and what bus number we had to catch.  Within seconds our bus number pulls up and I show the driver where we want to go and he waves us to across the road.  That bus was going in the opposite direction.  Great start.  Next driver was very helpful and tells us when to get off and there is our hotel, right across the road from the Rijksmuseum.

Now we did read the reviews about this hotel and it was everything that everyone said.  The staff was nice, rooms were comfortable and quiet and breakfast was adequate.  But nothing can prepare you for the steepest set of stairs I have ever seen.  I stayed down the bottom with the suitcases as Hubby went up to check in.  After about five minutes he appears back at the door with the manager in tow who grabbed our suitcases and trotted up the stairs like he’s going for and afternoon stroll.

By the time we had our bags stowed I was dragging Hubby out the door to do some sightseeing.  The weather had fined up which was great, so with my newly acquired map – or plan as they are called in Europe we headed into the heart of the old town of Amsterdam.    Hubby and I approached this in two different ways.  I’m as keen as hell to see as much as I can as fast as I can and he wants to stop and look at everything – smell the roses so to speak.  So the first day consisted of us coming to terms with each other’s wants and needs and finding a middle ground.

It didn’t take long for the pressure of the last couple of days travelling to take its toll.  So after walking as far as we thought we should go we turned around and strolled back, picking up a guide book at the Tourist Information Office on the way.  We then found a delicatessen or what we call a deli, and bought our first European snack; meat, cheese and bread and headed back to our room for a rest.  We passed on the red wine as it was only 11.00 in the morning.  After devouring our very tasty snack we brushed the bread crumbs off our beds and crashed.  We had our best couple of hours sleep that we had had for two days. All re-energised we left our hotel at about 2.30pm for some more adventure.  Being so close to the heart of everything was wonderful as we could just walk where ever we wanted to go.

As we walked through the cobbled streets and over bridges in the old city it wasn’t the beautifully painted canal boats that had us spellbound, it was the number of push bikes.  We did know that most people in Amsterdam rode bikes to work, but that didn’t prepare us for the amount of bikes there were.  Not only does every one ride bikes in Amsterdam, bikes have priority.  They have their own lanes on either side of the roads where cars and pedestrians enter at their own peril.  The traffic lights have four signals.  One for cars, one for trams, one for bikes and if you’re lucky one for pedestrians.  Next to the central railway station there is a multi-story parking station only for bikes and it is packed.  There are literally thousands and thousands of bikes parked there each day.

During our time in Amsterdam we saw mums and dads whose bikes had two or three children sitting in a bucket type compartment on the front of their bikes on their way to school as well as men and women in suits with their briefcases in the front basket attached to the handle bars.  There definitely wasn’t any Lycra to be seen. As Amsterdam is very flat there are no hills to create any indecent signs of huffing and puffing.  Everyone sits very elegantly upright on their 1950’s style bikes peddling along effortlessly.  Made me want to rush out and hire a bike so I could join in to this local activity, but common sense prevailed and we headed off to book ourselves a seat on one of the many canal cruises and pleased we did.

Our very first touristy tour but we felt it an essential one to familiarise ourselves with the city.  Tours certainly include more technology now that they did the last time I went on one.  You now get handed a set of earphones as you board.  At each seat there is a jack to plug these earphones in to with a number of buttons.  All you have to do is select which button is your language and voila everyone on the tour receives the same amount of information no matter what language they understand.  No more tour guide standing at the front of the boat or bus with a microphone rambling on and on about their favourite buildings or sites in the city.  We had a great view in a glass top boat in and around the many canals and waterways.  I recommend it as a must do.

After the cruise we headed off back into the city centre, which mind you was about hundred metres away with the intention of walking around the city to familiarise ourselves some more with Amsterdam and its culture.    As we walked by a phone shop we went in to ask them about buying a local sim card.  After a few moments of conversation with the chap in the shop we soon discovered it was not worth the money for our short time here, but we soon discovered this chap had visited Australia and had relatives there.  The discussion moved onto places to eat and drink.   We didn’t want to go to a touristy restaurant, oh no not us; we wanted to eat where the locals eat.  We also wanted to try the local beer and wine.  Consequently following, what we hoped was, good advice we ended up down a side alley in a tiny little bar where the owner spoke very little English.  We quickly overcome our lack of communication when some other patrons arrived who could translate for us.  With these two guys and a girl we sat down at a table at the front window and enjoyed a very entertaining night drinking with the very friendly bunch of locals.  Our conversation flowed so we forgot about dinner.  We eventually ordered a couple of bowls of hot chips (French fries) which we washed down with a number of Belgium beers.  So much for sampling the local cuisine.  We staggered home many hours later and fell asleep the moment our heads hit our pillows. Of course in the morning we blamed our tiredness on jet lag.