Blog Archives

Why yes, yes I did.

30/11/2014

And I regret not one bit.

It feels so long ago, in fact it was almost a whole year ago I was in Europe. I am still going with the posts though, as there are so many photographs and stories that I want to share. For me, that is the point of this blog. Though it was so long ago, it could also have happened yesterday, these little points and moments that are ingrained in my mind. Moments like this one in Amsterdam, where Melissa and I were riding our bikes around the city with our guide. We turned a corner and there was a man standing on a boat in the canal, whistling. We paused to watch as he whistled his tune, only to hear it moments later coming from the bells of the church next to the canal. This went on for a few minutes, the man in the boat whistling, while the man in the tower rung the same tune out with the bells. He lent out the window and waved to us at the end. We clapped and whistled too. It is moments like that that will always feel like they only happened yesterday, I think.

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through the museum we go

22/11/2014

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Bruno gave us one awesome surprise on our bike tour with him (you can read more about it here). We stopped outside the museum complex, near one of those famous IAMsterdam signs, for hot chocolate and a chance to catch our breath. We took a photograph for the company's Facebook page before heading off again. This time though, we rode through the museum. Now, before you go thinking that we were doing anything illegal, let me reassure you: we weren't. There is a road that runs through the middle of the building, under a big archway. It was still one of my favourite moments from Amsterdam.

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The only way to see Amsterdam

13/11/2014

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Is on a bicycle!

It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, made back in Paris, to book a bicycle tour whilst in Amsterdam. We went with Bike Tours Amsterdam and it went so well, I would definitely go with them again. Our guide was Bruno, a fuzzy bearded native living just outside of the city. We met up with him at the train station and then spent the next three hours riding around the city. Bruno showed us all the main sites, including Anne's house (which I visited the next day) and the skinniest house in Amsterdam (can you spot it below?).

Everyone in Amsterdam seemed to be travelling by bicycle, they were everywhere! Next door to the train station there was a huge parking area for them, with the bikes practically stacked on top of each other. With such narrow streets, riding a bike really is the best way to get around Amsterdam. Our tour showed us most of what we wanted to see and provided us with a few surprises too. Mostly, it was just lots and lots of fun to breeze around a foreign city, giggling as I went.

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Ontbijt, aka some sort of breakfast.

9/11/2014

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I am in love with the fresh orange juice I drank whilst in Amsterdam. That stuff is amazing. Back home, if you order orange juice you receive the highly sugared drink from a bottle. In Amsterdam though, you get fresh squeezed orange juice. It's heaven. I ate a lot of sugary breakfasts whilst in Europe, it was difficult not to. On this particular day I ate a cinnamon roll, a delight I hadn't tried before.

After breakfast Mel and I hit up the shops in central Amsterdam, H and M in particular. At the time we didn't have one back home and it was rather a treat to buy some new clothing. Needless to say, we walked out carrying quite a few shopping bags.