I have just returned from Amsterdam after my girlie weekend with Angie. I feel like I need a holiday to recover. We went first thing on friday morning and had to get up at 04.30. I had only finished my nights on thursday and couldn't sleep on thursday night, so subsequently had been up half of the night before we went.
It was a blustery day on friday and the take of from Manchester was a bit bouncy but soon settled into a smooth flight. A cup of coffee and cheese sandwich later we were having an equally turbulent landing in Amsterdam. We found our hotel ok and arranged return transport to the airport. I like to be organised when travelling and detest leaving arrangements until the last minute. The hotel was lovely, clean and comfy and in a quiet residential district 10 minutes by tram to Dam Square.
We went exploring as soon as we got there and managed to find the tram stop so we hopped on and went to Dam Square in search of food. Not being used to the trams, neither of us had paid to actually ride on it. The driver hadn't asked us for any money and everyone seemed to be jumping on and off without bothering the driver. We assumed that there would be a conductor, but there wasn't.... We were caught in a dilemma, we had come to our stop and still hadn't paid. Angie suggested just jumping off at the stop but I felt guilty. In the end we jumped off, I fully expected alarms to go off and lots of police surrounding us with guns but nothing happened.
After my panicky feeling had subsided, we went to eat in a small cafe. Amsterdam is a lovely city and despite the weather being a bit moody we had a lovely stroll by one of the canals catching glimpses of boat tours passing underneath the bridges. It was mid afternoon and ladies of the night stood at windows in revealing attire waiting for custom. The shops were all open and we browsed in gift shops, clothes shops and sex shops.
There are sex shops everywhere. I've never been in one before (well, not intentionally but that's a different story). We had a good laugh at the various wares on offer and bought a couple of gag gifts for pass the parcel presents at Angie's forthcoming hen night. The man behind the counter was very polite and thanked us for our custom, it was really quite civilised.
After a quick drink in an Irish bar and a chat with the barman on where to buy and how to use tram tickets we went back to the hotel for a quick kip. I was worn out and just needed to re-charge. Angie was full of a cold and wanted to get her head down for an hour.
We found a lovely Sardinian restaurant that night, it was just 5 minutes walk from the hotel. We reckoned if we had an early night we could make the most of our full day there on saturday and see some sights. Surely nothing could go wrong............
It was a blustery day on friday and the take of from Manchester was a bit bouncy but soon settled into a smooth flight. A cup of coffee and cheese sandwich later we were having an equally turbulent landing in Amsterdam. We found our hotel ok and arranged return transport to the airport. I like to be organised when travelling and detest leaving arrangements until the last minute. The hotel was lovely, clean and comfy and in a quiet residential district 10 minutes by tram to Dam Square.
We went exploring as soon as we got there and managed to find the tram stop so we hopped on and went to Dam Square in search of food. Not being used to the trams, neither of us had paid to actually ride on it. The driver hadn't asked us for any money and everyone seemed to be jumping on and off without bothering the driver. We assumed that there would be a conductor, but there wasn't.... We were caught in a dilemma, we had come to our stop and still hadn't paid. Angie suggested just jumping off at the stop but I felt guilty. In the end we jumped off, I fully expected alarms to go off and lots of police surrounding us with guns but nothing happened.
After my panicky feeling had subsided, we went to eat in a small cafe. Amsterdam is a lovely city and despite the weather being a bit moody we had a lovely stroll by one of the canals catching glimpses of boat tours passing underneath the bridges. It was mid afternoon and ladies of the night stood at windows in revealing attire waiting for custom. The shops were all open and we browsed in gift shops, clothes shops and sex shops.
There are sex shops everywhere. I've never been in one before (well, not intentionally but that's a different story). We had a good laugh at the various wares on offer and bought a couple of gag gifts for pass the parcel presents at Angie's forthcoming hen night. The man behind the counter was very polite and thanked us for our custom, it was really quite civilised.
After a quick drink in an Irish bar and a chat with the barman on where to buy and how to use tram tickets we went back to the hotel for a quick kip. I was worn out and just needed to re-charge. Angie was full of a cold and wanted to get her head down for an hour.
We found a lovely Sardinian restaurant that night, it was just 5 minutes walk from the hotel. We reckoned if we had an early night we could make the most of our full day there on saturday and see some sights. Surely nothing could go wrong............
