After searching high and low through the supermarkets of Europe since leaving France, we finally found crepes again in Amsterdam, making us two very happy little Vegemites (although here, I think it would be Nutella rather than Vegemite as that is definitely the most popular spread and one that we often indulge in!). We also had the surprise of having a kettle on our room- which as I'm sure you could guess, made me very happy as I could have tea with my Nutella crepes!
We did do more than eat crepes and drink tea in Amsterdam and enjoyed our brief stay there. I definitely think that Venice does canals better than Amsterdam, although I saw quite a few swans swimming elegantly on the canals here giving an added touch of sophistication to the city. The stereotype of Amsterdam as having cyclists everywhere is definitely true and walking around can be somewhat treacherous as the bikes are more dangerous than the cars! To cross a road you have to check two lanes of traffic and two lanes of cyclists making it a leap of faith to step out onto the road at times. Unlike Venice, vehicles are allowed down the narrow lanes and it was quite funny watching cars squeeze down lanes, mounting the footpath on either side (although we made sure we stood well clear!)
One of my favourite parts of walking around Amsterdam were the florists everywhere selling beautiful flowers and floral arrangements which are very popular as many people don't have gardens, especially in the city, and in winter gardens don't grow very well anyway so you often see people walking home with their bread in one arm and a bunch of flowers all wrapped up in the other. Poor Marnie has had to put up with me constantly stopping to admire the flowers as I literally stop to smell the roses!
Apart from wandering the streets and seeing the sights (old churches, the palace, canals, bridges, Rembrandt's House etc.) we did quite a bit of shopping in Amsterdam in some very funky and trendy designer shops (we have both developed a taste for designer clothing and already have some favourite designers-most of which you can't get in Australia at all so I suppose our future salaries are safe!). We enjoyed window shopping and dreaming and also trying on a few things that we especially liked-that is one thing about shopping in winter, you have so many layers on that it takes half an hour to just to try one dress on so we only try on things that are really worth the effort of delayering and relayering! We both walked out of our favourite designer shop with new dresses that we just couldn't resist as they were on sale and we know we can't get them in Australia! I also enjoyed walking through a willow-ware shop and admiring the exquisite china as well as some lovely homeware and antique shops.
I have discovered that kettles are useful for more than making tea and using just a kettle and two cups, you can cook a decent and edible meal...'tis somewhat of a feat, but I rose to the challenge to make a noodle and vegetable casserole-type concoction using a dry soup mix, frozen vegetables and noodles and a few kettle-fulls of hot water to cook it in! It was quite a palatable dinner and we enjoyed another hotel room picnic before watching a football game on TV (European football, so soccer for those who require the distinction to be made). Next time I travel I'd like to go beyond just Amsterdam and see more of The Netherlands outside of the capital city, but for a stopover, Amsterdam was certainly no letdown and amused us quite delightfully while we were there.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are most welcome and appreciated, but will be moderated before they appear on the main page. I will attempt to get to them as quickly as I can and to reply (when necessary) as soon as possible!