2008: Week 43

Another week in Amsterdam; we had a few adventures exploring the city and surrounds. First up was a bike ride south of the city where we rode by a rather nice windmill and managed to get a little lost and ride much further than we intended. Fortunately we had brought oliebollen, a newly discovered Dutch delicacy. These fist-sized, deep fried balls of dough sound like they'd be more at home at a State Fair somewhere in the US - the reality tastes much better to me than any funnel cake or beaver tail.

Our next outing was to the Jordaan, where we met a friend who lives in Amsterdam for a walking tour of the area. After a quick stop for coffee and beer at t'Smalle we walked through the streets learning a little more about the history of this part of Amsterdam. Jordaan was once a working class area, but with it's proximity to the centre of the city it has become quite a fashionable place. We visited several lovely hofies, originally built as places for widowed or unmarried women to live, and make a little money by doing laundry. The outside entrance is sometime marked by a sculpture featuring bed sheets; in fact many buildings have sculptures depicting the type of activity found within. These signs allowed a mostly illiterate population to locate spcific house without street signs or numbers.

On Saturday we made our way to the Jaap Eden Ijshal - the skating rink - to see the local hockey team play. The atmosphere was rather different to what we've experienced in Canada. There were probably about 200 spectators, and the level of play wasn't quite up to NHL level. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun. As we left the venue we passed a huge lineup of people who were waiting for the game to end so they could skate - perhaps we should take our skates to the next Sens game and see if they let us on the ice...

Best of the week
- a walk through the Jordaan with someone who actually knows the area.
- my first attempt to cook mussels - a complete success.
- watching the Amsterdam Tigers (ice) hockey team beat Groningen Grizzlies, 7-6 in a shoot out.

Worst of the week
- having to buy 5 stamps when I only needed one (yes, life is hard).
- rain, and being stuck in the house - rbiking in the rain does not sound like fun to me.

2008: Week 42

A much quieter week, the highlight (and only substantial outing) being a bike ride to Marken, about 20km away. Marken was an island until 1957 when it was linked to the mainland via a causeway. Now it is a bit of a tourist trap, luring busloads of people with it's quaint wooden houses and pretty harbour. We avoided the rather expensive cafes clustered around the waterfront and ate chips with sate sauce for lunch.

The route we took passed along a series of canals running through beautiful farmland. There were plenty of cows and sheep, lots of ducks, and the occasional heron patiently watching the canal in search of food. Of course we crossed many bridges, but at one canal we had to catch a "ferry" - for 25c each we made the ~10m crossing on a barge which winched itself across the water using a tow rope.

Best of the week
- Buying fresh flowers at the market and feeling like a local.
- Making it back from Marken (the longest bike ride of my life I think).
- Visiting our local pub, Dopey's Elixer. It's the kind of place you could sit for hours on a rainy afternoon.

Worst of the week
- The pain in my legs after the bike ride - fortunately some stretching and a hot bath brought relief.
- Hail. This was quite a surprise; we were about to take the bikes out when it started raining. Luckily we decided to postpone our outing as the rain was followed by hail falling very fast !

2008: Week 41

The week started fairly slowly as we continued to settle in to Amsterdam. We spent time looking for a second bike (one came with the apartment), watching TV to escape the rain, and exploring our local area. We've also been investigating some of the food and drink items available here. Blackcurrant seems to be a favourite flavour, and we have enjoyed blackcurrant jam, soft drink, and tea (all similar to Ribena, but a little less sweet). Salt and vinegar chips are non-existent, but the barbeque ham flavour is pretty good, while the balsamic flavour was disappointing. Beer is cheap; €10 buys 24x330mL bottles of Grolsch or Heineken in a plastic crate. At the market we can buy cheese of varying age, bbq kippen (miniature chickens; the taste is very similar to Aussie bbq chicken), and fresh herring (you eat it raw with onions and pickles). A new favourite is FEBO, fondly referred to by us as "the food in the wall place". There is a counter where you can buy hot chips and sauce (saté is my favourite), and a wall with many small windows holding various flavours of croquettes. Just drop your coins in the slot, open a door, and you're enjoying your hot snack. It sounds a little gross, but the turnover is high, so the food is fresh and the serve yourself option keeps the queing time to a minimum.

The end of the week was all about being tourists. Between us we had three family members staying in Amsterdam, so we spent several days showing them around town and visiting lots of museums. We saw the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, took a canal cruise, visited the botanic gardens (and saw giant lily pads, about 1m across), and toured Rembrandt's House. Food-wise, we ate pannenkoeken, croquettes, frittes with sauce and had a wonderful Indonesian dinner.

By Sunday, only Lynda was still in town, and the two of us caught the train to Brussels for the day. It was a whirlwind visit, but we walked around town, admired Grand Place, ate waffles, visited chocolate shops, saw the lace museum, and ate mussels in a cheesy restaurant on rue de Bouchers. A little under three hours on the train and we were back in Amsterdam.

Best of the week
- Catching up with Tina, Jen, and Lynda.
- A day in Brussels with my sister (who even learned a few words in French).
- Buying a bike so we can explore the regions surrounding Amsterdam.

Worst of the week
- Dodgy and over-priced bike dealers; is it just me who finds it odd when someone has already sold the bike advertised but miraculously has another one (worth €300 new) for sale at a bargain price?
- Over-the-top waiters in Brussels - joking about going on a date is funny, offering (repeatedly) a sample massage is just sketchy.

2008: Week 40

From Carlisle we took a bus to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. The original plan had been to take the Hadrian's Wall tourist bus, but at the tourist office we were told it was a small bus, and since we would also have had to wait three hours for a connection we decided to take a regular bus. Bad move, the regular bus was slow, still required a connection (which we missed), and didn't give us even a glimpse of the wall. We'll know better next time. Actually, next time we'll probably try a driving holiday, it seems to be the most efficient way to see many of the smaller places we missed this trip.

We finally arrived at Newcastle and made our way to our hostel which turned out to be excellent. Newcastle is of course famous for the Tyne bridge, built around the same time as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and another six bridges which span the Tyne. You can easily see all seven at the same time. Some highlights in Newcastle were a trip to Tynemouth, where we saw a beautiful old castle above the beach, Laing Art Gallery, with a small but excellent collection of local artists, and a trip across the Tyne to Gateshead where my paternal grandmother was born.

An adventurous travel option came next - we caught the overnight ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam. This was quite a journey, with spectacular views as we sailed down the Tyne and on to the North Sea, then lots of waves throughout the night. We were very pleased that we decided to take the budget option and carry our own food as the on-board prices were horrendous (would you pay 5 pounds for a one cup plunger of coffee?). Breakfast was a sad affair though, without even a cup of tea.

We finally landed in Amsterdam (Ijmuiden to be precise), and after a short bus trip we arrived in the heart of Amsterdam. Out accomodation for the first night was a little unconventional, in a houseboat set up as a hostel. I have to admit that I'm not convinced this was a great idea. It was certainly different, but the room was even tinier than I expected, and the gangplang leading on-board was not really ideal for carrying luggage. I was not sorry to leave the next day when we moved to our long term accomodation in the lively area of De Pijp. We have mostly rested since then, with a few outings to buy food and explore the local area. The weather has been poor, but I've enjoyed spending a lot of time at home reading and relaxing after many weeks of travel.

Best of the week
- Visiting Gateshead and getting a feel for the place my great-grandparents lived, then boarding a ship and sailing away (after spending just one night on the ferry, I cannot imagine what it would have been like to sail to Australia). How would you feel as the boat left the place you were born and carried you to an unknown land half a world away?
- Segedunum Roman Fort and Hadrian's Wall. Both only visible after excavation work, but amazing all the same.
- Finally arriving in our Amsterdam apartment, home for the next few weeks.

Worst of the week
- The space between the top and bottom bunk in our houseboat cabin. Much too little head-room for my liking!
- Discovering that the supermarket runs out of bread on Saturday afternoon, and having to wait for Monday for more of the good stuff. Fortunately we could buy the bake at home variety to go with our soup, but I've already developed a habit of eating fantastic dark bread spread with blackcurrant jam - the last few slices have been rationed out today.