Arriving in Amsterdam gave us a rare chance to hoist the backpacks and catch the tram in true backpacker style. There’s where the “roughing it” ended as we soon arrived at the beautiful, 3 storey home of our good friends Gatty and Cassandra in one of the more exclusive Amsterdam suburbs. Their company and hospitality makes for a relaxing and fun stay.
Our 3 days are spent eating, drinking and wandering through the village like atmosphere of Amsterdam. Tuesday morning is a late start after a lot of beers with Gatty at the local pub and then we’re off to explore the city on a bike tour which, despite the light drizzle, takes us all over the city. At night and we’re off to a great Argentinean steak house and more beers. Another late start on Wednesday (I feel a moment of pity for Gatty who has to go to an early morning meeting .... but it passes) and we head off to the wonderful Van Gogh museum, just a short stroll down the road. The museum is a revelation of Van Gogh’s work and life and soon becomes one of my favourite in Europe. On Walshie’s suggestion we head to Balthazar’s, a small, atmospheric restaurant with a set menu of modern dutch cuisine which we match with some local beer and French wine. Very good! We finish the night by heading over to the red light district for the mandatory, eye-opening experience of window shopping Dutch style.
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