Amsterdam

We were a little sad to leave Paris but were excited to be heading to Amsterdam - Neither of us had been and we'd both always wanted to go. I think that's the worst part about travelling from South Africa - Other than the exchange rate and the need for visa's. Grrr. It's so far from everything. Considering we'd be so close, we decided it had to be added to the list and would be done in the same trip. When we booked our flight to the UK we opted to do the return leg from Amsterdam - Basically, instead of going back to the UK after Paris, we headed on to Amsterdam by train and then flew home. It's an interesting city - Busy, but not over bearing. Organised chaos. We stayed at a great hotel outside of the city (QBic Hotel), next to the World Trade Centre. By tram it took about 30 minutes to get from the hotel to the city centre - So we did that every day, which wasn't too bad.

For the record. If you are able to cross the street in Amsterdam and not get hit by a bicycle, a tram or a car, I reckon you're doing well - Each of those have a dedicated lane you have to get across :o

We had no agenda for our time in Amsterdam. We literally walked around the city, visited a few tourist attractions (by tram), shopped, relaxed, explored the red light district, sipped coffee in the sun at side street cafe's - We were experienced with this ritual after our time in Paris. We spent an afternoon at the Body Worlds exhibition - Ashton had wanted to go see this when it was in Cape Town but had missed it, so we spent our last afternoon and last Euro's on tickets. Aaaah. As in, that's sad that we ran out of Euro's aaaah.

We also met up with a friend of ours from Cape Town that now lives in Amsterdam - He gave us some tips for getting around and what to explore, our favourite of which I'll share with you - If you walk through Centraal station, on the far end you'll find a few ferry's running. Head over to the one marked NDSM wharf - Hop on the Ferry (It's Free) and enjoy the 15 minute trip. Get off and walk around this very interesting neighbourhood. Check out Pllek specifically - It's a restaurant, made up from repurposed shipping containers. Enjoy! Great Tip Jason - Thank you - Awesome adventure for a relaxed morning in Amsterdam.

I loved the relaxed feel to this city. Plenty of great places to eat - Read more bakeries - HUGE cones of Hot Chips (yum) while exploring the city streets and again waffles with NUTELLA. I don't ever eat nutella in Cape Town. In Amsterdam, different story. This reminds me. Buy nutella.

Thank you Amsterdam for an amazing stay - We loved our time and hope to visit again. Soon.

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