Tuesday 1 September 2009

Amsterdam....... Part 1

Sitting at home on Monday lunch time when this conversation happens.

Hub ... let's go to Amsterdam?
Me .. When ?
Hub... This afternoon ..
Me .. What , are you mad that's too short notice - tomorrow?
Hub.. Ok, ( lots of button pressing on the keyboard ) booked ..

So Tuesday teatime we arrived at the boat, took our case to our little cabin with four bunk beds



and then went up on deck to wave bye to England. The big ship behind us was getting ready for a cruise around the Baltic.



The ferry crossing is an overnight crossing so it doesn't seem as though you actually spend that much time on the boat itself. We left at 5.20pm , and for once the boys were allowed to stay up late - there isn't anyway they would have gone to sleep as they were just so excited.



While they checked out the view I took some sunset pics.






It was a bit of an eventful night , with Gabe falling out of bed twice , getting used to the slight droning of the engine and Hub waking me up to tell me about the Blackjack he'd been playing on one of the upper decks!! We arrived in Amsterdam bright and early and then got a bus transfer to the heart of the city.

First stop food ..... the biggest chip portion ever and we had to scoop out nearly a bottleful of mayonnaise.



I had to take this one for all you UK peeps, can you believe they still have Clockhouse too !!



It is such a busy city and first impressions were not of the Amsterdam I had pictured in my head, there were too many shops for a start but things started to change though when we found the floating flower market ( where I wish I had taken more pics )



There were so many different types of tulip bulbs, fresh flowers galore , bonsai trees , even branches of cotton flowers , it was a lovely sight.





This is the back of the market with paintings on the back of the actual stalls and in amongst all that lot was a little shop that sold Christmas things and it was so pretty but there were big signs everywhere saying NO PHOTOS.....bah humbug.



There were so many backlanes we just didn't have time to explore them all but down one of them we stumbled across this little square.



Inside it was so quiet and peaceful, It was hard to believe that outside were hundreds of people going up and down one of the busiest shopping streets.





After the peace of this gorgeous square we ventured across to the Red Light District - but I think I'll leave that for part 2..

15 comments:

...Nina Nixon... said...

I love your spontanious trip. I wish it was that easy with my three!!

Nina x

tooznie said...

Awesome. Love the spontaniety of it! Hmm, how to take a page out of this book?? Thanks for the inspiration

Lina said...

Oh how lovely and spontaneous. And yes...I remember most of my teenage wardrobe coming from Clockhouse or Miss Selfridges!

Kiwifruit-Shiree said...

hello, what wonderful photos, I almost feel like I am there with you! What a wondertorractful trip

Esther said...

what a great idea! If my husband wants to do anything on the spur of the moment I never take it very well, I like ot plan and get my head round the idea! Lovely blog by the way :o) see you on Ravelry xx

Thimbleanna said...

Ohmygosh! How exciting. I want to do that -- just tell Hubby let's go someplace exciting and then be there the next day! How fun you two are. And as always, those little boys just look adorable. Can't wait to see the red light district -- I hope you covered their little eyes LOL!

Adrienne said...

good for you ... getting up and going! I think my hubbie and I would have a heart attack being so spontanious! We used to be ... maybe we will again. You inspire me!

Locket Pocket said...

What a lovely sounding trip! I'd have been most excited by the boat part!!!

Lucy x

Anonymous said...

Oh... it looks beautiful! I especially like the look of the square (park bit!) that you found... looks lovely. The buildings are gorgeous too. You are spoilt to have such awesome places to visit so close by!!!!

karenshopes said...

You look like you all had a great time, its wonderful being that spontaneous. 10 out of 10 for hubby.
Your photos look great.
Karen

Kitty said...

How fantastic to just decide and then go. Lovely pictures and so pleased to hear that C&A (and clockhouse) are still going! x

The domestic novice said...

What a fantastic thing to do! I love the little canal streets which are almost impossibly narrow. Great new header piccy!

Dianne said...

Wonderful post! I'd love to go to Amsterdam. Great pics as well...

And I've just discovered your delightful patterns...wish I could knit well enough to try them! I might just have to try anyway...

The Wittering Knitter said...

Isn't spontaneity wonderful? I'm a planner so it rarely happens here but impromptu stuff always works out the best :) Your trip looks like lots of fun - good for you x

Jane Purves said...

Glad to see the husband is a Durham supporter

Jane