Day Eleven - Amsterdam

Back onto the number five tram into Amsterdam. The first stop was the most popular door in Amsterdam. The door of Anne Frank’s apartment building.

Looking at a door is hungry work so we got some pancake (savoury for me, and sweet for Jane.)

Full of pancake we resumed our ambling.

Ambling is thirsty work. We were going to go to the Van Gogh museum but it was sold out, so we decided to get some cocktails instead. The ‘Burger Room’ was Wizard of Oz themed (there were ruby slippers in the toilet, well not IN the toilet - but you know what I mean). I digress. We both had a “Yellow Brick Road” (because it had Limoncello in it). Jane then had another, and I tried something whose name is lost to time but it arrived looking like a science experiment that I was told to shake together.

Day Nine - Amsterdam

Two consecutive boring blog posts? You’re welcome.

We had a lay in. Went to the shops to get more food (Trivento Malbec is cheaper here, so we’ll have to try and bring a crate back) . Back the hotel and into the basement to get the washing done.

We bought this. It may be the best thing ever. It may be the worst thing ever.

An evening walk and we saw a old man rollerskating and holding a balloon. We told him we liked his balloon and he asked if we wanted one. We did not, particulatly. He said we liked Amsterdam and he told us were in Amstelveen not Amsterdamn, and pointing to the dyke at the end of the road xaid that was the boundary. So we could probably hit Amsterdam if we threw a stone.

“Amstelveen is a municipality in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a suburb of the city ofAmsterdam; the built-up area borders Amsterdam to the north and is not far from Schiphol Airport. The municipality has 95,725 inhabitants and a total area of ​​44.08 km², of which 41.13 km² is land and 2.95 km² is water.”

— Wikipedia

Update: The Mango was unepectedly fizzy and smelt more of mango than it tasted. We would not buy it again.

Day Seven - Abcoude, Netherlands

A day spent reading and walking locally.

In the middle of the bridge (the white one below) is a little plaque: “Gozen Jaclbus Doorn 1928 - 1999. Goos Jan Doorn 1954-2022.”

Gozen was an artist who lived (and died) in Abcoude.

Day Six - Zaanse Schans

A short thirty minute drive to spend the day in Zaanse Schans. An open air museum to walk around. If you like clogs, cheese and windmills this is the place for you.

We bought some Rosemary & Thyme cheese which is very nice (and some garilc honey).

The green building is a replica of the first Alfred Heijn who are now the main chain of supermarkes in The Netherlands.

Day Five - Into the Netherlands

We drove North to get to apartment number two in Abcoude, The Netherlands. A somewhat slow journey. The apartment is nice with a canal/river outside of the back door. A man was bravely travelling in a small row boat against the flow to get between the banks. Someone was attaching material to a windmill type machine across on the other wise of the river. It seemed to be used to pull something up from the river when the sails turned.