Di and Cam

Hi all,

As you might have guessed from the title we have recently come back from a visit to the diverse city of Amsterdam. This is our first trip to the continent since we arrived (except for my trips to Germany and Copenhagen for work - but more about that later) so it was quite exciting for both of us and we loved every minute of it.

Prior to this trip all we ever really knew about Amsterdam was that they had both a well-known red light district and approximately 200 coffee shops. I can now say that these are certainly not the only two things Amsterdam has on offer. It has bikes and loads of them, museums, great architecture, canals and sculptures everywhere.

As it was the Easter break we flew out of Heathrow straight after work on Thursday night with our flat mates Cheyne and Denise. Arriving late that night we negotiated the train into the city and found our hostel. We stayed at ‘Hotel My Home’ in the aptly named 'Anne Frank' suite. So called due to its tiny passageway (through the kitchen!) to get to the room and the near vertical stairs up to it, as seen in the photo below. After checking in we wandered down the road for a few quiet Amstels to wrap up the night.

The next morning we headed off and explored the city. This is when we first found that it is quite easy to get lost in Amsterdam. All the buildings are terraced and all the canals look similar to the untrained eye. Our exploring ended at Rembrandt Square where we got started on our bicycle tour. Cycling is the transportation of choice for the people (and tourists) in the city. I don’t think we could praise Mike’s Bike Tour enough. Our tour guide was very informative, covered most of the city (and beyond) and was only 22euro for what ended up being a four and a half hour tour. At the conclusion of the tour we took the long way home and slowly worked our way home via pubs, a restaurant and a coffee shop. The photos below are of some tulips, Cam in a clog, Cheyne and his trusty steed and a common scene of bikes locked to a railing.

After a good nights sleep we dragged ourselves out of bed and out to meet some friends (Tracey and Craig) at the Anne Frank Huis (house). We were meant to meet at 10:15 but after a wrong turn or two we ended up meeting at 11ish. Unfortunately this meant that the line to get into the house was well over an hour long. We all decided that this was not what we wanted to do on a sunny day so we went to the markets instead. After a bite to eat for lunch we headed off on a canal cruise. This was a great way to see the city from another perspective. After the cruise we meet up with Cheyne and Denise again and headed off to a boutique brewery and pub based out of a wind mill (seen in the photo below). This was the perfect way to spend the afternoon in the sun. From the windmill we headed back into town to meet Tracy and Craig and to go and explore the Red light district. After a delicious Chinese meal we headed out exploring. The Red Light District was spread over many city blocks and was bustling with people with the majority being tourists. It mainly consisted of pubs, coffee shops, sex shops and shows and girls in windows (lots of them). After exploring for a little while we decided as we were in the area we would go to a sex show (Moulin Rouge, as seen in the photo below). I have to say this was a bit of a laugh as we found it was more like a cheap musical rather than a seedy show. We carefully positioned ourselves with the bar between us and the stage such that we wouldn’t get pulled up on stage. After four performances (all done to cheesey music) the show repeated and we had had enough. We walked around the area for a little while longer and decided to call it a night.

The next morning we were up early determined to get to Anne Frank Huis before the queue got too long. We half succeeded at this. We arrived at Anne’s at 9:00 but queue was still quite long. Once inside we found the actual house is actually contained inside another newer building. It told the story of the Frank family and how they hid from the Germans during the war. What I found interesting was that the area the Franks hid was actually quite large consisting of about five rooms. The interior was as it was during the war with posters and cut outs still on the wall. There was also the Franks identity cards, possessions and Anne’s actually diary. We all found it quite moving. That afternoon we went to the Heineken Museum. This detailed the history of the famous beer brand. For the rest of the afternoon we continued to explore the city. When it was time to leave we were all shattered from the previous three days activities. It is definitely somewhere we would go back to as there is still so much that we haven’t seen. The pictures below are of Di and Denise by a Canal, the "leaning" houses and me in Rembrandt square infront of the Rijksmuseum.

I have also been lucky enough to go on work trips to Germany and Denmark. I went to Germany to visit one of our metal stamping suppliers, Haerter. Haerter is based just outside Stuttgart in a small village. This was a whirlwind 3 days with work keeping me busy all day. This unfortunately didn’t leave any time to explore the area which was quite beautiful. If you think of small traditional villages separated by lots of open green hills you would be quite close to how it looked. The best I could do was to see the countryside from car, though I did get the chance to sample quite a bit of traditional German food. My trip to Demark was for a training course in Copenhagen. This time I did have a chance to explore a little bit of the city with two of my workmates. The highlight was Tivoli Park, which is a traditional amusement park in the centre of the city.

Other than the trips we have been kept busy with work and general life. Presently we have Al, one of my friends from NZ, staying with us while he finds work and gets settled. Our aim this afternoon is to buy a BBQ to make the most of the good weather we have been having here lately.

Hope this reaches you all well. If you have a chance it would be great to hear what you are all up to.

Look after each other

Cam and Di