Amsterdam

We know it’s been a week or so since we updated the blog, so here goes... We’ve spent the last 5 days in Amsterdam which was amazing. So far, this is the only city that we’ve said that we don’t want to leave. The reputation of Amsterdam is often about the drugs and sex (which is pretty awesome, don’t get us wrong), but Amsterdam is SO much more than that. So far it’s the only city we’ve visited that is completely open to the alternative. It doesn’t matter what you wear, who you are or how much money you have. The first couple of days in Amsterdam we (like every other tourist who comes here) walked around and just took in all of the sights, whether they be they be the beautiful canals that link almost the entire city (more than 100km), the amusing stoned tourists wandering from coffee shop to coffee shop, or the prostitutes standing in every window in the red light district.


After we settled in, we visited some of the museums including the Van Gough and the Dutch Resistance museums. We also found a small memorial building where all of the Jews were taken for deportation during the Second World War. This building was previously a theatre for the Jewish population before the War; during the war the Germans used it as a deportation centre to the concentration camps. The building is now a tribute to these people and holds stories of what happened. This was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Amsterdam and is well worth the visit (which doesn’t cost anything!). Our second last day we visited and Anne Frank house. Jamie has just finished reading the Anne Frank Diary, and Andrew is half way through. The Diary of Anne Frank is an emotional record of what happened to the Jews during World War 2 and the house itself where the family hid for so long is just as emotional. We both left the house struggling to speak and even writing this now, it’s difficult to put the experience into words. This is a MUST do on any trip to Amsterdam.

We spent almost every night out in Amsterdam at a bar somewhere. We met some wonderful people and caught up with some more that we have previously met elsewhere. We met Elmo and Saara (a Finnish couple) in a great little pub in the red light district and ended up having dinner with them. They kindly offered for us to visit them in Finland and stay with them, definitely next trip! We also caught up with Leith and Ben, a couple of lads from “The Gong” back in Oz. We met these guys in Brussels and immediately got on with them, so we organised to hit the town in Amsterdam with them. It was nice to hear that Aussie twang again and have some beers with some familiar faces.

We met Jamie’s cousins David and Liz a couple of times for drinks and dinner which was brilliant. These guys have lived in Amsterdam for 10 years and have excellent local knowledge about the best restaurants and bars. David took Andrew rock climbing which he loved and will be keen to pursue when back in Australia. We spent our last night with David and Liz in a great bar which is purely about the beer, no music, no TV, just beer! We had several different beers, and then managed to find our way back to the camp site... Brilliant!

Yesterday we left Amsterdam headed for Germany to watch the world cup game against Germany and also to have Callum’s problems looked at. We got to Dusseldorf and found a camp ground which is a short ferry across the Rhine from the city. Andrew noticed some issues changing gears while driving into “D-Town” and as we pulled into the camp ground realised that he could no longer get out of 1st gear. SO...... as it stands now, we can go forward (slowly) but can’t reverse (we don’t want to go backwards anyway). As it’s the weekend, there are no mechanics open, so we’re waiting until Monday, organising a mechanic (and maybe a tow truck) then probably flying to Berlin for a few days. Last night was a pretty tough night thinking that we’re stranded, Callum hates us and has packed it in, and it’s going to cost us a fortune to fix it. Today we’ve assessed the situation and are thinking..... Well, we’re stranded in a beautiful part of the world, and get to watch Australia play Germany in the world cup, in Germany as we wanted; it’s really not that bad.... :)

As I write this, I’m sitting in a little cafe in Dusseldorf on my second cup of coffee listening to a group of men talk about the football tomorrow night. All I’ve understood so far is “Australia” and something that sounds like “no chance”. They’re probably right, but we’ll still turn up in our colours and cheer on the boys while drinking all their beer! :)

A&J xo