So, had some time on my hands and some airmiles in the pocket so on
Monday decided to book a trip with Sharan to Amsterdam. Never been
before and so far am loving it.

Up early, caught the train in to London then rode the Picadilly line
all the way to Heathrow, T5. Quick bag drop, through security, on the
flight, barely enough time to finish my Grolsch, then we were here.

Decided to do the 'travell-y' thing and get public transport outb of
the airport - a great idea, in theory, as the place is well serviced
by buses, trams and the train station underneath. So, get tickets,
confirm the right platform (everyone speaks English and is quite
helpful) and get on the train as directed...it's the wrong train and
takes us 2 stops out in the wrong direction. So we get out, catch the
next train back to the airport and start again.
Th next train we got on, we felt confident it was going in the right
direction - Amsterdam Centraal - and it was, except...it was a 'fast'
and whizzed by the station we needed to get to our hotel. So, 15mins
later we're sat on the same train in Centraal waitin for it to get us
where we wanted to go...luckily it stopped at the right place.
A mere 20min hike with bags on a lovely sunny spring day and we've
made the hotel...very nice. 2hrs all that took...it was only supposed
to take 15-30mins from the airport!
On the plus side, cabs here are expensive (as is everything) and it
would have cost us 40 euros for the 15min ride from the airport - that's
32 euros in the pocket for fun and games.

So later than usual we catch the tram in to the Dam, have a lovely
meal of ribs & steak - lots of Argentinean restaurants here for some
reasons?! Then it's off to explore - you don't have to go far to see
some fantastic architecture and the canals are beautiful - the city is
very clean and it was bustling with people. Stopped down the Bar
street Zeeduk for a quick beer, a very cute 'traditional' place, room
for about 15 people...then through China town...then walking down one
alley, we both looked left and were face to face with a lady in a
window wearing a glow in the dark bikini. Amsterdam, you gotta love it.
Strolling next to the canal, navigating the several guided tour
groups, it was quite surreal - and the ladies on show were, in
general, good looking which I was surprised at...but then again, why
wouldn't they be. This is the Disneyland of red light districts.
Wandered back towards the centre, stopped off for a 'coffee' at one of
the funny-smelling shops that are all over the place ;0) Then went to
another bar, then finished off the night with a traditional cone of
frites with mayonnaise yum yum yum. Looking forward to seeing more of
this city - first impressions are that it is very clean, very cool,
very beautiful.