As is tradition, each year I meet up with my good friends Sandy and Roel, and this year I made yet another trip to the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.

With EasyJet flying several times daily from Luton, I was able to juggle my flights around so as not to take off any annual leave from work, whilst maximising time spent with my friends. I therefore left work a little bit early after working through lunch to arrive at the airport in good time for my flight - which was just as well.

Bare minutes after making it through security, on my way to collect my free newspaper and get the cheapest drinks from Boots, off went a fire alarm and all the security staff were evacuated, with the whole area being shut down for well over 20 minutes. Anyone who was already running late for their flights had no chance! Nevertheless I still had good time and was the first person to be sat down and buckled up on the plane! Like. A. Pro.

Arriving after the short 45 minute flight, I was met in departures by Sandy, and her boyfriend Arnold, whom I had stayed with three years ago during their Erasmus in Leeds. After a brief reunion I boarded my bus to the hotel I had booked on the outskirts of Amsterdam, and I would see the guys later.

Arriving at the hotel it was already 10pm, and unfortunately the lights in my room had blown meaning I couldn't see my way around. However after contacting the reception they came and sorted it out and I eventually went to bed excited about the next day.

Getting up at around lunchtime, Roel had finally arrived and after dropping off the stuff we made our way to the city centre. Having been to Amsterdam numerous times already the holiday was going to be somewhat different to my usual trips - more of a social event. However there was one particular sight I had never seen - the Begijnhof. And with Roel not even knowing about it we made our way there to find a lovely sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of the city, with traditional Amsterdam houses.


Heading down towards the Flower Market, we eventually made our way back to Dam Square where Sandy had joined us.

We sat down for a catch up before making our way to find somewhere to eat, which ended up being once again the same Italian restaurant on Damstraat. After finishing here, we made our way to the highlight of the trip - the Eurovision In Concert in the Melkweg.

Held every April, I had been to the event twice before and had thoroughly enjoyed it, being much cheaper and closer to the action than the Eurovision itself. And by getting to the queue just over an hour before the doors opened, we managed to nab spots right at the front of the stage.

This year, 24 of the 40 acts this year were scheduled to perform, as well as songs from the host, Edsilia Rombley and the winners from 30 years ago - Bobbysocks. As luck would have it, we were also stood very close to the backstage door, and as the night progressed, some of the acts came into the audience who we were able to meet.

After the event finished, we said goodbye to Sandy and made our way to the afterparty, which several of the acts from the concert were going to sing their songs again for a smaller audience.

We were fortunate enough to also be able to meet some of the artists more personally, as they were just floating around the venue. This included the German, Lithuanians and Norwegians, as well as hearing Måns from Sweden sing his Melodifestivalen songs.

Towards the end of the night I also saw the British guy standing around, and feeling sorry for him not being 'popular', I went to go and have a little chat about his career and how he got the gig. It was now getting on for half past 3 in the morning, and after some heavy partying, we decided to make our way back to the hotel.


The following morning we checked out of our hotel and made our way to the village of Spaardam, just outside Amsterdam, to Arnold's House for a catch up and to spend time with Sandy again. After having lunch and playing Mario Party I said my goodbyes after a great weekend and made my way to Schiphol for the return flight.













After seemingly no problems, before I knew it, my plane was delayed almost 4 hours and once again the airports were seemingly out to get me. Luckily I was not very affected by the delay, the only disadvantages really being that I would get home late, and could have spent some more time with my friends or in Amsterdam - but there are many times when it would have been a real problem.

Eventually arriving home safely I had fond memories of a great weekend, and am already looking forward to the next time!