Being away from our families for Christmas this year, we decided to do something special so we wouldn't get too homesick! Our city of choice was the beautiful Amsterdam. While we didn't see the White Christmas we had been crossing our fingers for, Amsterdam turned out to be an amazing city that exceeded all our expectations.

Upon our early arrival on the 23rd of December (another bargain flight!), we caught a train from the airport into Amsterdam Central Station. After a short walk along the canals to our hotel, we were ready to go exploring.

One of the first things we noticed about Amsterdam, aside from the picturesque canals, was the abundance of bikes. They came in every shape, size and colour. When they weren't being ridden precariously down the winding streets, they were chained to every available post, fence and pole etc.

After a brief look around, we made our way to Anne Frank House. Being a fan of the 'Diary of Anne Frank', Jess was excited and moved to be wandering through the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during the Nazi occupation of Holland, and the site of their eventual discovery and capture.

Ready for something a little lighter after Anne Frank House, we spent the evening exploring Amsterdam's famous night life, including the notorious Red Light District!

On Christmas Eve, we wandered through the Tulip Markets towards the Van Gough Gallery. We were lucky enough to see Van Gough's drawings, water colours, sketches and paintings including 'Starry Night', 'Sunflowers', 'The Bedroom' and the 'Potato Eaters'.

From a traditional gallery to a museum of a different kind, we moved on to the House of Bols. The House of Bols is a Genever (Dutch Gin) museum run by Bols Distillery, the oldest distillery brand in the world. The tour starts in the World of Flavour, where we were able to smell different scents and had to try and guess which flavour of liqueur they were. After learning lots about the history and how the drinks are made, we got to try one cocktail and two flavours of liqueur each. Our drinks were made by bartenders who train at the Bols Academy. Our visit to the Bols Museum concluded with us making a short movie which showed us pretending to make cocktails whilst doing fancy tricks with pretend (non breakable!) bottles!

That night, we decided there was no better way to spend Christmas eve than at the local Christmas markets. We enjoyed lots of festive treats including mulled cider and waffles.

On Christmas day, after exchanging gifts we decided to see what the Dutch get up to for Christmas. We were surprised to find that most shops were open, including a small deli that (believe it or not!) stocked Tim Tams and Vegemite. Merry Christmas to us!

We took ourselves out for Christmas lunch and spent the day wandering through the parks, canals, Christmas markets and the National Gallery. After a long day, we settled into our hotel for the night to enjoy a feast of Tim Tams, Dutch cheeses and red wine. Merry Christmas to all!