Amsterdam

Well hi again, this is a belated post for Amsterdam. We caught the Eurolines bus from Brussels to Amsterdam which was a shorter trip than the previous one. From the bus terminal we managed to find our way to the correct train, then from there we found the right bus stop to wait at and call our hostel for a pickup - it was like one of those adventure computer games, only in Dutch! The shuttle didn't take long to come and it was only a 7 minute ride to the hostel. Immediately we knew this was something different, it was really a caravan park, situated on a picturesque lake. The accommodation was cosy, with communal bathroom and a large communal tent complete with fridge, Bob Marley music and several lounges for chilling out! Due to the lateness of our arrival and the distance from town we decided to stay in for the night and dined on the best toasted cheese sandwiches you could possibly imagine! (OK maybe not the best but we were hungry and they did the trick!).

The following day we got the first shuttle to the station to make the most of our only full day in Amsterdam. Amsterdam was full of Aussies as Australia was playing Holland in Rotterdam which wasn't far from there. We had breakfast (poffertjes which are traditional Dutch pancakes - mmmmm!), did a canal tour which was nice, then hit one of the "coffeeshops" which was showing the game. We stayed there for the duration of the game, Australia drew 1-1 which was a great result (I think Aussies actually outnumbered Dutch at the bar we were at) then grabbed some snacks and headed back to the hostel. We spent a few hours in the communal tent with some Americans and even a few Aussies all comparing notes as to what kind of weed they were smoking! Pretty laid back place Amsterdam! The next day we left early for our flight to England which will be the subject of our next post!