Amsterdam

We flew in to Amsterdam on friday morning 6.00am. Jumped on a train and we were in Harlemmerstraat by 7.30am, looking for a cafe that would take customers with baggage. By 9.00am we'd had a coffee and a pastry and were ready for a nap. Luckily we were able to check in to our apartment early and had a nice shower-led recovery.
Soon, some of us had hit the streets of the Jordaan, checking out the many cool little shops, cafes and art galleries. It was a sunny 18 degrees and many people were working hard at sitting around having a drink and a chat.
The canal side cafes are certainly very inviting.

We quickly stocked up on dutch goodies at the ever popular Albert Heijn supermarket. Breads, cheeses, chocomel, licorice dropjes, beer and yoghurt - not to be consumed in one sitting (although we did try). Our street is a cobble-stoned, narrow  version of King street, Newtown. The main traffic is bikes and scooters and you have to be extremely careful crossing the 3 metres to the other side. It is a lively, happy street and our 3rd floor windows are excellent for bike and people watching. We didn't really notice any street noise during the night although Anika did wake up in time (about 4.00am) to see a bunch of lads spending some quality time with a frying pan they'd found. It was banged on the ground in a tribal fashion until the handle fell off and high fives were exchanged. Those crazy dutch!

Actually there are a fair amount of tourists here - Italians, Germans, Americans mostly in small groups clutching maps or wobbling dangerously on hired bikes before copping abuse from the locals. We've tried to avoid being tourists so I only take quick peeks at my map hidden in my back pack. I don't think anyone has noticed my thongs, VB cap, southern cross tattoo and cold chisel singlet.