Categories: uncategorized
Date: 12 May 2007 18:54:56
So we're back. After a divergence into politics I thought I'd move back to our holiday.
The Thursday saw us with a free day to explore Amsterdam, however we had to be back at the hotel ready for the evening event.
We joined Darryl and Audrey for a leisurely tour of Amsterdam's canals. Darryl had been a member of the same Male Voice Choir as my dad. Unfortunately he'd had to retire as he is almost totally deaf. He's a very down to earth guy who has decided to travel as much as possible now he's retired.
So we journyed back into the city on the tram and began our tour. The good thing was that the canal tours are like the London Bus Tours. You can hop on and off wherever you like. The intention was to visit the Anne Frank House. I'd been on a previous visit but none of the others had.
On arriving at the appropriate stop we decided to give this a miss. Why? Well we had to back at the hotel around 4:30 to get ready for the evening. The queue outside the House looked like it would remove a few hours from our day. We therefore decided that lunch and a visit to the Rijksmuseum would be a better idea.
As we cruised along the canal I felt a little disappointed. Not once did I see a single dead body being removed from a canal. Had films like Puppet On A Chain and Diamonds Are Forever lied to me? However we did see the back terrace of the Hard Rock Cafe. Darryl wanted to eat there as he's bought a shot glass and/or a T Shirt at every branch he's visited arund the world and wanted to add this one too his list.
I must say that I'd normally avoid places like this like the plague. I hate big chain places and prefer to eat local food. On this holiday this was unlikely to happen though. Almost every restaurant was a foreign one. In fact at one point we counted 6 different branches of McD's in the central area alone.
By the time we'd finished our meal we didn't have enough time to catch a visit the Rijksmuseum and had to catch the boat back to the station for the tram back to the hotel. hving said that we still got to see a lot more of Amstedam than we would have in a tram or walking around. Have you ever seen a city where you are below street level and have to look up at everything?
The evening saw us joining a some members of the Dutch MX-5 Owners Club for a meal. They'd organised a drive through the Dutch countryside to the restaurant near Harlaam. What a drive it was. After passing the industrial estates near the hotel we drove along the main canal linking Amsterdam to the North Sea. When I say canal, I don't mean one of the little ones but one larger than the Manchester Ship Canal.
Then it was into the countryside along twisty, turny roads. We past beautiful houses and a few country houses with stables. Then I suddenly realised something and asked FW if she'd noticed as well. "What?" she asked. "We've just gone up a hill and are about to go down it."
I know! A HILL!! IN HOLLAND!!! Who would have thought that?
We arrived at the restaurant and had a great meal. It was especially good if you liked Asparagus or Avocado, as these appeared to be components of most options. I hate both, so avoided the starters. However the veal steak was out of this world and they had the smallest potatoes I'd ever seen in my life. Not even a dwarf would have these to be too big.
With the meal finished it was time to drive back to the hotel. This created a few problems.... None of us had the headlight deflectors fitted to our cars. In addition it was pitch black outside and not all of us had sat nav fitted. However we jumped in our cars and waited to see what was happening.
Suddenly a the silver MX-5 of our Welsh organiser tore past us. I mean really ripped away. A few cars followed so we joined the convoy. I was a little annoyed at this as they were really speeding down the road. As we got to the end of the lane we discovered that he'd disappeared and the other cars were turniong round to head back. We lost sight of the others as we turned and I almost ran a Dutch car off the road before I realised that, in my haste, I was on the wrong side. Why do foreigners not drive on the proper side of the road?
Thankfully there were still people with sat nav at the restaurant. I don't know what would have happened otherwise. We were in the middle of nowhere with no idea how to get back to the hotel.
Prayers were answered and we all made it back to the hotel but we didn't know why the organiser had hared off and left us.