My sister and I were a little wary about booking a city break to Amsterdam after being stranded there several years ago during the ‘volcanic ash incident! ‘ but it was such a beautiful city that we let my daughter and niece persuade us to return – and I am so glad we did. We stayed at the Prinsen Hotel, a small family run establishment a ten minute walk from the Reikmuseum and just a few steps away from a tram stop. The hotel was lovely with very friendly staff, the owner even came out to chat with us when we took our coffees from our room to sit out in the pretty garden. He was very helpful in terms of advice about getting around the city. As well as all the usual tourist attractions, the thought provoking Anne Frank House, the amazing Van Gogh museum and the not to be missed boat trip (giving a wonderful view of the amazing tightly packed merchant houses) we also booked a trip to the Royal Theatre Carre to watch a production of Pippin. It wasn’t expensive and was such an enjoyable experience, the theatre itself is a stunning building. It was only about four tram stops from our hotel and is in a lovely location on a canal where the ‘Skinny Bridge’ is situated. The bridge is famous for being used in a James Bond film. We arrived early so that we could stroll down for some photos of the bridge. Also we took some great photos of the theatre before the show and then looking completely different all lit up after the performance.
We often like to see some of the surrounding area of cities we visit so we booked a coach excursion to visit the lovely Dutch countryside. The cost was approximately 60 euros and was very good value. It was suitable for all age groups as there was not a great deal of walking required and yet so much was packed into the day. We visited Zaane Schans a picturesque windmill village with typical green-timbered houses and we even had the chance to see inside a working windmill. We also went to the village of Volendam, famous for cheesemaking and visited a cheese factory where we discovered pesto cheese. This cheese is amazing but unfortunately we haven’t been able to find anywhere in the UK where you can purchase it :-(. Luckily we bought quite a lot during our visit so we were able to share our find with family and friends back home. From there we had a boat trip over to the former island of Marken where we had fun watching clogs being made by a very entertaining clogmaker. We weren’t tempted to buy any clogs as they did not feel very comfortable during the trying on session but we did all purchase a bunch of wooden tulips which still brighten up our living rooms on a dull winters day like today. From there we were collected by coach and driven back to Amsterdam with some lovely photos taking of the dutch dykes onlong the way. The trip was very well organised, setting off from the centre of the city near the railway station.
It truly was a memorable holiday. Amsterdam is a wonderful city with something for everyone!
