Docks

17.05.15

Took the no10 tram out to Java island to look at the big boats. I am glad to say Pete didn't find the barge he was looking for (with his heart not his head), there were no Te Koops anyway. Some of these beasts look as though  they would be extremely difficult to manoeuvre. Out in the big wide river huge cruise boats passed, but there was very little in the way of working boats.

A whipping wind took us back on foot to central station where we headed towards the posh canals and Jordaan again for a lunch and a wander. We found a sheltered sunny spot in a cafe on Prinsengracht canal and whiled away an hour over a sandwich and coffee. Many more hours were passed in blossom snow, just people- and boat-watching in this lovely area until it was beer o'clock and time for the tram back to the hotel. Washed and brushed up, we ate nearby at Pinchos Pata Negra, Spanish tapas restaurant; very tasty and we were able to order less food as we both feel we have eaten far too much over these days.

Bicycles

I am fascinated by the cyclists here. I could spend hours just sitting outside cafés watching them pass. They are so cool, whipping in and out of each other and traffic; cars, trams and buses. Men in suits, women in high heels and posh clothes, mums and dads with various carriages for their offspring attached. No helmets, half of them talking on their mobiles, one girl with a lollipop stuck in her mouth, another man with a pane of glass under his arm (no fear?!)

And those bikes! They are all old fashioned sit up and beg, heavy things, mostly tatty and rusty with ting ting bells, no brakes (?!) and enormous heavy chains to secure them when they stop. Some decorated with flowers around the handle bars, most of them with some form of carrying device either wooden bread crates (for the more stylish) or plastic boxes.

Younger members of our family said you must hire bikes it's the only way to see Amsterdam. I agree and Pete probably could negotiate these highways, but me? No flipping way! I'd be sprawled more often than in the saddle, I'll stick to my feet thanks.

Van Gogh

16.05.15

Up early to get to Van Gogh museum, which I really wanted to see. We had been warned that there was little point in buying a fast track ticket, but it was wise to go early. We got there at 9 am when it opened, having got on the wrong tram to start with!! Neither of us awake enough to have bothered to check the tram map! It was raining and we got wet standing in the queue for an hour - madness really, but once you'd been there for 15 minutes it seemed silly to give up. Of course his work was worth the wait, but it was frustrating battling with a crowd 5 people deep at least to get to view the pictures properly. We enjoyed it mostly though and I love his landscapes especially as so many are of a part of France I have been to several times and they conjure the atmosphere so well. What a clever artist, what a miserable life; so sad.

We were damp and chilly when we came out to further rain, so stopped for koffie and brotjes in a warm cafe. Took the tram back to Muiderport station to buy our train tickets for Monday, then walked back through Dappermarkt another lively market with superior food stalls this time, along with the tat. Annoyingly we found some better lace than I had bought yesterday, so resolved to buy this too. Still only 5euros for 2m, so well worth it.

Back into the centre to eat dinner in a tiny basement restaurant in Jordaan. To enter it you had to duck into a window!

Red light district, old town, boat trip and Indonesian cafe

15.05.15

No 7 tram to Waterlooplein flea market, where I bought a cotton scarf and a lace tablecloth, from which to make new bow door boat curtains, I hope. Some good antiquey bargains here, but sadly we don't think we can manage to lug a coal scuttle home on the plane.

As it's a public holiday (something we didn't know when we booked this) the whole of the city was thrumming and our plan of a 3 hour boat trip was soon dashed, they were all full. So we settled for a 1 hour. Boat was full to brimming of course, we sat opposite a very nice couple from Washington DC, but she was Austrian and he was Dutch. Her comment of "my husband is not bothered about coming back to Holland, unless he is near water, he likes to be on boats" rang true to me, Pete being at his happiest on or around boats of whatever kind. It was good to see part of the city from this angle and to hear some facts about the various canals and we had it confirmed that the large hooks that hang way up on the gables of all the houses are for lugging furniture up into rooms as the stairs are all so steep and narrow.

We couldn't come to Amsterdam without a look around the red light district and I was interested to see that scantily clad women DO sit and pose in the windows, I had never really believed it. One beautiful girl winked at the 2 men walking in front of us - I wonder if one of them doubled back later.

We carried on through the Old Town, more beautiful canals and old buildings and churches. Then walked along the Amstel to find the docks, although we had read the map wrong (twits) and found ourselves going in the wrong direction, so decided to call a halt and have a drink in a cafe, get our bearings and decide where to eat our evening meal. Indonesian tonight, just off Albert Cuyp in de Pijp again. A tiny cafe, but chicken satay and beef rendang went down well after all that schlepping and then even more schlepping back to the hotel.

Jordaan area

14.05.15

A late start as we slept so heavily. Once we had mastered the way to buy tram tickets at the best price, we hopped on the No 9 into Museumplein, where we turned the corner to find a very long queue for the Van Gogh museum that I want to visit. Didn't fancy this, so walked to the nine streets shopping area. All very interesting shops; antiques, books, expensive clothes and shoes. Delft tiles at 80 - 150 euros each!

Continued on to Jordaan district which was more our thing. Pretty residential streets off the canals lined with parked bikes, lots of plants decorating front doorways and elm trees shedding their blossom like confetti everywhere. There are funky cafés and shops and the whole area is peaceful.....hmmm, could live here!

From here we went towards Dam Square, walking down a very contrasting road of fast food outlets, coffee shops with the smell of cannabis wafting from them and tacky sex shops. It was packed with people and not pleasant and Dam Square was the same. On the square along with the palace is a Madame Tussaud's and other shops - it was disappointing.

We returned to the quiet of Jordaan, where we had a beer, looked up a restaurant in the book Fran has kindly lent us and without which we would be stuck. The Italian restaurant we were after was full and we couldn't reserve a table for the following nights either: popular. We ended our evening in another
Italian on the same road, food was ok, but probably nowhere near as good as the one we wanted to get into.

The walk back to the hotel helped digest the pasta - just!

Amsterdam

13.05.15

Look right, look left, look up, look down - this city demands it, with bikes coming at you from every quarter, plus cars, trams and buses! Not to mention boats, although you are not in danger from them, only them to themselves as they squeeze through narrow bridges negotiating each other, huge trip boats and water buses versus tiny tin craft with inexperienced skippers. A hoard of pretty drunken young ladies squealing as they tried to throw ropes and secure their boat on a very awkward corner.

Once again, we've walked our socks off, backwards and forwards over canals, up and down beautiful tree lined streets of elegant, tall gabled houses whose stylish interiors lure you. Pete has experienced this city before, but I am totally new to it and am enraptured.

We toured the de Pipj area and the tatty Albert Cuyp market; Albert's statue looking frighteningly like Tony Blackburn. Then found Bazar, a wonderful North African cuisine restaurant housed in an old church, which a friend had tipped us off to. Delicious food in whacky decor. A great first day.


                                                   Boat chaos


Bazar table and plate

Our journey ends

31st October

On 27th I left Pete at Heyford to travel back to our mooring on his own. This being half term there were plenty of other boaters around to help, so he had a reasonable trip back through Banbury and Cropredy. Meanwhile I went home to get the car and returned on 30th.

Good friends, Jenny and Sid came to stay on their boat in the marina and they joined us for an evening (one of many we have shared with them in the past) in our local The Wharf, Sid having helped Pete on the last leg up to Fenny Compton through Claydon locks. As is usual with the four of us a large quantity of ale was consumed as we swopped tales of boating experiences and family news. All good fun. We staggered back down the towpath by torchlight, had coffee on our boat and said goodnight.

The next morning was spent emptying our boat of nearly 3 months of living aboard paraphernalia which always takes twice as long as we'd been reckoning on. Clothes, sheets, towels, food, shoes and a canoe all have to come off and fridge has to be defrosted, fuel topped up and loo tank pumped out!

Then coffee on board J and S's cosy, homely boat to say goodbye and we were on our way home by 2pm.

This trip has been exceptionally successful helped by the fantastic weather we have had, it's a terrific past time in a different, partly forgotten world and it's always a bit sad when our travelling is over. We are so lucky to own such a lovely cottage on water.

Words that Pete found from a book by Robert Louis Stevenson sum up this way of life perfectly:

"The chimney smokes for dinner as you go along; the banks of the canal slowly unroll their scenery to contemplative eyes; the barge floats by great forests and through great cities with their public buildings and their lamps at night; and for the bargee, in his floating home, "travelling abed," it is merely as if he were listening to another man's story or turning the leaves of a picture book in which he had no concern. He may take his afternoon walk in some foreign country on the banks of the canal, and then come home to dinner at his own fireside."

From An Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson (1878)