Firstly, we’re still alive and sort of mastering the North Face of the Eiger.
Secondly, for those of you who don’t do Totes Emojis (can’t help it, Richard Osman is one of our guilty pleasures 😂) , the answer was Two Lips from Hamster Jam!! I promise there won’t be any more 🤭
Jezza’s day started with his breakfast – our rather inadequate accommodation didn’t disappoint by way of kitchen utensils either, so Chef Jezza made the most of the Dutch cheese, eggs and bread that were kindly left for us. He also learnt that toilet paper is no substitute for kitchen towel 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️. At least it was fuel for the morning ahead…..
As I knew today’s step count was going to be even higher than yesterday, Dr Jezza kinesiology taped my knee, just to be on the safe side – he’s a man of many talents 👨⚕️ 🤣🤣 – It proved to be a very wise move because by 14:00 we had already clocked up nearly 10,000 steps, with another walking tour planned at 18:30 …..
We had a slightly later start today- the weather looked to be improving, so the jumpers I knitted for this holiday and crammed into my suitcase could well prove to be redundant 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️. As long as it stays dry, I suppose I shouldn’t complain 🤞🏻🤞🏻.
We left by 09:30 as our landlady said they were working on the water supply, so there wouldn’t be any for half the day. We passed the village market on our way to the bus stop – it has some way to go to rival St Chinian’s marché 😂😂.
Jezza booked us on a 1.5 hour walking tour of Amsterdam – our meeting place was the Amsterdam Stock Exchange building – there was a statue of a bull outside, but no bear … 🤔
Even more exciting though was the Primark and TK Maxx opposite our meeting place – 15 minutes of looking at them, being told by Jezza that there was no room in our cases for anything more 🤦🏻♀️…
The walking tour was a great success and our guide Ramses, was a history and anthropology graduate from The University of Amsterdam. He was very informative and we learned a great deal about Amsterdam and Dutch culture/history.
Ramses spoke about the architecture of the buildings in Amsterdam – Amsterdam is essentially on the water and was a trading post for sea faring merchants who stored their goods in the narrow buildings which were built on timber piles, and over time many now slope forwards, backwards and sideways!!!
We also saw some stolperstein – stumbling stones – these are about 4” square brass plate cobbles with the details of Holocaust victims that are laid in front of their last home. They are easily missed and there are nearly 100,000 stones laid across over 1,000 cities across 24 countries, however, there are 500 in Amsterdam alone. It is the largest collective combined monument in the world. The number increases annually as more victims are identified.
The tour finished at about 13:30 – time for a spot of lunch. Finding a suitable eating place proved more difficult than we thought. Jezza had found Broodje Bert which was on the canal and we made our way there. Whilst we sat outside waiting to be served, I thought I’d go inside to the loo. I asked the waitress where it was, and as I made my way, a waiter came up to me and asked me to pay for the loo 😳. I told him that we were eating there, which was confirmed by the waitress, so I was spared the charge…. We sat outside for a few minutes, only to see that there was no beer for Jezza on the menu – having said we were eating there and using their facilities for free, we needed to beat a hasty retreat 🤦🏻♀️😂😂. We found another cafe – Petit Heemelrijk -that sold soup – I’ve been eating too much for lunch and just wanted something light. Jezza had an egg burger – unfortunately, neither meals were worthy of a photograph, but Jezza did have his beer!!!…. It was only a few minutes’ walk though from the Anne Frank Museum, which was to be our next stop at 15:45.
What do I say about Anne Frank House? Having just started to reread her diary after about 50+ years, I found this experience both fascinating and very moving. We realised that in Anne’s secret rooms were “Brian” stairs that were every bit as lethal as those in our accommodation 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️, so we were getting used to them!! We weren’t allowed to take photos. We were given audio commentary for each of the rooms in the house which was really helpful in learning all about the persecution of the Jews and the cruelty of humanity…
With nigh on 14,000 steps on the clock and half an hour to kill (and desperate to rest my feet), we stopped at a bar opposite Amsterdam Centraal Station – it was after all wine o’clock now! 🤪. There was a barman at the cafe trying to drum up business – we sat outside and ordered a beer for Jezza (what a shock 😂) and a glass of rosé for me. Jezza was getting into position for a selfie when the barman (probably older than us!) said he’d take the picture of us – he was obviously channelling his inner David Bailey and made us pose for the camera – first together, then Jezza had to kiss me, then I had to kiss Jezza – such a palaver for one pic 🤦🏻♀️. Anyway, we had several photos of us for posterity!!! Once we’d finished our drinks, we made our way to the meeting point for the walking tour of the red light district.
The red light district in Amsterdam was borne from the need to curtail violence and hooliganism from the sailors who docked there, and the ladies of the night gave them other things to do 🙃🙃. In recent years, prostitution has been legalised. Our guide was from Chile and spoke at least 20 to the dozen, but he was very amiable and knew all about the red light district – I don’t somehow think it was from personal experience though……. As it is illegal for tour guides to take parties through the red light district, we walked around on our own. I personally found it all a bit seedy and sad, however, I suppose because it’s a tourist attraction, it needs to be seen. Unsurprisingly, the majority of girls in the windows were Eastern European…. Whilst walking around, we saw some rather different shops that you don’t normally come across – you can see in the photos below 😂😂
By the time we had finished our tour of the red light district, it was time for dinner and we decided to try out the Thai restaurant we had been recommended by our tour guide. I picked a prawn and cashew nut dish whilst Jezza had sweet and sour pork. It was all very tasty and something we don’t get at home.
I was happy to be on our way to the bus stop at about 21:30. It had been a very long day and tiredness was setting in. I was very thankful for the kinesiology tape on my knee!!
Bed for us after watching a bit of football – an early start again tomorrow, but not quite so action packed…..
Total steps: 20,633
