Amsterdam

It's day two in Amsterdam and so far it's been a trip with a bit of de ja vu. First, the weather is pretty much identical to how I remember it from last year - not too cold, but overcast with a little rain. Secondly, yesterday we somehow ended up at the same cafe for lunch that Phil and I ate appeltart in last year. It was a pretty nondescript little place, so I don't know how we managed not only to find it again, but to find it when we weren't even looking! It was as good as I recalled. 

In addition to lunch, I gave a raw herring roll a go. Despite having been to Amsterdam quite a few times before, I had never tried the raw herring. It was quite delicious:

Christmas was in full swing in both London and Belgium, so I had expected it to be much the same here. We did come across a small Christmas market in Rembrandtsplein, but Dam square - the large central square - had nothing. Nada. Zilch. There were some shops around with lovely decorations though, like this chocolate shop with decorations all made of - you guessed it - chocolate!

The apartment we booked months ago has turned out to be really lovely - we have a fully equipped kitchen, nice deep bath, washing machine, dishwasher - heaven! We're staying south of the city centre in a vibrant neighbourhood with lots of restaurants, bars, cafes etc all around and pretty close to the centre of town.

The plan for tonight is to head out for a cocktail on the 23rd floor of The Okura - a Japanese hotel about a block away from the apartment, before dinner.

Tomorrow, Phil and I are going to visit Utrecht, the Dutch town where in 2001, I spent a semester on exchange from Monash Uni doing international law. The last time I was there was over ten years ago, so I wonder how much it has changed??