Amsterdam is somewhere that we have been planning to visit for a long time but life got in the way and we haven’t had a holiday for years!! Actually when we got the case out of the shed it still had the flight label on and it was 2009 so I think that a holiday is well overdue.
We booked the Hoxton for our stay as we had heard good things and we had recently stayed in one of the London ones – we wanted to stay in the Jordaan region as it had been recommended by lots of people.
We arrived late afternoon and after checking in we took a little wander around the neighbourhood and fell instantly in love with this city.
Normally when we go away on holiday I plan everything down to the last minute but I had a cold virus from hell the week before and I didn’t do my usual planning – I had a rough idea of where to go and what we wanted to do but it was actually nice to play it by ear and just wander around the canal area and pop into where we fancied.
One thing we definitely wanted to do was have a canal trip – the hotel receptionist suggested we book with Those Damn Boat Guys and I am so glad we did – they were brilliant – a really relaxed but really informative way to travel the canals.
We had a wonderful time just wandering around and stopping off for food and drink in great little bars and cafes. We discovered The Pulitzer Hotel on our travels so we popped in to have a birthday celebration meal and drink or two!
We decided not to do all the touristy stuff mainly because we hadn’t booked anything in advance but we did visit the Rijk Museum as it had a bit of everything so we spent a few hours wandering around the exhibits.
We found the interior design and the shop windows so inspiring. My creative mojo was lacking before we arrived but it was rejuvenated by the end of the trip. The whole city had a wonderful chilled but stylish atmosphere, from the apartments that we passed, to the people going about their everyday business on their bikes – we will have to hire one next time we visit. There was so much more we could have done and we are planning another trip next year – we have got the holiday bug again and think we need to have a few city breaks in the not to distant future!!
I forgot to take too many images of the outfits I wore but here are just two of them!!
We LOVED this city so much and can’t wait to go back – it was one of those places that you just felt totally relaxed and at home in. We would move in a heartbeat if we could afford to do it but will have to be content with an annual trip. We are lucky that we can fly from Norwich Airport so there is no excuse for not making a regular visit to explore more of this fabulous city. You can see more of our adventure on my IG feed.
Good bye until next time Amsterdam.