Home We Go...

After a wonderful few days of exploring a city we have come to love, it was time to pack our bags and head home. Our Eurostar home was scheduled for 2.40pm which meant we needed to be at Centraal Station around 1.25pm for when check-in opened. But this did mean we could take our time checking out of the hotel and taking the walk over to the station.

The day was bright and sunny and probably the warmest day of our visit; in fact on the walk over to the station we needed to stop to remove gloves, hats and scarf and stow them away in our backpacks.

Beautifully sunny day

We arrived at the station a little after noon which meant we had plenty of time to shop for snacks for the journey home as well as enjoy a Starbucks looking out across the water. There was a group of people making some sort of video which involved a phone attached to an advertising board that was obviously ringing and waiting for innocent passersby to stop and pick it up…no idea what it was all about but it was intriguing to watch from afar!

The time came to move and we found our way to the UK Eurostar Terminal and we began the check-in process. Tickets checked - easy. Queue for security - slow, shuffle, stop, shuffle until we could finally get our bags through screening only to then join another queue but this time for border control. It appeared that getting through Dutch border control was rather slow and steady which impacted the speed at which the security screening could work. The Dutch officials wanted to know how long we’d been in the country, then we had to do a finger scan and I had to remove my glasses so they could check I was in fact me! The next border control was UK operated and that was super quick and fuss free!

Thankfully once through to the departure lounge we were able to grab a couple of seats and a couple of coffees while we waited to be called to our train. In fact by 2.29pm we were on the train and all ready for our 2.40pm departure and all was looking well.

All ready for the journey home...or so we thought!

At 3.58pm as we headed towards Antwerp we received a text and email to advise that the train would be delayed ‘due to an accident involving a person on the tracks’!! We stopped at Antwerp station and we waited, and we waited. 

Waiting for information...

There were no more emails or texts and we had no idea of what was happening. Eventually there was an announcement to say that the train would have to go back to Amsterdam Centraal with a plan that we would be able to board a new train which would be able to make the journey. We arrived back at Amsterdam at 5.30pm with instructions to leave the train but to stay on the platform and wait for our new train. Even the display boards on the platform clearly stated that an extra train was due at 6.30pm +30 minutes, which then got updated to +40 minutes…but at least we would get a train home…right?

And that was when the ‘fun and games’ started! We stood on the platform for about 10 or 15 minutes before what appeared to be some random security guys who came along and told us that we needed to leave the platform and head to the UK Eurostar Terminal as there was no train coming! So dutifully we all did as we were told and made our way to the terminal. I think the assumption was that we would have to wait for a much later train but no…over a very crowded space on the concourse outside the terminal entry a Eurostar employee attempted to tell a train full of very confused people that there was no train taking us home and that we would get an email within the hour to let us know what would be happening.

Trying to work out what was happening!

Now, we hadn’t been able to hear what she had said so we had to wait for those at the front of the crowd to move so we could shuffle forward and try and figure out what was happening. In the end most of the information fed to us was from other passengers who’d been able to hear what had been said or who’d actually managed to talk to someone. To say there was some confusion would have been an understatement. We, at this point, had no idea of when our train home would be or whether Eurostar were going to provide any assistance overnight. As we were trying to figure out what best to do we started to hear other passengers talk about getting their passports 'unstamped'...realisation then hit that because we'd passed through UK border control on departing we were technically in the Netherlands illegally! We were so glad that we had hung around trying to figure out what was happening as we were then able to join a queue to get our passports 'unstamped' - basically a cross put through the appropriate stamp (ours was actually done by the same Dutch border control officer we'd seen earlier in the day and she remembered us!!). But goodness knows how many other passengers failed to realise this and went off into the night with incorrectly stamped passports and all the potential confusion that may have followed!

As we started to leave the terminal we could see some passengers queuing at a desk waiting to see Eurostar staff, others were just leaving, some had their passports 'unstamped', others didn't and it was all rather overwhelming and confusing. I managed to ask a member of staff about getting a train home and whether I had to book a new train myself and he said 'yes', but then another passenger told me that we would get an email in the next hour and there would be a link to do that. We got the distinct impression that no-one really knew what exactly was happening.

We made our way to the main concourse area and found a place to sit down and gather our thoughts with my focus being what are we going to do overnight?...we need a hotel room...we need it close to the station as we had no idea what time our train home would be. I was pretty sure that there was a hotel next door to the station and quickly fired up Google Maps and sure enough I was right. I quickly jumped onto Ibis hotels website and booked a room - boom we were sorted for the night. 

Quickly booking a hotel for the night!

While doing that we had a conversation with an older couple who were trying to get home to Australia; they'd already had their flight home changed because of the conflict in Iran that had just started so they needed to be in London that night. They were looking at getting a flight to Brussels and then onto London! So for all the hassle the events were causing us we recognised that an extra night in Amsterdam and the stress of getting home a day late was nothing in comparison to what other people were experiencing.  

We then had a quick walk next door to the hotel to get checked in and find our room; it was a tad on the small side and quite basic for the price we'd paid; suffice to say we won't be booking an Ibis hotel anytime soon. 

Room for the night!

But we now had the dilemma of finding food for the evening, so we decided to go where we knew we would get something enjoyable and tasty; Burgermeester. 

Mmmmm burgers and fries

With a good burger inside us we nipped into the Albert Heijn opposite the restaurant and bought some treats and bottled water for back at the hotel. By the time we walked back to the hotel it was getting close to 10pm and we'd still not received any communication from Eurostar so we thought we would stop by the train station and the Eurostar departures area just in case there were any staff still on duty who could help us...but no! Back at the hotel we made the decision to book ourselves tickets home for the following day; we figured this way we would know exactly what we were doing, we would have our pick of train times and if by some miracle we woke up to a communication from Eurostar we could cancel the tickets. So £231 spent to secure two tickets on the 10.40am train home.

On the plus side we did manage 13205 steps!

The following morning we were up and checked out of the room by 8am. 

Stunning view from our room!

We made our way to the Eurostar terminal on the off chance that there would be staff that we could talk to...but once again, no! Oh well, Starbucks for breakfast it was. 

Glamorous Starbucks brekkie

We also made use of the Albert Heijn To Go store within the station and bought sandwiches and snacks for the train home (making sure we had more than we had the previous day...just in case!!). It was then a case of deja vu as we made our way through security and border control and once again found a spot with charging, acquired some coffee and waited for our train home. 

While we waited I made best use of the time to plan the next stage of our journey. We had rail tickets from London to our home station that had been issued for a specific train yesterday! But I'd discovered there's a reciprocal arrangement between rail providers in the event of missed trains due to delays beyond the control of the passenger. I was able to WhatsApp with East Midlands Trains who confirmed that our tickets would be honoured and told me exactly what to do upon arrival at St Pancras. 

We boarded the train with ease and despite having seats opposite each other we were able to swap with another passenger and actually sit next to each other. 

Here we go again....all crossed.

The train left just a few minutes late at 10.45am and arrived in London just after 2pm. We then found Eurostar customer services and explained the situation regarding our delay and our onward train home. They then printed out our Eurostar tickets and stamped them as evidence of the delay and confirmed that we would be able to use any East Midlands Train home. Looking at the departures board we could see a train home at 3.31pm which gave us plenty of time to grab a Starbucks before heading to the departure platform ahead of time. Once the platform opened we were at the front of the queue which gave us plenty of time to explain the situation and get let through onto the platform and board the train. We managed to find a couple of unreserved seats together and we settled in for our journey home. 

London, St Pancras at last.

And after a quick Uber ride from the station we were home! A day later than planned but we were home! And very quickly back to reality as we were faced with needing a grocery shop and sorting laundry!!

Oh and only 6355 steps today.

Next time we will chat all things Eurostar and money!!

Amsterdam - Into the City

The next part of our trip saw us venture into the heart of the city, to revisit the familiar, explore the new and re-connect with a good friend.

We made the most of the hotel breakfast, as limited as it was, before checking out and ordering an Uber into the city centre. As events had unfolded we'd arranged to meet our friend Magdalena late morning and grabbing an Uber meant we could get close to our meeting point and as on time as we could manage.

Our drop off was perfect and only required a short walk with our case and backpacks. 

Made it into the heart of the city

Thankfully we were able to leave our bags at Magdalena's store while we enjoyed lunch at a nearby Korean BBQ restaurant. The advantage of hooking up with a friend meant finding the best places to eat!

A couple of hours later we left the company of Magdalena to take a walk to our next hotel and check-in. Now we always try to get the best deal on hotels and this can sometimes mean finding one off the main path, which we don't mind as it helps us to get our steps in for the day! And this time was no exception; we had picked the Hampton by Hilton which was to the east of the city centre and about a 30 minute walk…well it would have been had we (okay me!) been able to read Google maps correctly! We eventually found our way there and despite arriving about 30 minutes before the 3pm check-in time our room was ready which meant we could get ourselves all sorted and settled in.

Later on we took a walk back into the city centre and discovered the way we should have walked earlier and it was way easier, quicker and much more direct! Oh and it started to rain…and it was windy…so by the time we met up with Magdalena once again we were a little on the soggy side. We took a walk through the city to the gay district to have drinks (okay black coffee for us because that's how we roll!) with Magdalena and some of her friends as well as meeting her wife for the first time. And despite the rain we were able to sit outside and stay surprisingly dry and warm.

A slightly damp Chinatown

As we said our goodbyes and ventured off in search of food we realised we knew where in the city we were and more importantly that meant we knew we were close to one of our favourite restaurants; Burgermeester! A great little find if you like good quality burgers and if, like us, you like to change things up a little by swapping the bread for salad. Their Beef Royale is fantastic and their truffle fries are a must have indulgence! Very yummy and very satisfying.

Beef Royale at Burgermeester

Thankfully by the time we finished our meal the rain had subsided which meant the rather long walk back to the hotel wasn't too bad at all! A day of 21,500 steps!

The following day we woke to a grey and overcast day and with no real agenda other than to enjoy the city at our own pace.

The hotel breakfast fuelled us before we headed out towards the museum district of the city in the rain and the wind! Along the way we spotted a cafe called ‘The School of Life’ which belonged to the YouTube channel of the same name, a channel we were very familiar with. So it felt only right having stumbled across it, and not even realising it existed, that we stop for coffee and banana bread. 

Having dried out and warmed up a little we headed back out and made our way to the Stedelijk museum. This was our first time visiting this museum and our timing was perfect as they had a new exhibition by the Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf; his works captured Amsterdam through the decades, with works that have been considered provocative and daring...there were some beautiful and interesting pieces in a display that led you through the museum.

Erwin Olaf Exhibit

Exploring more of Stedelijk Museum

As we headed back into the centre of the city we made best use of our navigational skills and Google maps! When exploring cities we have discovered a great way to discover more about where you are is to fire up Google maps, pick a destination and follow the directions…it might be in search of a coffee or a shop or a place of interest but not only does it get you to your destination you also get to see parts of a city you might not have otherwise seen. Today's target was Uniqlo! We don't have many of these shops in the UK and they are known for occasionally selling Disney themed clothes…which for me is a ‘must check and see'...unfortunately on this occasion there was nothing there to tempt me.

As the afternoon marched on, and not having eaten since breakfast we decided we were in need of food and amazingly Simon not only realised where in the city we were but more importantly he remembered a restaurant we'd eaten at during our first visit two years earlier. So Nader Steakhouse it was and we met the owner, Boris, once more who was just as lovely as he was the first time we'd dined there.

Our next little wander saw us head for a Dr Martens store as I'd fallen in love with the pair of boots that our friend Magdalena had worn the previous day and I hadn't seen before. Upon investigation the boots were also available in the UK and for basically the same price so I think they may go on my 'I'd really like to have' list. 

Our walk back to the hotel that evening saw us stop at Boerejongens to pick up some 'special' red velvet cake as well as some evening snacks from the close by Albert Heijn. 

Red Velvet Cake

Amsterdam at night

Oh and today's step count was another 21,000!

The following day was much brighter with clear blue skies, although it was still a little on the chilly side. Today we had another museum we wanted to visit but this time we headed out to the NDSM-Werf area across the River IJ by taking the free ferry located behind Centraal Station.

The ferry runs continuously and there is normally only a few minutes wait for the next one to arrive. The journey across the water only takes around ten minutes or so and provides some interesting sights along the way. Our destination when arriving was the Straat Museum; a museum located within one of the old shipbuilding units that now houses some amazing pieces of street art and graffiti. This is so worth a visit to experience these pieces of art up close and personal and see the scale at which they have been created. 

This was our second visit and it still captivated us as much as our first time. One word of warning though as this is situated inside an old shipbuilding space there is no heating so visiting at this time of year it wasn’t the warmest, but they do have a very lovely cafe where we could warm up with a coffee. 

View from above after coffee

After we’d taken the ferry back over to the city we decided to go in search of some food and found another of our favourite places; Bakers & Roasters. We made best use of their all day brunch menu and enjoyed their Kiwi Breakfast which was scrummy. 

Bakers & Roaster Kiwi Breakfast

Despite feeling very full we headed off in search of chocolate and specifically Puccini chocolate; again another discovery from previous trips to the city. Their shops smell absolutely amazing and the quality of their chocolate is just divine. Suffice to say a variety of chocolate was purchased, some for us to enjoy and some for our kids back home! 

Amazing array of chocolates that smell scrumptious

The rest of the day saw us meandering around the city, enjoying the sights and sounds and racking up 23,000 steps!

Hat had to go on as it turned a tad chilly as we walked back to the hotel.

For our final full day in the city we headed out from the hotel in the direction of ‘illy Caffe’ near to Centraal Station and somewhere where we knew we would get a very nice cup of coffee…in fact we had three coffees…an Americano each and for Simon a Caffe Viennese, an espresso with a generous amount of sweetened whipped cream!

Just around the corner from there is the 'Sexmuseum' so we decided to stop by and see what it had to offer. And while some of it was a little on the tacky and cheesy side if you take the time to look properly and take in the displays there is a great history there to be discovered. You just have to get past the giggles of twenty-somethings who’ve probably had a drink or two or a little ‘something else’!!

Sexmuseum

As we ventured forth to explore more of the city we once again found ourselves at yet another restaurant that we’d had the pleasure of dining at before; Eggs Benaddicted where we enjoyed another late brunch!

Roast beef & eggs = yummy!

Once refuelled we headed back out into the city for more of an explore and this time decided to try and find an art gallery by the artist Tim Cantor; can't actually remember the reason behind finding this gallery, but I do remember that me and Google maps are not a good combination and our route to find the gallery became rather convoluted but at least we saw more of the city and got even more steps in! Oh and we did find the gallery which, although small, had some lovely pieces.

The remainder of the day was more wandering, buying more ‘special cake’ (hoping for their salted caramel but it was not to be), drinking coffee and more steps as we headed back to the hotel for our final night before travelling home…

…or was it??

Oh and steps for the day were a mere 28,300!!

Amsterdam - February 2026

After visiting Amsterdam for the very first time in April 2024 we have fallen in love with the city and this marked our fourth trip.

The catalyst for this trip was the chance to see my favourite band, White Lies, on tour. When they announced their tour dates back in May 2025 we very quickly booked the closest venue to us in Manchester for late January 2026. But when we saw that Amsterdam was also on the schedule, and having never been to a concert abroad, and it being in a city that we have grown to have a deep affection for it was a complete no brainer and tickets were bought instantly.

So with concert tickets secured we set about booking hotels and transport. As the gig was just outside the city centre, by about 10km, 

we opted to book a hotel close to the venue for a couple of nights and then book elsewhere, closer to the centre, for a few more days. How long we stayed was dictated by the mode and cost of transport, and being retired we had no reason not to spend time in the city and reconnect with places and friends.

For our very first trip we had flown to Amsterdam from the UK and while the flight was relatively short at just over an hour there were some downsides. First, there were no direct flights from our local airport (15 minutes from where we live) so instead we had to travel over an hour and pay for airport parking. Times; to get a reasonably priced flight the departure times were either stupidly early or late in the day. Cost; we have quickly discovered that cheap flights are not as easy to come by as we thought! Heaven forbid you actually want to take luggage with you or sit together! So that cheap base flight suddenly increased with all the little add-ons! Once in Amsterdam there is more cost with simply getting from the airport into the city; we chose an Uber which was simple and convenient although train links would have worked out cheaper, but back then as a first time visitor we wanted to make life as simple and as stress free as possible. 

All of that had resulted in a change of attack for our subsequent visits when we discovered the benefits of rail travel. Using the Eurostar from London, St Pancras to Centraal Station Amsterdam provided us with a much calmer and cheaper (and greener!) option to flying. Previous trips had seen us take a train from our local station down to London to stay overnight in a cheap hotel before embarking on the Eurostar the following morning. But this time we were trying something different.

Our day started pretty much as any normal day in our house. We'd done the majority of our packing the evening before so we only had to throw in a few last minute essentials, have some breakfast and tidy around before meeting our pre-booked Uber at 9.30am.  By 9.42am we were getting dropped off at our local train station. This did mean we had an hour to spare before our booked train but we had done that on purpose. Not only did this mean that we would be on time, it also gave us time to enjoy a coffee before we stepped on the train. 

Fuel for the journey ahead

We are fortunate to have a lovely independent coffee shop across from the rail station so we could enjoy a coffee, make use of their bathroom and still be at the station in plenty of time to start the journey in a calm and refreshed manor. Although as we arrived at the platform we were met with an announcement that our train was running six minutes late!

First train of the day!

When we'd bought the tickets we'd been assigned seats so I knew we were looking for carriage B seats 31 and 32, and if you use the trains in the UK, you know that there is a little LED display above the seats that says ‘Reserved’. But it was still no surprise to me to find someone sitting in one of our seats! I politely said that he was sitting in our seats to which we were met with ‘oh are they reserved?’ I couldn’t resist saying ‘err yes like the sign above you says’!! He moved without issue so we had our seats. The only wrinkle was there was nowhere for our suitcase to go; the luggage racks were full and while some trains have space between rows of seats this train did not. Somehow we managed to squeeze ourselves, two coats, two back packs and a medium sized case into the two seats! It was a little compact but at least we were sitting down…oh and travelling backwards (this has been a pattern of the majority of our train journeys, so much so that facing the correct direction of travel has turned into quite a novel experience for us!). Despite the cramped conditions Simon was still able to use the time to get out his digital art pad and work on his latest creation. 

We arrived at St Pancras about 8 minutes late but this wasn't an issue as we'd picked a Eurostar departure that not only gave us plenty of time to allow for the allotted check-in time but was also the cheapest ticket available! So with time to spare we were able to enjoy a light snack and coffee at Pret A Manger…although I was very tempted by EL&N and their lovely cakes and bakes but perhaps we can reserve that as a treat on our return journey. 

Snack time

London, St Pancras has numerous places to eat and shop so we took advantage of M&S Food to grab some snacks for the journey ahead! M&S may not be the cheapest option but they do have some good quality items that satisfy our way of eating. We grabbed some hard boiled eggs, some cocktail sausages and some overnight oats! We had the obligatory bathroom stop before heading to Eurostar departures where we were let through before the allotted check-in time. In fact we were through security and passport control (times two as you pass through both UK and French border controls) four minutes before the actual check-in time!

Now a word of warning when travelling with Eurostar out of St Pancras, the departure hall gets very busy! We walked all the way around and the best we could do was find a piece of wall to lean against! Thankfully when the train before ours was called for boarding we did manage to grab a couple of seats.

And wait...

About 30 minutes before departure we were called to board at Platform 9. Be sure to know what your carriage number is as this dictates which exit from the departure hall to use. We were amongst the first to get to the platform and found our carriage (number 5) with ease. As we found our seats we discovered that there was luggage storage right behind us as we were located towards the centre of the carriage. 

Our journey was uneventful until we arrived at Brussels, our second stop of the journey. There had been an earlier announcement advising that the crew on board would be swapping over during this stop but it became noticeable that we'd been stopped for a good amount of time and that was when the first of many announcements happened. We were going to be delayed because the crew joining our train were stuck on another train that had broken down! What followed were numerous announcements, texts and emails from Eurostar letting us know what was happening and ultimately the predicted 45 minute delay turned into 75 minutes! It was slightly annoying that we would now be arriving at 9.35pm and not the scheduled 8.20pm and we still had to find our way to our hotel about 10km away from the city centre BUT at least a delay of over 60 minutes did mean we would be able to claim compensation! And because our outbound tickets were the ones which had cost us the most, that's a win?!

Interestingly Eurostar did not mention in their texts or emails about compensation and the only reason I knew was because I searched for it on their website. And the reason I did that was because on a previous delayed journey using East Midlands Railway we had experienced a similar situation but on that occasion the train manager had made an announcement advising all passengers that they would be entitled to a compensation claim. So kudos to EMR for their customer service but not so much for Eurostar. The plan was to make a claim once we were home…but more about that on a future post!

Anyway back to our journey! Our original plan had been to catch a local train from Amsterdam Centraal to the arena area where our hotel was located but by the time we got off the train and got our bearings we just wanted to make life as easy as possible for us. Trying to interpret signs both pictorial and in Dutch just felt too much for 10pm after almost 6 hours on a train! Instead we stopped by a small Albert Heijn store and picked up some nibbles and water before ordering ourselves an Uber…and that's when the next round of fun began.

Centraal Station, Amsterdam

We dutifully ordered a nice electric Uber, found our way to the correct pick up point with ease and waited. We could see the driver was only a couple of minutes away but what we, and the driver, didn't know was that construction had closed the road that led to where the pick up point was with no alternative route in place. Thankfully our driver phoned us and we had a mad few minutes trying to figure out where he was in relation to where we were in the dark with a very busy, multi-laned road in-between us! Finally we saw each other (I think it was using my pink hair to locate us that did the trick).

Easy to spot, even at night!

We found a safe place to cross the road so that we could get to where our driver was waiting for us. He was very apologetic, although none of it was his fault, but at least we were all able to have a laugh about it. He then got us safely to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Arena by about 10.45pm! Once in our room and unpacked we were able to enjoy our snacks, put on our PJs, chill and try to defrazzle our brains!!

Finally made it!

Thursday 26th February 

The day started very slowly; the effects of the long travel day and an hours time difference meant we surfaced later than our normal routine. But as we had no real plans for the day until the evening we decided to take things nice and steady.

We had breakfast included with our stay and the name ‘Express Start’ kind of summed up the affair. It was very much a ‘continental’ breakfast buffet with pastries, bread, meats, cheese, yogurts, fruit and scrambled eggs! Not our usual preference but as it was ‘free’ we made the best of it. It was a very busy service and although there was a section with lots of free tables we were told not to use them and to stay in the main section which was rammed! Thankfully a table came free and to give the staff credit they were all very polite, very busy and cleared the table for us quickly. 

Despite being away from home we did have a couple of online jobs we wanted to get done around Simon’s art projects so we took advantage of the hotel's WiFi before heading out to explore the surrounding area and locate the venue for that evening’s concert.

It turned out that the venue was no more than a 5 minute walk from the hotel and opposite the main Johan Cruijff arena. Consequently the whole area is very modern, and straddles a busy rail intersection with shops and restaurants. As we were in need of a decent size coffee we were very thankful to find a Starbucks based just inside the rail station. We explored the area around the station and the arena which was a mixture of shops and restaurants. The further away from the arena the older the shops appeared and at one side we found a market that had a surprising number of Crane birds hanging about like they owned the place! 

At the opposite end to the market we found a very modern shopping mall to explore but soon discovered that every shop, with the exception of one art gallery, had something to do with home furnishings…it was all a little surreal. But located within the mall we found a kooky restaurant called Booven where we enjoyed some food, coffee and cake to keep us fuelled for the evening ahead. 

Booven

Villa Arena Mall

We returned to the hotel for an hour or so before heading back out for the concert later on. White Lies were playing at the AFAS arena and I have to say the venue was very efficient at getting everyone inside; tickets scanned, bag check, pat down and a small wooden token given to each of us. Although we had no idea what the token was for…maybe the toilet? But no it's handed over when ordering your first drink as a way of avoiding the overuse of plastics. And for each subsequent drink you hand over your used glass otherwise you have to pay a nominal fee! 

AFAS Arena

White Lies were as awesome as ever, although I did feel for Harry, their lead singer, as his voice was a little croaky after almost four weeks on the road. We found ourselves towards the back of the venue, which was fine by me as I am not great if the crowd is too intense, but we did discover that the Dutch (or at least those around us) were all rather tall! We managed to find moments when we could see the stage but we were just grateful to be there and enjoy the experience. 

Interestingly the constant stream of people moving to and from the bar area that we'd experienced in Manchester in late January was exactly the same here. As someone who only enjoys a glass of wine very occasionally I do find it all rather peculiar that at a concert when you've paid good money to see a band people are moving back and forth fetching drinks and missing out on the performance. Also, as this was our first concert abroad, I became very aware that we were singing our hearts out to all the lyrics of all of the songs but the crowd around us only became vocal at key chorus moments; which makes perfect sense when the band playing is not in their natural language. All in all a great gig, fabulous venue and a wonderful night that ended with a five minute walk back to the hotel…perfect!

More about our Amsterdam adventure in my next post as we move closer to the city centre.