Full day in Amsterdam

I slept quite well last night! I woke a couple of times but managed to loll until about 7 am. I then showered, did some re-arranging and then wrote this diary and copied the photos from my phone. Finishing around 10 am I set off!

The weather was cool but sunny which turned out to be perfect for the long day of walking that was ahead. I’d decided in Sydney that I’d go to the Rijks Museum first so I headed off to there. I took a slightly different route to yesterday for a change of scenery. I was looking the whole way there for somewhere nice to have a snack but there wasn’t anything that appealing. Just before the museum there is an area on Nieuw Soiegelstraat which is the ‘Art and Antiques’ district. There were some nice, and expensive, shops but nothing that appealed on the food front.

In the end I went into the museum and ate there. I had bread with cheese (one large piece of bread with 4 or 5 slices of Beemster cheese) and a plum paste. Rather nice, especially with the hot chocolate. Naturally I had to follow that up with a traditional apple pie or apple cake as they call it. Delicious.

I then spent 2.5 hours wandering through the museum. I’d wanted to go ever since the renovations finished, but of course it is so long ago that I last went I can’t recall much to make any sort of comparison with the old one. I saw lots of famous paintings, including of course ‘The Night Watch’. One of the things that stood out was how bright the colours are! In the section from the late 19th century I was struck by the similarities with the oil painting I have at home, I guess they were the inspiration for it. One funny thing, I also noticed one Asian lady who seemed to be going around taking photos of all of the dogs in the paintings, but not the paintings themselves! There was one interesting modern, mechanical, art, I took a short video, it reminded me of Jelly Fish which was probably the aim I guess.

This photo is for Paul :)

After the museum I walked past the Concert Geboux and then went down Frans van Meirsstraat and took a photo of the house dad lived in during the war. 

From there it was a short walk to the Albert Cuyps Market which I walked the full length of. As I was taking a photo of the sign, which said use their free WiFi, I noticed a Poffertjes place so I got 10 with butter, icing sugar and stroop. Very nice. I think you need the Stroop.

Feeling fortified I wandered back to the Leidseplein to look for the Indonesian restaurant that I normally go to. After at first thinking it was gone I found it (different coloured sign?) and checked the opening hours. 5pm. So I set off down through the mall and ended up walking all the way to the station and back.

I was feeling a bit buggered, not to mention hungry, by the time I got to the restaurant, the Puri Mas. I got the 2^nd dearest Rijstafel. I would have gotten the dearest but was worried about the quantity.

Gosh how on earth will I finish all of that? 

No problem it seems :)

After the meal I walked straight back to the hotel, via a different route. Sore feet and tired, so I had a shower then channel surfed for a bit before doing this diary while my phone recharged and then bed around 10 (although I think I slept through some of the TV I was ‘watching’).

In Amsterdam

The plane had a front view camera, from underneath, which gave an interesting view when we landed. Once down it was a quick walk through to customs, a bit of a wait, and then I got changed (why didn’t I do that on the plane?) and collected my bags. While I waited for the bike I started repacking my bags for the ride. Once the box turned up I started the (sweaty) work of putting it all back together.

All in all it took about an hour to be happy with it all. I left the box (which was torn in places) and went out to the airport. I used the free Wi-Fi to check the map and then put some water in my bottles from a fountain. I went outside and immediately decided I needed to put my thermal top on, it was chilly!

Ah, finally, out on the bike! A very pleasant meander from the airport, immediately through into the country side and quit country lanes. I meandered through the burbs of Amsterdam and Vondelpark and then almost directly to the hotel. Around 17K’s I think.

The hotel is quite new and looks quite nice. I was way too early to check in so I left my bike and gear, got changed, paid for my room and then headed into Amsterdam. A pleasant enough walk; only a couple of kms to (a former co-worker} Andrew’s place, so I walked a bit further before heading back.

The live in 5 story house of which they have the top 2, with a great view. It is very peaceful up there and very hairy! 3 cats J We went out straight away for lunch to a pleasant Italian restaurant and (I forgot to photograph it) I had a meatballs penne. We also had cheesy cauliflower and tomato eggplant and all washed down with Chianti. Nice! We had a good chat, Andrew wanted to hear about Optiver Sydney and I wanted to hear about living in Amsterdam. Afterwards we picked up a dessert each and then went back to their place for tea.

I left about 4 pm and wandered home where I did some unpacking and charging while watching TV and reading. I also did most of my washing after a very relaxing shower. I struggled at times to stay awake and eventually conceded defeat around 9 pm.

Off to Europe I go!

An early morning start today, 6am. I had to finish packing and taping up the box, cuddle the dogs, get a cab, drag the bike box down to the street and then wrestle the box into the cab.  The trip to the airport was quick and then a bit of fluffing around with the check in. I wanted to get the two big panniers wrapped in plastic but they don’t do that at the domestic terminal (yes I have to go via Melbourne) so in the end I got two (free) Qantas plastic bags, which worked a treat. The check in itself which was easy enough; although it’s been so long since I last travelled with the bike I forgot to the have bike on its end and couldn’t get into the check in area initially J

After that I went through to the lounge and then had a light breakfast of a scrambled egg on toast with a mini sausage and some baked beans. Then the newspapers and puzzles and call home before boarding, on time!

The flight to Melbourne was pleasant enough, there was a nice omelette with hot bread and a Danish and all washed down with an Austrian Grant Burge sparkling. I was actually feeling a bit sloshed!

I didn’t have a very long wait at the airport, so after a slow walk to the lounge I read the AFR and in no time we were boarding. The plane is an Airbus A350, a new addition to the Cathay fleet, so Business Class is a 1-2-1 configuration. I was in the middle and in the rear cabin where there are only two rows, so nice and quiet. It’s a fully flat bed and there is a really handy storage area.

I watched ‘Assassin’s Creed’ and then the latest X-Men, Logan. Both were ‘ok’. Dinner started with a G&T and some nuts, then a salad, garlic bread and a Foie Gras Terrine with a pleasant glass of Austrian white (Veltliner?).  Next was duck with a light French red, a Gamay which was a nice but a bit young. Then we had a cheese plate with a Portuguese port, followed by some fruit and then chocolate ice cream.

I was feeling a bit tired so I had a doze for a couple of hours. As we were getting close to Hong Kong we had a light second dinner of fruit then a mushroom and prawn penne. I didn’t feel up to any more wine, so a coke, and then there was a nice chocolate mousse.

When we arrived in HK I was feeling quite tired but didn’t want to fall asleep (or eat) so I went for a bit of a walk before going to the lounge. The lounge has a very nice spread of food but I decided to have a shower! Very nice, I felt a lot better after that. Unfortunately while I was in the shower they announced that the departure time had been delayed 1h20 due to a delay at the other end L

I read for quite a while and then went for a very long walk around the airport, it is huge. A lot of stores are shut now (after midnight) but I found a good wine shop which had some interesting French reds. I might be tempted by a 1993 Bordeaux for $100 on the way back if it is still there.

Back in the lounge I read while trying to stay awake until we finally got to board. I was so tired I had a fruit juice instead of Champagne (shock horror). But there was worse to come; I chose the light meal rather than the full three course meal because I just wanted to go to sleep! The light meal was a salad and smoked Halibut with asparagus and potato and garlic bread. The Halibut was very strongly flavoured so not the best choice. After the meal, finally, off to sleep. 6 glorious hours!

I woke up about 3 hours to go so I watched a couple of episodes of ‘Mars’, sadly a Discovery Channel docudrama; dumbest astronauts ever (or maybe second dumbest after the movie ‘Life’). Sigh. Breakfast was fruit, muesli and an omelette with potato’s, a sausage and bacon. Good enough.