HELLO AMSTERDAM!

We have just arrived back from Amsterdam after a mini break over the weekend and were very impressed by the city! On disembarking at the Central Station, we headed straight up to the Noordemarket where we found some rather pleasing to the eyes food stalls (and even more pleasing to the palette!) plus loads of bric-a-brac stores selling wares from the 70s and 80s.

This area is totally surrounding by the canals and boats were passing up and down with people enjoying al fresco picnics on the roof. The streets were filled with bikes buzzing by every minute and of the hundreds of cafes and restaurants with tables out on the street, there wasn’t a single spare table for us to grab some lunch! We instead ended up wandering through to the famous 9 Streets, where we stopped for a cup of tea and some Dutch pancakes then dropped into some of the little boutiques. Vintage store Episode had the most impressive selection of 80s knitted jumpers and sold retro silk scarves for just three euros – bargain! We also managed to find our fave Swedish store Acne wedged in amongst cafes on one of the side streets!

By the end of the day we had walked the whole city and managed to get a good look at most of the shops! If you are planning to go to Amsterdam we recommend you spend a good few days there! Our visit was so fleeting we didn’t have time for any museums, canal or bike rides but we are definitely going back!