So cold, so very cold

We caught an overnight bus from Bristol and found ourselves in Amsterdam.

Unfortunately we were staying much further out of town than we'd realised when we'd booked with Airbnb. That first morning we walked around a little admiring the pretty little streets, then made our way out to Uithoorn (not a suburb as we believed but a separate town) to set down our bags and make a plan for the next few days.

The room we had was great except for the location. With an hour bus trip either way, there was no popping back in between outings.

Our second day we headed into Amsterdam to check out the Van Gogh museum, only to find it would be a two hour wait. No thanks! We really should have gone online to buy timed tickets earlier but by the time we knew we could do that the only times on offer were 9am. Which we figured probably wouldn't be the busiest time to line up anyway.

With that plan dashed we decided to check out Dam square, wander the canals, try the Olliebollie. That may not be exactly what they're called but it was something like that. They are yummy donutty things served hot and covered in sugar which are apparently a New Year's tradition.

Then we decided when in Rome etc, and stopped in at one of the coffee shops. Unfortunately, the one we found was pretty basic, plastic chairs around tables in two rooms and bright orange walls, which all felt a little school canteenish. Matt did the purchasing from their quite extensive menu and we settled down to share a joint. Personally, I just got a sore throat from the smoke, but Matt got a buzz and had a little fun with it. We gave it another go the next day at a slightly nicer venue and all I got was queasy. I think I must be doing something wrong but anyway, it's not for me.

We did a bit more strolling, checked out the red light district, which is just a little sad. There are women in their underwear on display in windows who are so bored that most of them are on their phones. We also strolled around Neuemarkt with it's castle and pretty streets. We came to a cute little pub with a window seat so stopped in for a few to get out of the cold before making our trek home for dinner.