Canals and coffee
I arrived in Amsterdam with an incredibly heavy heart. Leaving London was not what I wanted to do and in the build up to my dreaded visa expiry date I struggled to decide where to go; actually, I struggled with everything! Having spent my last morning in London repacking bags, taping up boxes and counting & separating my coin collection - whilst sitting in a destitute state in the waiting area at the bank - the trip to the airport was made on complete auto-pilot. Somewhere between take off and landing I managed to drag myself out of self-pity-central and start to focus on the fact that I was starting a new adventure.
My misery cloud and the actual clouds seemed to lift simultaneously. Amsterdam is amazing and proved the perfect city to kick start my summer in Europe. I spent five days wandering, cycling and paddle-boating around the city with no particular plan or destination. After spending a night in a hostel I decided that I’d give couchsurfing a go. I’d had an invitation from a local guy and met up with him for coffee before trundling my ‘worldly possessions’ out to his apartment in the South East of the city. It was certainly an interesting experience meeting a stranger and then sleeping on the floor of his apartment for two nights! I moved back into the city to an area called Jordan which was exactly my kind of place. Beautiful shops, bars, galleries and homes all jumbled up along the edges of the most picturesque canals. A visit to the Anne Frank museum came recommended by a few friends and was an afternoon well spent in what is a simple but well-done museum, it was surreal to be in the space that her honest, heart-wrenching book was penned all those years ago.
Amsterdam delivered above and beyond all expectation, a city I could actually imagine living in! Amazing markets, fantastic coffee (Swedish Embassy, Screaming Beans, Bakers and Roasters, Denham) and the most tangible feeling of openness. I went wandering one evening and was amazed at the fact you can look right into people’s homes from street level, I also love that everyone seemed to have a table and chair set that was suitable to be dragged onto the sidewalk to enjoy wine or dinner sitting on the street in the sun.
