Play on!

Wow! What a day of exercise. I tried my hand at a bunch of stuff today.

I had previously arranged with the Dutch AFL association to umpire the practice match they were scheduled to have today. I had to get our friends to give me a lift to the game, because the player that was supposed to give me a lift was caught in traffic, so I couldn't attend the pre-match training as planned. Good thing though, because it didn't eventuate!

There were 20 guys there to play the game - about 8 ex-pats, 4 Gaelic footballers from Ireland, a couple of English boys (one was only 14) and the rest were Dutchmen. They played a 9-a-side game with mixed teams, on a ground marked with standard cones. It was a pretty large field, and I had a pretty torrid time keeping up with them. There were some group photos taken after the game:

The Dutch AFL team

After the game, I hung around at the canteen with most of the team, and plans were made to go back to one of the guys' apartments to watch the Fremantle vs. Geelong game from earlier that day. I arranged to join in, and tried my hand at 'dinking'. It's what the Dutch call riding side-saddle on the back of another person's bike. Unfortunately I was terrible at it, and it was reorganised so I had a bike to ride.

We stopped by a supermarket for supplies and ended up ordering pizzas at the apartment and settled in to watch the game on their projector. We watched the whole game, which was an absolute nailbiter, going down to a kick after the siren to win the game. After the game finished we decided to watch the second half of the Port vs. Sydney game, also from earlier that day. It wasn't quite as close, but still a good quality game of footy. The Dutch guys found it great to be able to turn to me and ask me to analyse every decision the umpires made. By the way, they seemed to think I went alright today.

Eventually I decided to make my way home. Conveniently, there was a cross-town bus that left from a stop very close to the apartment just after midnight. It was only a 20-minute trip back to the apartment where I was staying.

Tomorrow we will leave Amsterdam and embark on a two-day trip from Amsterdam to Avranches, on the coast of Normandy in France. From there we'll explore some of the northern French coastline. Internet in Avranches will be spotty, so blogs might be a bit sporadic. Until next time!

Seaside and windmills

Despite a rather dreary start to the day, we managed to get to both of our to-do items today: the seaside village of Volendam and the windmill park, Zaanse Schans.

These two had so many nice pictures that I created one Flickr set for each of them:

Volendam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157646087399977/
Zaanse Schans: https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157646088010267/

First up was Volendam. It was pretty miserable for most of the drive, but luckily it cleared up just a fraction, enough for it to stop raining for a while, and for a small amount of blue sky to break out of the clouds. After parking a way from the centre of town, we walked it to the centre of town, which was basically the waterfront. Volendam looks out on a harbour, and there are plenty of restaurants and knick-knack stores to browse:

Volendam's waterfront

One notable stop was the Volendam Cheese Factory. They've been producing cheese there since the year dot, and are still producing it by the truck-full today:

The cheese factory

We went a fair way down the harbour before turning inland a few blocks and walking back along the canals of the village. There were way less tourists further in, which resulted in a subsequent decrease in shopfronts and an increase in local charm:

The back blocks of Volendam

Walking back to the car took us along pretty much the same route. From the car we headed across to Zaanse Schans, which is a park containing 6 windmills that have been moved from their original sites. Each still performs its original function, like processing wheat:

Windmills of Zaanse Schans

There are also heaps of other smaller old buildings in the area, including clog- (wooden shoe) making workshops, chocolate factories and even private residences built along the teeny tiny canals:

The smaller buildings of Zaanse Schans

We successfully killed a few hours there before heading back to the apartment. Tomorrow will be an adventure, as I'm due to do some umpiring for the Dutch AFL association. See you then!

Sometimes sunny Amsterdam

Today was my fourth day in Amsterdam, but only day two for mum, who had devised a schedule to follow with one of our friends.

I've substantially bulked up my Amsterdam Flickr set:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645850119538/

First up was a tram ride from the apartment to a chocolaterie/bakerie in the inner west. There we had some seriously evil-looking chocolate cakes before walking into the city proper, and the Dam Palace, which has had many purposes after starting life as Amsterdam's City Hall. Inside were many beautifully preserved hallways and rooms:

Dam Palace

We wandered around for a couple of hours before I was abandoned in Dam Square, directly outside the palace - my mum and our friend left to take the tram home. Time for me to do some wandering!

I went almost all the way up to the Amstel, before heading back down almost in a straight line, steering clear of De Wallen (the red light district). By this stage the sun was starting to come out and the white clouds were starting to dissipate - damn good photography conditions, compared to what it's been like!

Amsterdam's canals in the sunlight

I eventually made it back to the apartment, having walked just over 12 kilometres, at around 6. After having some salmon for dinner, we decided that we would head back out to Vondelpark after dinner, get dropped there and walk back home from there. Vondelpark is another park in the style of Berlin's Tierpark - a lot of trees and paths. Vondelpark however has more open spaces and is more of a place for locals to go to. There are also some tourist drawcards, including a couple of strange art installations:

Vondelpark in the evening

By the time we walked back down Ferdinand Bolstraat, the main road near the apartment, it was well and truly. I managed to grab a couple of shots that turned out OK:

Amsterdam's outskirts in the dark

Tomorrow we'll extend our reach a little, going on a driving trip out to the north, visiting a couple of touristy hotspots. Until then!

A petite drive and walk (Hi Mum!)

Today was another day in Amsterdam. Mum's flight arrived really early, so we left to pick her up at about 7. Getting closer to the airport, I saw an MD-11 from KLM - one of only three passenger versions left in existence! They're being retired in about 3 months, so it was great to see one before they left.

You can catch my first photos from Amsterdam at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645850119538/

After picking mum up, which we tried to make as quick as possible because parking was €5 or €10 per hour (!), we headed back to Amstelkade. Mum unpacked all her crap, which made her room look like a bomb had gone off (and she calls ME untidy!), and we headed off to Breukelen (prounounced Broke-len). It's a town south of Amsterdam that is known for having busy streets, busy canals and stunning architecture.

The architecture was duly amazing, and the canals were really busy. The results were some nice photos all around, mostly without boats but a good mix of photos that also had boats. There were lots of bridges that raise up when boats need to go through, causing big banks of traffic waiting to cross the bridges:

The canals of Breukelen

It should be noted that the weather was quite gloomy - lots of my photos were washed out from light-coloured clouds everywhere.

After driving down the motorway to get there, we headed back through the back streets, coming across a lovely small town by the name of Loenen aan de Vecht. It's not on the water as much, but has a church and some nice scenery:

Loenen aan de Vecht

We arrived back in Amsterdam mid-afternoon, and decided to head out for a walk and to pick up supplies at the same time. We went through Albert Cuypmarkt, a market selling food and drink, clothing, and other accessories, which runs every day on Albert Cuypstraat. On the way back, we stopped at Sarphatipark, which is a really nice small park just north of where we are staying:

Sarphatipark

After a bit of a cruise, we headed to a local supermarket and bought some stuff, and came out to rain that had set in while we were undercover. So we walked quickly back to the apartment and did nothing for the rest of the day.

Favourites from the rest of Amsterdam

Tomorrow we hope to go for a bigger wander through the centre of Amsterdam. See you then!