Amsterdam

London was as good as ever. For our last day there we thought we would go see Marina Abramović do one of her installations. There was quite a queue outside so rather than take a chance we asked a couple who had waited, and visited, their impression. They gave us an earful. Apparently the deal started with a warning that you couldn't take anything into the show with you, and you couldn't leave until your tour was over. Once you got inside they put noise cancelling headphones on everyone and everyone (including the artist) stood there without moving or making any noise until they told you it was over.  That was it.

We didn't wait in line.

From there we Boris biked straight down to Sloan Square and the Chelsea Market. Guess what we saw:

Yup! Chelsea pensioners! My life is complete, the world now makes sense.

We also saw a world I can only dream of. Expensive cars (BD9s everywhere, the odd Ferrari and Lambo making lots of noise), fabulous food and perfectly dressed people. We fit right in.

Magic shoes!

Enough of London, that evening we caught the train out of Liverpool Street for Harwich and our ride to the Hook of Holland. We had booked the overnight ferry (one less room to rent) and the trains. We left London at 1800 and got into Amsterdam at noon the next day, well rested and piqued with curiosity looking for fun.

Our crib in Amsterdam was another great Airbnb find. It was a very modern one bedroom flat in the Science Park, just outside the center of the city. It was a ten minute bus ride into Centraal Station or about 20 minutes by bike. The flat came with two omafiets (grandma bikes), the classic Dutch bicycle. Woohoo!

Just after arriving we rode away from town to get the feel of the bikes, and bike paths, and we had a fabulous time. We discovered an old war ruin that had been turned into an outdoor club and they had a cuban jazz band playing. Of course we stopped and sampled the wine on offer. 

The next day was dedicated to finding, and eating, at our favourite restaurant from our previous visit (boring I know, also a good opportunity for the god of anticipointment to rear his ugly head). The place is called Kantjil, which is Dutch for tiger, and that is all we could remember - "tiger". Nevertheless, we found it and sat down to a traditional Indonesian rijsttafel (rice table). It was deelish! No disappointment there, just fine spicey food. The best part is the wierd combination of peanut butter, sambal and pickled cucumber. Nothing but good! The restaurant was celebrating its 25th anniversary!

Amsterdam, of course there were bikes everywhere. In case you didn't notice, I love bikes. Here are a few interesting ones I saw:

Complete wooden bike.

Van Moof with pink tires. The front and rear light are built into the top tube. They ship to Canada for free!

How not to lock your bike. I'm guessing there was another bike nearby with no front wheel.

Amsterdam was fun!