Adding a splash of awesome: Amsterdam

On Monday on our way back from Luxembourg we had a few hours in Amsterdam to explore. The reason for this was that with flights we either got a 1 hour gap between flights or a 9 hour one, so obviously went with the longer one as 1 hour is pushing it for getting off one flight, through security and to the next one. Due to stupid adverse weather conditions the flight out was delayed so our 9 hours was down to less by the time we finally got there. Still we managed to get out to explore for a few hours.

Must admit we did not really like Amsterdam, can't really say why just didn't really like it and it had a bad vibe. The canals were quite cool though and there were some cool old buildings. Did love that while we were trying to find one such cool old building (a church that we could see in the distance) we managed to find ourselves in the middle of the red light district with the ladies standing in front of windows wearing not much while advertising themselves. I found this rather weird and a little disturbing, like putting people on sale which I spose in a way they actually were. Best part was that when we did found the church there was a chocolate shop in the church and they sold gluten free nougat which I bought 2 of even though it was overpriced (in my opinion) and then proceeded to inhale it as it was pretty good and I was very hungry.

We then did a canal boat tour which was rather cold but also quite nice, and my ankle definitely appreciated the rest. It was nice to have a bit of the history of the city as well as seeing some of the cool old buildings from a different angle. After the canal tour we went back to the airport as I was hungry and figured that atlst at the airport, being an international place and all, they would have gluten free food for me (the rest of Amsterdam, where I asked anyhow, didn't do gluten free), and they kinda did. I ended up eating at Starbucks after asking around everywhere and being told 'no we don't, try over there', figured I could atlst fill up on a massive cup of coffee. They managed to do something for me which was nice, it wasn't a big meal but it was food :)

We then checked out the shops and found the Johnny Walker House and they have an exclusive collection which had bottles with the willow pattern on it, thought of buying a bottle for mum to go with her cups and saucer set but then realised I could not afford it and knowing me I would break it before it got to her so wasn't worth the risk hehe. They did look cool though :)

We then decided to check the departures board to see where our departure gate was in case we had a long walk, and it turns out it didn't matter how far we had to walk as the flight had been delayed. I was not impressed, we were meant to fly out at 9.10pm and the flight was delayed till 11pm, then it was delayed again, and then again. Again due to adverse weather conditions though it didn't seem adverse or even bad when I was out. Turns out they were down to one runway as the other one had to be closed for some reason due to bad weather the other day or something like that. We ended up leaving just before midnight.

I am beginning to think I need a new travel buddy as Missie is not always the best person to travel with. She sleeps through security, ever since she figured out she wasn't required to do anything, only sit there and go through the scanner once I finally made it to the front of the line. She is also useless company when flights are delayed as she naps most of the time. I just get really bored, as you might notice from the photos below. We ended up making it back to the flat just after 1.30am and were so hungry that we had warm bread (waiting for it to turn into toast was taking too long lol). Have also decided that my next holiday is going to be somewhere that is gluten free friendly, so will be researching that instead of just what there is to see.

Amsterdam train station