Six weeks went way too fast!
We had heavy hearts about our journey coming to an end, and we weren't ready to hang up the wanderlust yet.
As we had flown in to Amsterdam, it was from there that we would fly home again, so that was the next and last place to explore.
We wanted to visit Anne Frank's house. We hadn't anticipated a queue that lapped itself around a block.
On limited time, I contented myself with a photo of the line instead,
and a cruise on the canals,
Love this!
which was pretty cool.
My heart danced with my taste buds a little when we were on the hunt for dinner and I came across a fondue restaurant. I love fondue, so I was always on the lookout for it, I just didn't expect to find it in Amsterdam.
Crignon was a cosy place and we ate upstairs (how the wait-staff negotiate the steep and narrow staircase, I have no idea).
The fondue was delicious, and so was the wine.
Aaaah. There's nothing like an evening stroll after dinner, and there was nothing like this one, ever, as far as the kids were concerned.
Without looking for it, we found ourselves surrounded in marijuana and ladies in doorways. Poor Ev practically had to shield his peripheral eye-line as we walked down that road – I'm pretty sure he would have preferred the ground to swallow him up!
Admittedly it is an unusual attraction for a family holiday, but travel is about broadening the horizons.
I made another awesome hotel choice with the Volks Hotel. It was a little out of the central ring (three subway stops) but I preferred being away from all of the tourists anyway.
The ex Volks newspaper headquarters had only recently opened as a hotel. Marketed as "a place for single moms. For stockbrokers and punk rockers. For dandies and poets. Dishwashers and underwater welders. For biologists, night bloomers and artists. A place for everyone.", it was really cool.
The lobby, bars, dining and rooftop are all great social spots, with funky design everywhere you look.
The rooms are quirky, and while some points are great – heaps of storage space and the loft in the quad room, and fabulous big windows,
Some are not for everyone – the clear glass that divides the shower and toilet from the main room in the double (I'm not prudish at all and still thought it was a tough call), and a bit of thump thump on the 6th floor from the nightclub on the 7th.
The beds are comfortable, though our sheets were a little scratchy (felt like only about 25 thread count), and the breakfast was pretty yummy with bacon and pancakes as well as the usual cereal and bread fare.
They seemed to be ironing out a few other kinks while they were still building, and as it's a little off-centre I just accept the fact you can see the men's urinal from the rooftop hot-tub/sauna area (even if it's just weird).
Having said all of that, it is good value for what you get, and if you want somewhere that is not a standard hotel motel, then Volks is it.
We headed to Schipol airport………
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