Amsterdam

Amsterdam was great! We had a long weekend with family, stayed on David's dad's barge in the centre of the city and mooched around. Once again, we were charmed by the city's beautiful, individual architecture and inspired by the lack of health and safety! Highlights included a little parade of foodie shops (corner of utrechtsestraat and prinsengracht), Rijksmuseum (go early and avoid the queues, or buy tickets online / at the tourist office and join the 'fast entry' queue), having a drink here and there around the city and watching the Dutch world go by.

We moved the barge out of the city to Kudelstat (near Aalsmeer) where it is normally moored; this involved the usual adventure (!) but we arrived safely in time for our meal at 'The Old Boot'. The latter is a tiny, homely restaurant serving great food at reasonable prices and without any english translations on the menu - refreshingly not catering to the otherwise ubiquitous english tourists. All very welcome! We ate and drank our fill (dishes included beef stew with Guinness, Lamb satay, a trio of mushrooms) and walked back to our barge. Hector slept soundly throughout!

On Monday morning, we left the rest of the party and went into Aalsmeer (most famous as the home to the Dutch flower auction) to have a coffee and to catch the bus to the airport. Having bought some delicious cheese (1 year old goat's cheese and another local aged cow's milk gouda) in de Osdorper cheese shop (Zijdstraat), we headed for ab Muller bakery. Quite the spot to while away a bit of time, admire the Dutch pastries (almond cakes require more than admiration!) and wait for the bus. 198 and 188 take you directly to Schipol and go four times an hour.

The Dutch were unerringly kind, helpful and good-humoured!

PS We have identified a suitable bike carrier for Hector - a 'bobike mini+' - it dominates the streets of Amsterdam and not a cycle helmet in sight!

PPS Supper tonight was an old staple, roast peppers stuffed with lamb (serves 2):
halve two peppers (red, yellow or orange best but green will do), remove the seeds and pop them in a 200 degree oven for 15 minutes whilst you make the lamb stuffing. Fry a red onion with a clove or two of garlic depending on your predilection for garlic. When the onion is cooked add 250gms lamb mince, 1 tin of tomatoes, a glug of tomato ketchup, a few drops of soya sauce and about the same amount of Worcestershire sauce. If you have some red wine open, I'd add a couple of glugs of that. Let all that bubble away on a reasonably high heat until all the liquid has been absorbed by the lamb and it has caramelised (should take about 15 minutes). Stuff the peppers with the lamb and bake in the oven for another 15 minutes at 175 degrees until the lamb is crispy and the peppers really soft and sweet. Eat with a big green salad and a hunk of bread. The minced lamb can be used in all sorts of ways: tomatoey shepherd's pie, sauce for pasta, stuffing for lasagne / canneloni, on its own as a kind of mince-stew (!) and the list could go on!