Our last minute decision to visit Amsterdam was on account of Scott’s friend, Selenka, being in the Netherlands. Michele and Teresa had been here before and we all jumped at the chance to show Irene this beautiful and unique city.

The 4 1/2 hour drive was mostly in the rain but we were lucky enough to drive through a section of Germany that was dusted with snow. Irene was happy that she finally got to see this. Another great surprise was finding a Marchè on the side of the road. This is a roadhouse that Scott, Michele and Teresa had previously enjoyed in Slovenia, which specialised in freshly prepared food of all kinds…a far cry from the fast food stops we get in Australia. We all purchased pretzels with ham and cheese and washed it down with coffee.

Once back on the autobahn Irene and Teresa watched the countryside flash by from the back seat as Scott reached speeds of just over 200kms an hour in our Audi station wagon. We reached Amsterdam just after midday but it took us another hour to get to our hotel on account of the heavy holiday traffic. The Ambassade hotel is situated right on the Herengracht canal amongst the beautiful old traditional buildings of Amsterdam. The city was just as beautiful as we remembered. We checked into our hotel rooms, Irene and Michele in one and Scott and Teresa in another. The rooms were beautifully appointed with luxurious furnishings and accessories.

It was time to find some refreshments and we explored the streets until we found a little cafe that was not too touristy. Here, up a very steep and narrow set of steps, we enjoyed nachos, tomato soup and a club sandwich washed down with beer, prosecco and coffee. The weather was very drizzly and the darkness had begun to set in. There were still a lot of Christmas lights decorating the crowded streets and residences, which added to the atmosphere.

Selenka and her hubby, Dan, were due to meet us at around 5pm so we found a bar to wait for them in and ordered a round of gluhwein and amaretto shots. The bar was situated in a cosy little alcove with heaters and blankets that kept the cold at bay. Selenka and Dan joined us after a short while and we moved on to dinner. Dan had booked us into a traditional Dutch restaurant and when we arrived we were grateful because there was a line of people wanting tables. Despite being very busy, the service at the Haesje Claes was fast and our Venezuelan waitress was friendly and hilarious. Michele, Scott and Teresa chose a traditional Dutch dish, hutspot, which was sauerkraut in mashed potatoes and carrot, served with sausage, bacon and a meatball. Irene ordered a beef steak with bernaise sauce and Selenka had boiled mussels in broth. Dessert was apple pie and cinnamon ice cream with raisins in egg liqueur.

We said our goodbyes after dinner and Michele, Irene, Scott and Teresa retreated to the hotel bar for a last drink. Here we were met with a very cheeky barman called Jelmer. We have noticed that the Dutch enjoy the same sarcastic sense of humour as us and we enjoyed the banter. We managed to stay up the latest yet in our holiday, but by around 10:30pm bed was calling. Goede nacht!