Watch Amsterdam Live on Webcam

I should have posted this evening, but I have been watching TV  (very lazy I know)
I started thinking about TV in Amsterdam......one thing lead to another.........and I found this....
This is a link to a live webcam from Amsterdam WITH AUDIO!

http://wwitv.com/tv_channels/8154.htm

This actually makes me feel old. I remember 1999; the internet cafe next to my work got a webcam (very new and exciting) . It took one picture every 2 minutes......I would stand outside with a little sign that said 'hello mum' and one time my family at home logged onto their 'dial-up internet' to see me.
GREAT EXCITEMENT

Now, I can sit in bed and watch live streaming from an Amsterdam street and listen to the people.
Fabulous

Parking your Bike in Holland Video

This is a great video from Holland; showing a fantastic bike parking facility compared to one that's not quite so user friendly!!

Enjoy!

Monday Morning Rush Hour Amsterdam

Monday morning around the world; rush hour on the way to work normally makes the start of the week that little bit more annoying.....

I live on a tiny Island, not many people, not many cars. BUT everyone takes the same route into the one big town at 8am, so we too have a rush hour.

In light of every increasing environmental concerns, governments are trying to implement 'Bike Culture' on a global scale in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Amsterdam is a leader in this field..............fabulous.... or so I thought

I came across a really interesting article here http://thisbigcity.net/too-many-bicycles-amsterdam-problem/ which talks about the number of abandoned bikes in the city. Apparently, there are 1 million bikes in Amsterdam....compared to 750,000 people.

The problem is 15% of bikes parked outside are unused and this leads to great removal costs to the government. When I think about it, it's quite a predictable or logical problem. But given that most of those 'ghost bikes' are left within the city centre... I can understand the frustration of people trying to tether their bikes in the few available spaces.

......I wonder if 'bike road rage' exists'?

Saturday Night - Escape Club

Saturday night, time for a dance; as I'm still stuck on my Island, why not spend 5 minutes being really jealous of all the young fashionable people who will be going to Escape Club tonight.

I'm figuring out that most clubs in Amsterdam - certainly the big dance clubs - run events from 11.00pm until 5.00am. Given that by 11.00pm, I've usually had about an hours sleep....and by 5.00am I'm often up taking the dog for a wee in the garden....this is not really in keeping with my current lifestyle.

However, that's down to circumstance (being on the Isle of Man) and necessity (puppies need the toilet)

I can't wait to get over there; put on some fancy dancing clothes; launch myself onto a podium; let the music move me for a good 30 minutes; and then probably head home in search of my culturally ingrained obligatory burger (with fried onions and cheese)

..........you can take the girl out of Belfast.......

Friday Night Amsterdam - T.Raumschmiere PARADISO

Friday night in Amsterdam.................where to go??

T. Raumschmiere is playing tonight in Club Paradiso.........

Searching for this tonight actually lead me to a fabulous website called residentadvisor.net

They have really extensive listings for music events, DJ's, club nights and tickets; well worth keeping an eye on when planning your weekends

Flights to Amsterdam

I will be travelling from Liverpool to Amsterdam. You can also fly from several major airports in the UK to Amsterdam Schipol airport.

The following airlines have regular departures to Amsterdam

Easyjet; from Liverpool or Manchester from £60 return

British Airways: from London from £94 return

Flybe: from Manchester from £200 return

Cityjet: from London from £120 return

KLM: from Liverpool from £80 return

This is just a sparse selection and the above is a rough cost guide however prices vary greatly depending on:

1) how far in advance you book

2) which days you travel on (for example flying Friday evening is usually more expensive as this is a popular time with business people returning home for the weekend)

3) which time of day you travel

4) flying over a holiday, such as Easter, normally results in higher prices sooner as seats get booked up quickly

Getting from the Isle of Man by Boat

As with many services on the Isle of Man, the boat company has a monopoly; as in, there is only one to choose from.

I often think this sort of simplifies life; we do not have 100 competitor energy providers or 20 different internet companies. What we have is what you get. Whichever service you use will have the word 'Manx' in the company title and it will be twice as expensive as the mainland. Deal with it.

Although it is a national pass-time to complain about this situation, I think we often do so unfairly. Take the Isle of Man Steampacket for example, the boat company. Yes, the cooked breakfast could be cheaper; yes the tickets could be less expensive sometimes...... personally I think it's great value and great fun.

The boats travel between the Island and Liverpool year round; with sailing times of 2.5 hours (up to 4 hours in winter when a larger ferry has to be used)

They also sail to Belfast and Dublin between March and September. The rest of the year there is not the demand for a sailing service; plus the tides and weather are such, that more sailings would be cancelled than completed. On a nice day, the journey from Belfast to the Island is like a pleasure cruise. The route hugs the beautiful Manx coastline, an added site-seeing bonus while getting from A to B.

One option we are looking at is taking the boat from the Isle of Man to Liverpool, leaving at 8.00am arriving at 12.00pm; £22.50 each ......I don't think we'll find much better than that.

From there we will connect with flights to Amsterdam from Liverpool.

The Price of Leaving the Isle of Man

In Ireland we have a traditional song called 'It's A Long Way to Tipperary'.

You'll find very few Irish people actually know the words to this rhyme; about a wearisome and endless journey home. But you will often here it in bursts of drunken enthusiasm at airports and ferry terminals - cue the '20 strong stag party' in the corner, downing pints of Stella at 8.00am

Living on the Isle of Man 'anywhere' sometimes seems a long way from 'anywhere else'.

You see, whilst we are at the 'Gateway to Europe'.......there is that little stretch of water in between our tiny Isle and Mainland UK. Getting off the Island often costs just as much if not more than the flight from Liverpool or Manchester or Dublin to your European destination.

So for UK residents the special offers of '£80 return Liverpool to Rome'..... a little Manx person will pay double that price.

And we're all very bitter about it....At the same time we all pay much less tax, have virtually no crime, and will often be heard muttering 'thank goodness to get back to fresh air' on touchdown at Ronaldsway airport

Unless I plan to swim to the mainland, an additional flight or boat will be needed so here's my Options; boat or plane?

Dutch Band - Rats on Rafts - Lalalala

I don't know a great deal yet about the Dutch music scene, but these guys are growing in popularity and were featured on BBC6 Music on 18th January this year.

I like them; they are a little bit The Automatic / The Jam / The Clash..... see what you think

They are touring Europe at the moment promoting their album 'The Moon Is Big' and will be playing in Rotterdam tomorrow, Thursday 26th January, at the Rotown.

There is a link to the band's website in the title

Weather in Amsterdam....

Complaining about the weather is a world-famous British past time.

We complain when it's cold and wet; which is most of the time. We complain when it's too sunny and we're banned from watering our plants. We complain about an inch of snow, gusts of wind, patches of fog and the glorious 'well I guess that was our one day of summer' British summer.

For me personally, as a white blonde haired Irish person, I love the British Isles weather.

The thing is; you know what you're going to get. We don't experience drastic fluctuations between sub-zero winters and boiling hot summers. We don't (generally) have to put snow chains on tyres... or crank up the air-conditioning. In fact, home air conditioning is really very uncommon in Britain.

The joyous British weather plods along nicely throughout the year. Plenty of rain, little bit of sunshine, with temperatures on average between 2 degrees and 22 degrees (with the odd economy halting snow flurry).

I'm delighted to report that the weather in Amsterdam doesn't appear to be too far removed from my natural habitat.

I found this handy little graph on Amsterdam Advisor.com (link in title) showing the temperature and rainfall patterns of Amsterdam.

With an average maximum of about 22 Degrees in the summer and a minimum of Zero in winter, I think I could adapt quite nicely.

Now I know there are exceptions; I know that canals can freeze and rivers can dry up. But for me, it's comforting to find a weather graph that doesn't make me feel nauseous whilst looking at a 'continuous 3 month summer period of over 40 degrees daily'........as per Alice Springs in Australia.

People always ask me 'if you hate the sun so much, how on earth did you live in Australia for over a year?' ....simple. Venture out only at night and on the rare occasions you do creep during the day time; factor 50 sunscreen, hat and full length sleeves.

Can I Speak Dutch?.......

Let me start this post by explaining the roller coaster of emotions I feel when I 'attempt to tackle' a language.

First, great excitement and enthusiasm. Followed by feverish learning.

Followed by total incapability and stupidity. Followed by defeat.

Resentment. Determination.

Enthusiastic anger (development there on the initial general 'enthusiasm').

I shall not be beaten and will learn this if it kills me

.....and finally I end up with a general 'get by' passable level of 'speakability'...... although obviously my English still leaves a lot to be desired.

I had been aware of Babbel as an on-line translation tool from before I went to Paris. In recent years they have developed very thorough interactive language courses in numerous languages. I subscribed to the French course (I have been intermittently learning French since school, but have always been missing some basic rules that I KNEW would bring some things together for me)

The French course is really superb. The whole set up is very easy to use; with an audio and typing learning system, you take yourself through the logically set up courses. Starting off with basic vocabulary, they build lessons on a common sense 'what do you need to know next for this to make sense' approach.

Sentence forming rules; tenses; gender..... all the particular oddities of a certain language that, once you know the form, you can apply and develop as you build your vocabulary. I would highly recommend it....

Great. Apart from the Dutch.

I only became aware of this very recently..........Dutch is not a very popular language.

Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that French and Spanish are spoken in many countries around the world, and therefore their 'Learning Demand' would far out-weigh Dutch or Swedish.

But Dutch really is not widely taught and as a result I've struggled to find an all-encompasing on line course. I did sign up to Babbel.....and it has been very good. But for Dutch they have vocabulary only lessons. Which means, I currently have a Dutch vocabulary of 300 words.

But I have no idea how to form a sentence..........

100 Year Chinese Celebrations Nieuwmarkt Amsterdam

This is a really super video up loaded last year in July 2011. There were celebrations to mark 100 years since the arrival of Chinese immigrants in the Netherlands.

The Lion Dance symbolizes happiness, prosperity, agility and endurance; fitting for an acknowledgement of past generations.

The first immigrants in 1911 were employed as ship workers in the Port of Amsterdam; by all accounts a difficult and poorly paid life. It's hard to believe it was only 100 years ago; since then the Chinatown area has grown and thrived with the first restaurant opening in the 1920's

Happy Chinese New Year! 2012 Year of the Dragon

Chinese New Year; let's talk about China Town.....and more importantly Chinese Food!!!

You see, in my little brain there is ALWAYS a connection to food.....and always a good reason to celebrate all things cullinery....ESPECIALLY on a fabulous occasion such as the Chinese New Year, what better excuse to dive into some traditional fayre.

Chinatown in Amsterdam is in the Nieuwmarkt area, to the right of the Red Light District, which has a number of authentic, inexpensive Chinese restaurants.

Nam Kee Restaurants (link click on title) are award winning with extensive menus. There are actually two, Took Kee in China Town and Kee Took in Nieuwmarkt.

To be polite, I really should visit both.

And try everything

The Golden Chopsticks serves traditional Hong Kong / Cantonese style food and is open 7 days a week from 11.30 am until 1.00am in the morning (!!!)

5 minutes from Dam Square, this looks so good and has some great reviews

www.goldenchopsticks.nl

My Little Manx / British / Irish Passport

So this is confusing. I am from Belfast. I have lived on the Isle of Man since 1999. I have a Manx Passport; which looks like a British passport; which IS a British passport, but the Manx ones are the only editions that say Isle of Man on the front.

As I was born in Belfast, I could also have an Irish passport if I wanted, but that would just be over the top and fiddly.

So here's my issue. A couple of years ago I went to New York. Flew from here to Belfast, to Newark, queued through Immigration, filled in forms, had pictures taken, was verified through....after 5 days in New York we did the same thing again on the homeward journey.

Until I got to Belfast.

I must point out that upon landing in Belfast, we hadn't slept for over 24 hours, Andrew was partially in pain and fully drunk from self-medicating a chronic tooth ache that took off on take off........and I was becoming mildly delirious.

The lady at the Belfast desk, checking everyone who landed pulled me up about my passport (?)

Apparently, "it's gotten a bit damp at some point", and there was a little water mark around one of the edges. She spent the next ten minutes explaining to me in several different ways why I should have it looked at because it might cause problems if I were to go through another border check point; "it can be a sign of tampering".

How Andrew didn't pass out or throw up during this very llloooooong ten minutes is beyond me.

Problem is to get a new one issued costs £78.00......£78.00!! and I can't really see anything wrong with it, nor did anyone else I passed it through. So I asked my good friend, whose partner is German but lives in England IF she has to use her passport to go back and forth within Europe.

He said NO, she just uses her ID card. We're all EU. Having looked into this TECHNICALLY he's right. We don't need a verified or current passport to travel between here and Europe, we just need valid Photo ID.

But having looked into the matter further, I've realized the only OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED form of Valid Photo ID if you are from the UK is..........a valid passport.

So; do I spend £78.00 getting a new shiny passport while my current one is still valid and no one but 'hawk eye' in Belfast has ever had a problem with it...... OR do I risk my current one and back it up with a driving licence...and risk the wrath of Dutch Immigration...

....it's not like I look like trouble................(?)

House Music Saturday Night in Amsterdam

Saturday night in Amsterdam; there are a 1000 things to do, but while I'm still sitting on my tiny Island, I'm dreaming about another good Dutch Club Night. Tonight, Saturday 21st January at STUDIO 80, this guy is playing - SUBB-AN

He's actually a British House Music DJ, and tonight he is supported by Sebo K from Berlin and a selection of Dutch DJ's.

€13 entry, until 5 o'clock in the morning (5 in the morning!!?!) Rembrandtplein 17

Dutch Custard!!

Started thinking about the first time I ever visited Holland.....when I was 7 years old.

Given that it was such a long time ago (*cough* 26 years *cough*) I have a very limited but very specific bank of memories from that trip. I went with my mum to visit her friend Willie (who was a girl). Willie had a daughter aged 11 who loved horses. They lived beside a little park that had swings. They had bunkbeds.

....and during the entire holiday I lived on this custard. Custard and home-made spaghetti and tomato sauce meatballs, to be specific.

Still to this day, I've never had the urge to put kiwi fruit in my custard...............or VLA in the Dutch language.

Also still to this day, I cannot open a carton of VLA and not finish the entire thing.

Without sharing.

Food on a Friday Night Amsterdam...or Indian style?

Food on a Friday night in the UK for 1000's of people means an Indian take-away. Chicken Tikka Masala was voted the Number 1 Favourite British Dish in 2009.

The standards in the UK are pretty high. Indian culture is now a hugely influential part of British society; not least of those influences flourish in the many high quality restaurants found everywhere.

So, in a funny way, a little bit of home from home for me would be an evening in a really good Indian restaurant (says the white Irish girl who lives on a rock in the Irish sea)...but you understand.

This is the Balraj Indian Restaurant, Haarlemerdijk. This place has been serving quality Indian food for the past 30 years; and by all accounts you can eat well for a reasonable budget.....Chicken Tikka Masala for €14.25..... happy days!

Now I'm hungry....

Friday Night In Amsterdam...Sugar Factory

Thinking about what there is to do on a Friday night in Amsterdam. I've heard really good things about this place. It's actually right across the road from Melkweg that I talked about on the post below (which translates as Milky Way.......fact)

What I like about the look of clubs in Amsterdam, is the same as what I loved about clubs in Paris. The girls.

No, not like that. In Britain over past few years (....this is where I start to sound really old) girls have conformed more and more to what has been termed 'Stripper Chic'. We've all seen it, most of us have done it. 6 inch high heels, 2 inch skirt, big hair, piles of make-up and gallons of booze.

There is an atmosphere in the clubs and night-life streets of Britain; and it's not a pleasant one. It's tense, it looks seedy and there is often trouble.

In Europe, clubbing and night life in general is not based around drinking. It's much more about having a casual good time, being with friends and having a dance. Which is why you find most women dressed in attractive but comfortable clothes; jeans and a top. A dress they wore out shopping or to work.

There isn't the same pressure or expectation that British clubbing has where the girls, on mass, dress like they are on a mission to earn a few quid. This is not a judgement; people should be able to wear whatever they wish. These Stripper Chic girls (before the booze kicks in) do look amazing.

But I'm of a lazy disposition....... it's too much effort......and if your look doesn't fit in, you don't fit in and you feel uncomfortable. So I'm looking forward to the clubs in Amsterdam where I can just go and concentrate on what is important................. dancing really badly.

Try this for EXAMPLE......

OK I'm sorry, that was a terrible title.

But THIS is great! ............sorry, pretty naff again

I've found a website for the Melkweg Club, which has extensive listings for scheduled theater shows, cinema screenings, music concerts and gigs.

I put in a search for events around the time we will be in Amsterdam, and I'm really excited that EXAMPLE will be playing in the Max Room (apparently)....tickets only €14.00 instead of £25 - £30 for his shows in the UK.

Brilliant. We actually saw him play at a festival in 2010 when he was just starting to become popular. He played in a small marque with about 50 people max, rapping and singing over dance and dubstep anthems. It was fantastic and I've been a fan ever since.

This has reminded me of shows I saw in Paris. Artists who are hugely successful in the UK or elsewhere, won't necessarily be as popular in Europe, but they'll often tour Paris and Amsterdam because it's so close. While I was in Paris I saw Dizzy Rascal in a small venue with 200 capacity for €12.00, right at the time when he was headlining UK festivals and selling out arenas. It was great to be right at the front (and practically the only person who knew all the words)

Another one I saw was Busta Rhymes, again only about 200 people in the crowd; the place was absolutely bouncing from start to finish.

So it's definitely worth going through up-coming events and scanning the local artists and shows; your favourite performer might just turn up in a small venue round the corner on a Monday night!

Cookery Class in Amsterdam

So now we've found somewhere to stay and we know when we're going, I need to organise getting there. But to be honest, that's a quick flight that I'll book in a while.

I'm going to spend the next few weeks look into some of the activities I can do in Amsterdam and FOOD is top of my list. You might think I'm being grammatically lazy by just saying 'I want to DO FOOD'...........but I literally mean everything I can explore relating to food; restaurants, cafes, markets, tasting events and, the thing I am most excited about; a cookery class.

I must point out that a good number of the things I want to do in Amsterdam are not going to be particular to the Dutch Capital....not everything's going to be 'must visit 4 windmills and the Van Gough museum'.

But for the last 12 years I've spent most of my time on a small Island, where a trip to the local supermarket constitutes a day out, so forgive me if I seem overly excited about some very common place activities!

Having done a bit of research, there seems to a good number and variety of courses to choose from, covering everything from Italian cooking to chocolate making.

I've found one called Kook Studio Amsterdam (link attached) You can get 5 lessons for about £300, which covers fish, meat, vegetables and pastry. It's got great reviews, and I'm sure it would be very thorough....but it's quite expensive so I think I'll keep a look out for a day course, or one that focuses on just one 'area'.... I'll keep you posted.

....January Sales?.....BARGAIN of the year already

Since we first talked about going to Amsterdam, I've been looking around the Airbnb site to get an idea of what kind of apartment we could consider. There is also Wimdu, which is a similar site........ almost identical in set-up and search style, but Airbnb seems to have a larger host base.

I have only been to Amsterdam twice; once 10 years ago doing the tourist thing and once when I was 7 (doing the playground and eating custard thing.....that sticks in my memory for some reason)

If you click on the post title, it will link you to the Wimdu site if you want to have a look.

We want something really central, so we can explore all day and then collapse at 'home' without worrying about public transport. Ideally, I don't want somewhere on the ground floor..........

We need the internet; a working kitchen (pretty much a standard in most places) and ideally 2 bedrooms so we can get some sleep separately or have someone visit.

(Snoring........that's all I'm saying)

The above search specifics brought me up a good selection of places, all for around £1500 per month upwards. Then one evening last week I was doing my usual search to see if anything else had been listed.

These sites often have places that are available year-round; 2nd homes, properties 'Bought to Rent' or someone who owns and lives in a building, who also has a couple of separate available apartments within.

Many people also list their apartments to rent to cover periods when they themselves are on holiday. I've found somewhere absolutely perfect. The host is going to Asia in March for 5 weeks and ideally wanted to find someone to stay in their apartment for the whole time.

As this is a very specific time bracket, he listed a 'special price offer' ...at 50% of the usual rate .........better to have guests for 5 weeks for less than you would usually charge for that time period, than no guest at all.

We made contact...he accepted our lovely faces as decent people.......and we've booked it.....!!

£700 for 34 nights......... now, you won't find much better than that! That works out at £20 per night for the 2 of us, right in the heart of Amsterdan, 2 bedrooms, internet, all the facilities we could need and of course, all bills such as electricity and heating covered.

If you take some time to really explore these rental sites and keep a careful watch for new listings and special offers, you really can find somewhere superb and save a fortune.

NOW I'M EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

Finding an apartment in Amsterdam......... Airbnb.....?

So I discovered Airbnb last year when I was looking for an apartment in LA where a group of artists could stay and work on a project together for a few weeks.

Basically it works like this;

Everyday people list their homes on the Airbnb website, they are the 'Hosts'.

Hosts list pictures and descriptions of their property; including which amenities are available such as internet, parking and 'pets allowed'.

If you click on the post title, it will link you to the Airbnb site to have a play around.

So, for example, in the search section, you put in 'Amsterdam', '2 bedroom min', '£30 per night max' and then the dates you want. It instantly gives you a map of the area with all the potential properties available.

You can look through the details of as many as you want. If you see something you like; click your wanted dates into the host's calendar to see if the place is available.

You can then contact the host with any questions through the Airbnb messaging, or simply 'Book It'. If the host accepts your booking, the apartment or house is secured for you.

Airbnb take the payment off you in full at the time of booking, but they don't pass it to the host until a day AFTER you arrive, so you and your money are protected. You can also read previous feedback and reviews from other guests.

Serviced apartments in Amsterdam.....

I've stayed in self catering serviced apartments a couple of times before, in Dublin and in Manchester.

I only discovered the idea a couple of years ago when I was looking for somewhere to stay when I took my mum to see a concert.

...... living in the Isle of Man, you have to go off the Island to have the chance to see any big artists.....

For a short stay, these are great. A couple of bedrooms, separate living room, dining area, kitchen..... as described, a fully functioning (and very nicely done up) apartment; a little home away from home. Again, for our extended stay, the issue of price is going to mean we won't be considering serviced apartments.

You can find serviced apartments in Amsterdam from around €180 per night upwards, which is great for a few days with a handful of people.

I found them to be a great option for our Beyonce and Black Eyed Peas weekends.... but sure, they weren't cheap weekends. There was enough room and comfort to be content lazing around the apartment all day; and we bought all of our food from Marks and Spencer so were able to save a bit of money cooking in instead of eating out............although I don't think we ended up saving that much, given I bought enough for a family of fifteen.

These places will usually have at least a part time reception service; they are always on-line and on the phone 24 hours to help with any questions or problems. The ones I stayed in also organized airport transfers, tours and theater trips and generally had lots of tourist information.

If you click on the post title, it will link you to an example of one of these websites, but there are dozens to choose from and usually several in each city in Europe.

Again, for visiting family, great; for us, too expensive.

Where to stay in Amsterdam?

Like any city around the world, I've discovered that there are several options when it comes to the TYPE of place we could stay in Amsterdam.

Hotels; lovely, isn't it? This is the Hotel De L'Europe. ...... if I win the lottery, I'll consider a few weeks in here.

Seriously though, for a stay of more than a few days, a hotel is really not suitable budget-wise for us. You're looking at between £85 and £100 per night for anything remotely pleasant. We can't afford £3000 for a month long stay before considering additional spending money.

Practically speaking, one hotel room is really a glorified bed-sit and after a few days we will really want some additional space. With no cooking facilities and no escape from each other..... probably speaking for Andrew's benefit here as I talk constantly..... hotels are out.

HOW MUCH would I love this?! A houseboat in Amsterdam, how beautiful. I actually started to casually look at these thinking they would TOTALLY beyond consideration.

Amazingly, you can find them for rent at the same price as a hotel room, from about £85 upwards. Now, the upwards can spiral towards hundreds per night....and even the least expensive is too expensive for our longer stay.

But I would definitely consider one of these if I had friends or family coming over to visit. You can book a hotel anywhere in the world, but a house boat really is something unique and special to the canals of Europe and I think a few days in one of these would be a lovely experience.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon in Amsterdam....

I've never been a great one for parks.

Taking the dog for a run, going to see some outdoor theater or paddling around on a lake, yes, I get that; but I've always been envious of those people who can just stroll up in a park, put a blanket on the ground and lie there for hours, quite content. I tried it a few times in Paris and was bored stupid after 20 minutes.

The day did brighten when a group of 20 athletic young men arrived and started battling in a free style dance off.......but that's another story....

I do quite fancy this though; The Blue Tea House or 't Blauwe Theehuis.

It's in the famous Vondelpark, the most popular park in Amsterdam. The Blue Tea House not only has tea (essential) but apparently there is also a DJ on a Sunday afternoon.

This could nicely combine 'relaxing' without my inherent boredom from not doing a lot; primarly because I will be eating cake at the same time.

Another attraction of Vondelpark will definitely be the Open Air Theatre or Open Lucht Theater in the summer. Fridays and Saturdays are very much children's shows, comedy and cabaret; but Sunday is all about the music with classical, pop and rock all on the line-up.

Now, if I combine all of THIS with aforementioned tea and cake, I'll definitely not be bored.

I amsterdam City Card 2012

This looks quite good; we got something similar when we went to New York for 6 days.

Now, whilst I don't want to be a total tourist, I have always sworn by organised tours in every city I've ever visited around the world. I think, especially if you are going to be somewhere for a little while, it's a good 'intensive introduction' and I've always found they really help you get your bearings and become familiar with the transport and layout of the place

The latest information says that we can get this pass for three days for €60.00, which is £50.00. If you click on the post title it will link you to the iamsterdam site which has lots of information as well as details about this pass.

It includes free public transport, a canal cruise, 24 museum entrances, entry to the zoo, discount on a good number of restaurants and discount at a number of other attractions like tasting rooms.

I know sometimes things like these SEEM like a good idea but you end up wasting your money; but I'm Irish and myself and all my family live by the attitude of 'I've paid for it, I'm having it'..... I'll ride that thing til the wheels come off.

3 days whizzing around on buses, trams and canal boats should really help EVEN ME....(more importantly even directionally challenged Andrew) to get a grasp on the Amsterdam layout.

Amsterdam - 10 Things You Need To Know

This little book is absolutely super. This is exactly what I was looking for, an honest guide to less well known places to see and an 'experienced guide' around Amsterdam.

Advice on dozens of places to eat, cheaply, with personal notes and tips....... this was the BIG thing for me. The best eating experiences I had in Paris weren't in expensive Michelin starred restaurants; they were the little side street hideaways that even the locals only knew about by word of mouth.

It's got lots of useful things like where to see free concerts, cheap places to print photos and 2nd hand clothing stores. Details about markets; which is good for what interest or budget.

There is a very personal, honest review of numerous bars, clubs and music venues. Helpful advice on some of Amsterdam's well known 'alternative past-times'; hand in hand with neatly summarized overall opinions of what to expect from various venues and the people you may find within. Reading this guide feels like reading the journal belonging to a well travelled friend, opposed to a sponsored Tourist Guide. Of course, I'm going through this in conjunction with Google Map and Image searches to have a better idea of where things are; but this book is nice and simple. I didn't think 13 years after almost ditching my Rough Guide in Australia, I would be back to the basics with my highlighter pen.

By the way, if you do go to buy this book and one of the reviews looks familiar, it's because I wrote it. The review, not the book.

A Cool Guide.....

I went on EBay and did a search for 'Amsterdam Guide', hoping to pick up a 2nd hand 99p Lonely Planet or something similar. But this got my attention. At first I thought it was a vintage collector copy of some 70's edition, judging by the three girls skipping on the front. But I thought I would give it a ago when I read it was 'Updated for 2011'

Where to begin......?

When I was 19 I applied for my Australian Working Holiday Visa...... 1998 I went, for a whole year. During the previous 6 months I had spent HOURS pouring over this book with a highlighter pen, marking EVERYTHING to do; the usual Barrier Reef, Sydney Opera House, Ayres Rock extra. I had it all planned out, and even though back then I had ZERO money sense or ability to budget so much as a day trip to Liverpool, I went to Australia fully itineraried (if it's not a real word, it is now)

Of course, if you have travelled at all.....especially back in the day.... you'll know that the little knowledge you arrive with soon pales into insignificance compared to the barrage of possibilities that lay before you on touch down. Each city, each Youth Hostel and every other backpacker or wanderer you meet will fill your head with 1000 possibilities of AMAZING places to see, things to do.......and money to spend. I remember very quickly my neatly organised and 'controlled fun plan' went out the window, as each place had so much more to explore than could be contained in my little Rough Guide bible.

What little monetary responsibility I had was obliterated further still; £3000 for an entire year for food, accommodation and all activities is plenty, right?

Week One; hot air balloon ride, car hire, reef snorkling day, Island explore trip and 4 new outfits (?) .........£600.

Don't get me wrong, this will ALWAYS happen. You will arrive somewhere with the best intentions; you'll have a look around, meet a few people, and discover things to do you never imagined........that's the beauty and excitement, and probably the main point of travelling.

But TODAY...... we don't have to rely just on one book. Who needs books at all??!!

We have the internet.

You can Google a city like Amsterdam and immediately you have access to a world of information. Options of where to eat; see the latest pictures of the restaurant; read the up-to-date menu; look at the prices; you can Google Map the address and drop the little orange man onto the street and virtually walk around the area.

You can read reviews of who has been there before; you can join a forum to discuss the place, join another forum to find similar places and if you get chatting, probably befriend someone on Facebook who's been there, become pals and they end up taking you there themselves.

You can Youtube anywhere and you'll find some enthusiast ............(the ones you used to laugh at walking around a market place with a cumbersome camcorder permanently strapped to their hand, viewing their entire holiday through 1 black and white square inch)....posting snippets of every event, attraction and area with all the sites and sounds that let you live the experience before you get there.

When we first decided to go to Amsterdam, I couldn't wait to get stuck in to my research.

About 6 hours later...........(at 2am)..........I began to realize that all of this fabulous information at my finger tips was having the same affect as my first night in Australia.

No, I didn't fall asleep crying for my mum .......(leave me alone, I was a baby of 19 and hadn't been away before).........but I was totally and utterly overwhelming by the amount of possibilities and collection of 1000 things I HAD TO do.

I needed to start with something simple; something structured I could go through to get an overall feel for the place and begin to form and idea of what I would like to do most. Something that would give me information on the local places to be, but not necessarily the obvious tourist stops that were uniformly modified to suit every CityBreak IPad warrior with copious amounts of money to spend.

So I bought a book.

A different trip?.....

.........in theory, yes

Unlike when I went to Paris to be with a lovely local Frenchman; I am taking my partner of 3 years Andrew with me. An even lovelier and very British young man. I say young man, he's 34 and I'm 33 - we're not old, but we no longer get asked for ID, let's leave it at that.

Being with Andrew feels like home, wherever we are, so I'm hoping this will eradicate 90% of my home-sick tendencies.

(please feel free to wretch into your travel guides at that sickly analogy, don't worry, there won't be many)

Andrew is a 3D Animator who will be working in this field in Amsterdam. I work as a Line Producer with a Film Company, also based around animation. My work, however, enables me to travel anywhere in the world; all I need is an internet connection and my laptop (a possession I have become more attached to than my bestest teddy bear as a child)

So; this time, I will be taking a piece of home with me (the bloke with the crinkly head)

And I will already have paid employment whilst in Amsterdam, so the financial burden of maintaining my house in the Isle of Man is already spoken for.

That was a major aspect of my uneasiness in Paris. I still had to pay my mortgage at home (or sell the house, not an option at the time).... the unemployment rate was very high, as was the tax. Also, by all accounts, unless you could both speak and write the language fluently, you really could wave goodbye to the possibility of any employment paid above minimum wage.

While in Holland I want to explore many things.......yes, I have visions of casually cycling along the canal, laptop strapped to my back, stopping at cafes and restaurants to take advantage of their internet connection and 'work' whilst drinking expensive coffee and eating copious amount of miniature pancakes.

But I want to find out about the real lifestyle there.....the language, working as a non-national, social clubs, nightlife, heritage, getting around and, my biggest love, the food.

So I am going to update this blog as often as I can (this will be often as I want to appear both busy and popular whilst sitting in aforementioned cafes, drilling furiously on my keyboard)

I'm going to give an honest account of what we get up to; difficulties we encounter and (hopefully) lots of new discoveries that might be of interest if you ever think of going there too.

Prepare to be confused....

Good morning / afternoon / evening and welcome to my blog, Confused in Amsterdam

Now, I may be slightly premature for 2 reasons here

1) I'm not yet in Amsterdam

2) When I get to Amsterdam, I may not be confused at all..

...in fact I may find the whole experience simply enjoyable, relaxing, educational and memorable.

I doubt it though.

.......or rather, past experience makes me automatically have doubt that it will unquestionably be amazing.

I tried moving to Paris a couple of years ago and found myself walking around miserable and desperate to go, not necessarily home, but to somewhere more familiar. The language that I wanted to embrace and improve oozed into every waking sound. I soon felt like I was walking around with an invisible goldfish bowl over my head, with the once lusted after accent sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher blubbling permanently in my ears. Even waking to the sounds of small children laughing and calling for their 'Maman' on their walk to school, made me want to lean out the window and shout in protest in my best Belfast accent.

The once exciting, glamourous, amazing bustling streets of Paris soon became crowded, scary, too hot and too everything for someone used to living at the foot of a mountain and 2 minutes from the sea.

Don't get me wrong, I love Paris and honestly; each and every person I met (and there were many) could not have done more to try and make me feel welcome. I would walk into a party with 20 people....EVERYONE would start speaking English so I didn't feel left out.

Weddings, BBQ's, picnics, evening drinks, afternoon teas, club nights, game nights, sit and talk with each other just for the sake of it nights. I was invited to parties, restaurants, social clubs, swimming, yoga, dance lessons, museums, walks, everything; you name it.

Ungrateful cow, you might think. People would give anything to have been in your shoes; I know now and I knew it then. But; it was all too much. Homesick, at whatever age, it labelled for a reason. Where I come from mightn't have all the frills of the fashion capital of the world; but it was familiar in sight, sound and smell........ And what I would have given some days to be standing on the beach, picking up dog do and cursing Harvey's backside (even though it was me who had fed him curry the night before)

So, flying home slightly agrophobic and traumatized, I knew Paris hadn't worked.

But this trip is going to be very different.