Ahhh. That coffee shoppe!

With an early start at the Sofitel at Athens, we have made our way to Amsterdam via Munich. It has been a rather easy day of travel. Having surveyed the lay of the land the day before, we knew our way around the Athens airport, and as we had our boarding passes already it was just a matter of checking in our bags. The Aegean Air chappy wanted us to pay for the privilege of taking our suitcases, but we put our foot down on that little scam.

The flight was very smooth. It was cloudy to Munich, with the occasional snowy peak visible, giving us something to look forward to when we reach Switzerland. The plane was more like a flying bus, with no entertainment, but it had heaps of room, as they are obviously catering for the many burly Greeks who travel. Munich was a coolish 6 degrees. The flight from there was a Lufthansa flying bus, but comfy enough. The landscape through to Amsterdam was very pretty with the patchwork fields of Germany and then the chessboard of canals and channels of The Netherlands and the very neat ordering of villages, farms and houses.

Our flat is in the very heart of Amsterdam, with a canal at the front door and a 5 minute walk to the centre of town. At Munich I received an email from Cristina, whose home this is, to say that as she was at work, the key would be under the pot plant on the bench at the front door, 21 Keizersgracht, Amsterdam. As you would expect by now, it was not there, nor under any of the other pots within the general vicinity. We assumed it would not be under the pot of a neighbour.

We take these things in our stride now, and sought a cafe where we could enjoy a coffee, use the wifi and get in touch with Cristina. We left our bags with the kind owner of a near by bicycle hire shop and asked if he could recommend a coffee shop. “Do you mean a coffee shop or a coffee shop” he asked. “Just a coffee shop” we said, a little puzzled. “Cross the pedestrian bridge over the canal, turn left and 50 metres you find Siberie. Best coffee!”

We discovered that a coffee shop in Amsterdam means something completely different. It is the place you go to purchase and consume marijuana and other soft drugs. The woman at the counter looked at us a bit oddly when we ordered an espresso and a cappuccino, but they came good with the coffees, and the wifi was free. The music was ghastly and loud, and there was a steady flow of young people coming in for their “coffee”, while others sat around dragging on their weed and generously sharing with us. Jen staggered out leaving me to query Cristina and get mildly high. It took about half an hour to make contact and get the details regarding the key. It was just that we expected a little later and someone needed to put the key under the pot for us. I had enough of pot by then, having acquired a rather vacant look and nervous twitch.

Our room here is lovely. A nice, large, comfy bed, a modern ensuite bathroom, coffee making facility, and my essential tool, wifi.

We have found an English language church to go to Easter service in the morning, just a fifteen minute walk away. Monday we will seek out the Van Gogh gallery, and we also catch up with our next door neighbours from Fadden, who are coincidentally here in Amsterdam as well and embarking on a river cruise.

Stepping out now to see the city.

Proost!