A week or so ago we were lucky enough to be invited to a couple of nights in Amsterdam, courtesy of KLM airlines as part of their #flylocal campaign. I still feel like I have to pinch myself that I get to do a job I love that has perks like this that I can share with my family!
We set off on Halloween (hence the outfit from Wilf) to get our flight just before 11am. We were offered a super early flight but felt that getting up at regular time and having a stress free morning would be a better start to our weekend holiday. I hadn’t flown in over three years and have to admit that it’s not the most natural feeling to me but starting the day at a half decent hour certainly did help to make sure I stayed calm.
It turned out I needn’t have worried as bar the initial jitters of take off I didn’t feel panicky at all. The flight from Bristol to Amsterdam took just under an hour and it was really enjoyable, with free snacks and hot drinks being handed out and before we knew it we were landing again. Wilf did have a little episode when we were descending but it was only due to the fact that he had to stay in his seat when he wanted to move next to me, it was hard to explain to him why I wasn’t able to swap seats with Tom and he did get quite worked up but thankfully everyone was very understanding!
(probably the most unflattering picture of me, I promise I’m not pregnant that’s just waffles, had to include it for Wilf’s face though!)
The next day we headed out to Waterloopien Flea Market and the 9 Streets to check out the shopping (always). I picked up some amazing vintage bargains for around three Euros each. I’m not sure why people don’t mention how good the vintage shopping is in Amsterdam more. It was certainly much better than anywhere I’ve ever been in the UK (or Paris). I would say if you are planning a shopping trip there take another suitcase, I was restrained at only picking up 6 items of clothing during our visit.
We also stopped by the flower market but it was the wrong time of year to see any amazing floral displays. Worth a look in though even if just for the vast amount of bulbs for sale.
We thought about getting bikes but as we wanted to stroll along the streets and markets we weren’t sure how much we would be stopping and starting. I have to say Wilf did end up getting really tired and as we didn’t take the pushchair we ended up both carrying him constantly which made us tired too. We’d love to go again and stay for more days so we could experience at least one day cycling around.
I’ve decided to cut this post into two as otherwise it would just be far to long! So this is what we got up to on our first full day, second and final day to follow. Thanks for reading!
P.S you can see a little video of our stay here.