Amsterdam adventures

Joe and I have been exploring Amsterdam while Simon's at work. We have a great cafe next door that does lovely food and drink all day and evening so we've been keeping them in business! Our flat is in a lovely area, with lots of galleries, cafes, boutiques and museums. It's a lovely area to wander about in day or night, as long as you keep your eye on the millions of cyclists. I haven't come across a nicer area to live in in the city centre so far. Because we're surrounded by canals there's very little traffic noise and most of the tourists heading to the Anne Frank House must go by another route.

Amsterdam seems to have a museum for everything - theatre, cats, tulips, marijuana, sex, neon signs .... the list goes on!! Today while we were on our travels we bumped into a heron standing on the pavement looking in the window of a house! We had to go round him in the end as he wouldn't move! Joe's also enjoyed watching the horses and boats from our huge windows as well as the horses we've bumped into. I'm not sure how friendly the Dutch are in Amsterdam but having a baby with you has meant that people have been very kind, just this evening a man spent half an hour making Joe laugh while Simon and I had a lovely dinner. Although the Dutch aren't renowned for their cuisine I've eaten some lovely food, the other night we had great pancakes at a place round the corner, even Joe liked them! Everybody here speaks perfect English too so that's one less hurdle for me!

The stairs to our flat are quite a marathon though and very steep, I have to stop at least twice to get my breath back while lugging a bag and baby. The front door onto the street is very heavy and the hall is quite small so every morning you see me juggling Joe, bags, coats and a pushchair. Simon is going to start work late tomorrow so we're all going to have breakfast together locally.