Day 9 - Amsterdam - A Trip on the Canals and the Euros Final

I enjoyed a Sunday lie-in and chilled breakfast before saying goodbye to Den Haag and The Social Hub and setting off to Amsterdam.

A short and simple train journey soon had me in the centre of the city and able to drop my bags off at my hotel. I reassured Dad that although my hotel is very much in the red light district, it is very safe! I’m not sure how to take it that he replied by saying that he was confident that I also would not be that short of money so early in my trip….. Thanks, Dad! šŸ«£

I was just setting off to find a canal tour when I had a WhatsApp from Phil, recommending a tour with ‘Those Dam Boat Guys’. The timing was impeccable, and soon I was enjoying a wonderful tour of the city.

I got to enjoy a few more unusual sights too - a chicken on a house boat…

And a multi storey bike-park…

and another duck shop!

There were, of course, some geocaches to be found (I’ll do a stats update when I leave the Netherlands on Tuesday), but my main mission was then to find somewhere showing the Euros final.

I found what looked to be a nice small bar, and set myself up with my Diet Coke, only to be rather disappointed by a lack of atmosphere, some annoying patrons, and awful music! I moved on at half-time to a better bar, where I met some other England fans (the ones I got chatting to were originally from Surrey, but have been living in Australia for the past 18 years). To say it was tense would be an understatement, and I was pleased to have some company in the nail-biting. What. A. Result! Absolutely buzzing.

I’m now back in my hotel room, which I think could be described as ‘cosy’, but well located for more exploring tomorrow.

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