Amsterdam

Up early this morning so we had time for some breakfast before we disembarked. A full English was just the job to set us up for the day.

An hour coach ride and then we had the entire day to explore Amsterdam. We hadn't made much of a plan of what we wanted to do so made our way to Dam Square. This had a lovely Covent Garden feel to it with street performers and lots of people buzzing about. There was also a big wheel, so we jumped on for some amazing views across the city.

We both really wanted to see Anne Frank's house, so we slowly made our way over the canals to it. The canals were beautiful. The Autumn colours lining them really made for some pretty pictures. You have to watch out for the cyclists though! We found Anne Frank's house but the queue was right back round the block, so we took some pictures from outside instead. Even from the outside it had an immense atmosphere, knowing what happened inside all those decades ago.

As our belly's started to grumble we made our way back into the hustle and bustle of the main shopping streets. We went into a quaint Dutch cafe (not the wacky backy kind!) and sat down to some lunch. I had some delicious red lentil soup and Mr J had a goats cheese ciabatta. We both fancied something sweet afterwards and went to a desert shop on the corner and had a Dutch speciality of Proffetjes. They were delicious little pancakes smothered in warm chocolate sauce.

We then took a stroll though the red light district. What an eye opener! I didn't know where to look! We declined all offers of any 'shows' and made our way to the slightly less seedy,Sex Museum. This housed a collection of old porn and other 'things' and the place was full of hen parties.

Still with time to spare we joined a canal cruise. It was in a glass roofed boat and was a fantastic way to view the city and we saw some amazing architecture.

We then just had enough time for some chips with some traditional Fritessaus. They were yummy and a great way to warm up whilst we waited for the coach back to the ship. We had a nice meal in the onboard restaurant and sampled some more of the live music and cabaret over a glass of sparkling wine.