Pannenkoeken

With our newly hired bicycles we headed off this morning in search of Dutch pancakes for breakfast. By the time we had reached the pancake house we were soaked to the skin. Still, the pancakes more than made up for the soaking.

We hid in the hotel for the rest of the morning as the thunder rolled over Amsterdam. By lunchtime we were able to ride around the Vondelpark and then into town to shop for snacks and shelter from the occasional bursts of rain. The rest of the afternoon followed a similar pattern of riding and sheltering but it was still delightful to be pootling around the city.

Amsterdam is definitely the most cycle friendly city I've ever been in and cycling seems to be the predominant form of transport. However, it's still a pretty hairy experience deep in the heart of the city when people accidentally wander into the cycle lane inches from your tyre.

We really wanted to eat some typically Dutch food for dinner but on further investigation we realised that this would probably consist of raw herring or split pea soup followed by liquorice. We went Greek instead.