Further Amsterdam Adventures

Waking up to a grey sky and the dismal splatter of raindrops almost gave poor Roz a heart attack - her book options (ferry ride, cycling in the countryside north of Amsterdam)demanded sun. And so we wrapped up and headed out to the American Hotel, where we had heard tell of a great jazz brunch. In fact it turned out to be a rather unappetising buffet, so instead we retired to the Stanislavski restaurant in a pretty theatre for our scrambled eggs and croissants. Our zeal to recreate those wonderful New York brunches demanded mimosas, but the bar woman refused to make them due to not knowing the recipe. One glass of orange juice, one glass of prosecco and an extra champagne glass later and we were sipping home made mimosas with pride.

After brunch we suddenly had a mad shopping enthusiasm: most uncharacteristic. I got new boots from a fancy shop and we pottered back to the hotel via afternoon coffee, a visit to an art market, and a stroll along the canals. We glammed up and headed out for a reasonable dinner at the much recommended and rather hippy style Golden Temple, followed by a Boom Chicago comedy show in central Amsterdam. After the show (and its accompanying bottle of wine), we walked hotelwards along cobbled paths and canal bridges and stopped at a sweet and trendy little bar for a final glass of wine to dull the pain of a holiday that was short and nearly over.

The next day we had a light breakfast in the fashionable Esprit cafe, before catching a tram out of town and to what turned out to be Amsterdam's top restaurant and quite possibly one of my top restaurants ever (which is saying a lot): De Kas. It was very, very good. Set in the middle of a park, it is a huge glasshouse, with its own greenhouse where the chefs pick the ingredients specifically for your meal. Wonderful service, spectacular food, and our desserts had 'happy anniversary' piped onto them in chocolate. A proper occasion restaurant, and a massive treat. In fact I was so intent on lingering that we nearly missed our train. We dashed along the platform and jumped aboard in the nick of time. And started chugging towards London.

Luckily the fun wasn't quite over. We got off at Brussels, took the subway into town, and finished our weekend in grand style over waffles and crepes in the Grand Place before finally sinking into the comfy chairs with an armful of newspapers in the first class lounge, and awaiting our summons back to London. Bravo Roz. A wonderful surprise third anniversary treat.