A surprise trip to Amsterdam

By Layla

The third anniversary of getting together demands celebration, and Roz is responsible for ensuring that suitable celebration happens (I’m in charge of wedding anniversaries). For year one she raised expectations sky high – our anniversary was on the Saturday and she’d asked to organise it… I gratefully agreed. I’d imagined a nice meal. So it was with absolute excitement that on Friday afternoon, while working at a conference in a hotel in London, I was told I had a package awaiting me with the concierge. I retrieved said package, opened it, and found a notebook. On the front was a post-it note: ‘this is your anniversary present: you may only turn the pages when instructed to do so. You may now turn the first page’. This book led me, step by step, to Brussels (our particular city of romance) and we had a wonderful weekend away, involving me turning pages of the book every time a new activity approached. It was fantastic and the most romantic thing I had ever experienced.

On year 2, a similar book appeared, and we went to Oxford, for punting, and spectacular meals, including a 10 course tasting menu.

This year she told me that there would not be a book. I reassured her (with a tiny smidge of disappointment) that I certainly could not expect yet another book. Our anniversary was on Monday. So it was with great surprise that I came home from work on Thursday night and checked the post to find an envelope containing…. another book! It instructed me to ensure I was at a particular bus stop at a particular time the following day with my bags packed. Only at the bus stop could I turn the page. I almost burst with excitement.

The next day, promptly at the bus stop with bag in hand I found I was to get the 45 bus to Kings Cross, then that I was going to International Departures , then that the first leg of our journey was to Brussels. We sipped G&Ts in the first class lounge and I tried to restrain myself from turning the page. On the train, with wine in hand and meals served, it was time to turn the page… we were going to Amsterdam!

A change at Brussels, and another train later, we stepped out at Amsterdam Centrale. I was intrigued. Amsterdam has always had its red light district and cannabis reputation, but I had full confidence in Roz’s classiness. We walked through the stag night parties on the road between the station and Dam Square, then walked a little more and found ourselves in a romantic cobbled-street network of glistening canals sparkling with lights from the many bridges. The streets between were tiny with little boutique shops selling beautiful specialist items, and the streets were filled with cyclists, their bikes parked by the hundreds along the streets, their owners in nearby pretty, fashionable bars by the canals.

Soon, between the Western Canal Belt and the quirky Jordaan areas, we reached our hotel, the Ambassade, known for its popularity with authors. It’s made up of several canal houses, which meant our bedroom, romantically decorated in the style of Louis Quatorze apparently, had a little balcony overlooking the canal. Roz’s book proudly advised me that the hotel was one of Time Out’s top 5 Amsterdam hotels.

No sooner had we checked in, at about 10:30pm, it was time to turn the page and make our way over canal bridges and through little streets to Vyne, one of Amsterdam’s only wine bars. Romantic and highly stylish. we drank prosecco and Sancerre before returning through the pretty streets to bed.

On Saturday morning it was time to turn the page and find out our breakfast destination: Gartine. In the city centre, Gartine is, according to Time Out, ‘simple but marvellous’. The scrambled eggs on sourdough bread were some of the most delicious I’ve ever had, and the restaurant is friendly and stylish and very cool.

After breakfast, Roz felt the need for a scarf. I mocked her as it wasn’t that cold, but after obtaining one, she pointed out to me that every single Amsterdam woman was wearing a scarf! I blushed under the shame of my fashion faux pas. But I turned more pages and bravely soldiered on. Our next stop was Noordermarkt, a cool local farmers’ market, accessed along another very pretty canal. We wandered from stall to stall, sampling olive oil and lots of cheese, and then walked down the another canal to the Jordaan area where we popped our head into a rather deserted lesbian bar (well, it was about 12 noon) and enjoyed the pretty buildings, and settled for a drink in a café overlooking the water.

After our drinks, we proceeded to Vondelpark, where we walked romantically past lakes filled with ducks, and a wedding party, and had lunch at Vertigo, at the Film Museum. And then through Museumplatz, where lots of the museums are located in an attractive landscaped park. Turning the page, I found we were off on a guided cycle ride of Amsterdam. This was fun, and I felt like a local as we zipped up and down the canal bridges (known as ‘Dutch hills’ apparently) and heard various stories of Amsterdam. The most interesting, I thought, was that Amsterdam’s symbol is 3 Xs (for Catholic reasons) and when they legalised porn, all porn coming out of Amsterdam was marked with the city symbol (as were all exports), i.e. XXX. And this is why porn is now known as XXX.

After our bike ride, and a speedy walk back to our hotel to glam up, we walked off to a very glamorous and quirky restaurant at De Witte Uyl (Roz having apparently done much research regarding the best restaurant in Amsterdam). Cool 1920s interior, delicious food, and best of all… as an alternative to a cheeseboard they had… a chocolate board! An array of chocolate with a big pick to chisel off chunks of chocolate.

We wandered home down canals with bikes pottering past, and went to sleep absolutely full, having overindulged excessively on that chocolate board…