I'm Sorry I Grumbled About You Amsterdam. You're Lovely.

I must admit, I didn't like Amsterdam very much at first. I have a tendency to dislike new places for no apparent reason, it is completely irrational & thankfully wears off pretty quickly! The city definitely grew on me... being able to walk everywhere, beautiful canals, interesting museums, good food - how could I have mumbled about not enjoying it for the first day & a half?! 

We rambled about the place & did a few touristy things (The Anne Frank House, Van Gough Museum) as well as spending time drinking in the sunshine along the canal, eating cheese, exploring markets, searching for delicious apple pie (which we definitely found!) missing out on eating pancakes (next time!) and frequenting good beer venues. I hope that we'll get a chance to go back to Amsterdam sometime soon so I can appreciate it without having the awful 'grumpy traveller' phase!

Of course

Much nicer than Regent's Canal!

Apple Pie at Winkel 43. Yum.

Managing to get a table outside next to the canal made our lazy Sunday afternoon totally blissful!

Some of my favourite places we visited in Amsterdam:

Koffie Salon - recommended by a friend & luckily just around the corner from our funny little hotel. Great coffee & a beautiful building - I can't believe I didn't take any photographs of this place! Must have been concentrating too intently on getting my morning coffee fix.

Winkel 43 - we stumbled upon this place late on a Sunday afternoon on the hunt for Apple Pie. I am so glad we did. Not only was the pie delicious (see above) & the setting lovely, we also had drinks accompanied by deep fried cheese sticks (don't judge us). We left feeling rather tipsy and full of goodly delicious Apple Pie. 

Noordermarkt - Strolling through this market in Jordaan was lovely (before the skies opened up & we had to run for cover in a nearby pub, what a shame!). I really enjoyed exploring Jordaan, interesting streets, cute shops, good food/drinks - a nice cruise-y way to spend some time in Amsterdam.

The Anne Frank House - Heavy going but excellently laid out - the museum was definitely worth a visit & the wait in line (we had failed to book online in advance, which I very much recommend doing!). The worst part of the day was being asked (while standing in the line, nay, having stood in the line in front of this person for 20 mins already) 'So, who was Anne Frank?' That was a frustratingly bizarre conversation. 

Van Gough Museum - It panned out that we only had time to visit one other museum on our trip & this was it. It was really well put together (as you would expect for a museum dedicated to one artist) and is worth a look even if you're not the biggest fan of his work. My advice to you is (as always) Go early! Obviously booking online ahead of time (for the more organised of you) is the best way to go but getting there early meant we managed to avoid the queue, which was massive when we left, and enjoy the museum without too many people about. 

There's a lot of Amsterdam left to explore & we are hoping to be back there in a month or so to do just that! If anyone has any favourite places let us know & we will put them on the to do list!

Xx

Copenhagen (Part V): Mikkeller Bar

The Mikkeller Bar celebrated its 3rd birthday on the last day of our Copenhagen trip so we headed there after a detour to Christiania & camped out for the afternoon. I was pleasantly  surprised that the entire street had been closed for the bar, markets, street food & a brilliant Jazz band. I did my best at CBC by drinking all the sour beer in the joint so I switched back to cider for the Mikkeller Bar party. It was a great way to end our time in Copenhagen. They definitely know how to throw a street party, in a relaxed, fun kind of way. The best part: Watching a family carry their heavy outdoor table setting from their apartment, organise it on the street, eat dinner, have some drinks & carry it back home again. 

Everyone still in town from the festival was at the bar that afternoon. It's a strange feeling to be in another country & bump into people you know all over the place.

These guys played an epic 5 hour set. No time for cigarette breaks!

Quieting down in the evening

I love the tranquil spaces you glimpse behind buildings in Copenhagen. 

Enjoying the party

Edinburgh next. I'm already planning my next trip there!

Xx

Copenhagen (Part IV): Blågårdsgade Festival

Our first morning in Copenhagen was spent in Norrebro at a brilliant cafe eating delicious breakfast, while there we noticed some posters for a festival happening in the area on Saturday. Ben was going to be at CBC all of saturday so I made plans to meet some friends & check out what was happening. It turned out to be a really lovely street festival with markets, drinks, bands & food. It was lovely to wander around and feel a bit summery. We even ate ice cream*.

Blågårdsgade Festival 2013

I do not know how she was doing that...

Markets 

Delicious breakfast cafe, before the festival 

The street on a regular day

*Okay, so I eat ice cream every week (at the best ice cream parlour ever) but this time it was definitely a weather based ice cream call. In the depths of a London winter it's just a taste bud call. 

Copenhagen (Part I)

From Berlin we hopped the overnight bus to Copenhagen, arriving a day before the Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Arriving at 6:30am & not being able to check into our hotel until 3pm meant we had a lot of time to kill in a slightly delirious/sleep deprived state so we did the sensible thing & headed out for breakfast. Danish Breakfast is awesome. Rye bread, fruit, cheese...what's not to like!

Our trip to Copenhagen came about because of the Copenhagen Beer Celebration that Ben had attended last year & was working at this time. A lot of the time was spent drinking beer/talking about beer/thinking about beer but we managed to see a lot of the city as well & I ventured out on my own quite a bit while Ben (& everyone we know from London) was at the festival.

The city itself is really beautiful. Clean, calm & obviously full of attractive Danes riding bicycles. The sun stayed out until 11pm some nights and in the 4 days we were there we encountered a surprising amount of street parties/festivals. In the warm weather I can imagine hanging about in Copenhagen & being quite happy but I don't think I would survive the darker winter months. Hopefully we will head back there sometime (probably for CBC next year!) so I can experience it without comparing it to Berlin, an unfair way to look at it all I think.

Here are some photographs from around the place...

Walking along the canal to Norrebro, my favourite part of Copenhagen

I just love them

So many markets in the city

Canal casualties

Cake, Fritz-limo, Sunshine. Perfect.

More of Copenhagen soon!

Xx

⟶ Berlin (Part I)

Recently we did a bit of travelling about the place - Berlin being our first stop. We spent four days exploring the city with the help of a good friend. The city itself is like no other place I have encountered. Our first day was spent trawling through the Mauerpark Flea Market, relaxing in the sunshine & wandering to different points of interest. Our entire time away ended up being less touristy & more about finding donuts, coffee & good things in different neighbourhoods. We covered the main 'must see' things pretty much every place we went but the best times were the unexpected ones. Mauerpark was amazing. I furnished imaginary houses a thousand times over & watched people find treasures amongst it all. Surprisingly we didn't buy anything except beer, pastries & tofu burgers. This is definitely a place I would like to visit again & again.  

Waiting for Karaoke to begin

Sunshine, food, music, all the good things... no wonder the park was so crowded.

Beautiful furniture, plates, cutlery, glasses...anything & everything.

I have trawled through the photographs from our trip & will try to keep it brief but expect to see a fair bit more from Berlin soon. Then onto Copenhagen, Edinburgh & The Broch. It's lovely to be back home in London, although future travels are already on the horizon.

Happy Monday everyone!

Xx  

Maybe Spring?

Saturday's around here are usually spent at The Kernel with different food markets making an appearance every now & then. Borough is still our favourite & last week we headed there early(ish) for the regular cheese sandwich/coffee fix before heading over to Maltby Street to check out Ropewalk. Things have changed a lot since last Spring before The Kernel moved... It's a lovely little market but super crowded & as it's on the way to St John's & other goodies we're never that fussed about hanging around for too long. When the sun comes out to play it's going to be the kind of market you want to get to super early to avoid the crowds & get everything you're looking for. I'm sure we'll be back there soon - hopefully early enough to nom a St John's Custard Donut next time! 

Ben had Waffles from Waffle On. The verdict: Delicious & Soft but slightly too pricey for the size.

On the hunt for Donuts. Far too late!

This was a L O V E L Y day for London!

I love Saturday. It's my favourite day to wander around London. Only 3 days until the next one! 

Xx