Amsterdam 30 September - 10 October 2012

 

Hotel in red circle and Conference centre in green circle

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Day 17-19: Wed-Fri 10-12 Oct - Amsterdam to London to Singapore to Sydney

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My last day in Amsterdam. Had a bit of a sleep-in which was quite novel for both of us! We had coffee in our room (instant) and then went for a fairly fast walk in the very brisk conditions and then had a later than usual breakfast at our favourite café – Coffee to Walk with Henk. As the Wi-Fi was a lot better in the café than the hotel, we lingered a bit longer and checked emails, etc and then went back to the hotel to do a pre-final pack, shower and final pack. It was sad to leave Greg alone in Amsterdam but I did not have enough leave days to take any more.  So, it was with much sadness that I hopped into the Airport Shuttle. However, Greg decided to ride out to the airport to get a better idea of exactly where to go and how long it would take him when he had to leave. So, I got to see him one more time before I cleared Customs. After going through all the obligatory security screens, etc, I found the BA Lounge and had some lunch, read a few papers and emails and then it was tim...
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Day 7: Sun 30 Sep - Amsterdam

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Having left China on time following the International Seminar in Chongqing, Jane, Sylvain and I arrived in Amsterdam approximately 0700h, made our way through immigration, customs and baggage claim before finding a taxi to take us to our hotel ( red circle on the map, previous page). We knew it was unlikely we would be able to check-in due to the early hour, but had to go somewhere with the bags, and the hotel was where I had arranged to meet Greg who was riding in from Haarlem. Well, we were able to check-in, but our rooms were not yet available, so we waited around in the lobby and caught up on emails, etc.  Greg arrived about 1000h and after stowing his bike and bags in the storage room, we all went exploring.   Our first job was to find the Metro to buy transport tickets for Jane and Sylvain (I had pre-purchased two five-day tickets for Greg and I).   After initially heading off in the wrong direction, we eventually orientated ourselves to the map and foun...
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Day 8: Mon 1 Oct - Amsterdam

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Jane, Sylvain and I went on a bus and ferry tour of Amsterdam which incorporated the Windmills, Marken and Volendam. As Greg had been to Amsterdam before, he was not interested in this tour. We hopped on a bus near our favourite McDonalds and our first stop was the Windmills of the Zaanse Schans (Zaans Museum). The weather was not very kind to us, and it drizzled all day. However, we didn’t let that stop us. We were able to view the inside workings of one of the windmills, all of which are still active mills. The mills were all built sometime after 1574. We wandered the surrounding countryside which was very lush with plenty of sheep. After a short walk it was back on the bus to Volendam ( well known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing still worn by some residents) where we had an early but much wanted lunch in a lovely café/restaurant.   After lunch we boarded a ferry for a ride across the Gouwzee to Marken.   This fairly large body of water is relatively s...
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