Last night in Amsterdam

We're back in Oz now and everyone is back into the same old routine - kids at school, Jood at work, Peet... well going back to work soon. The trip back was fairly tiring as we left on a Saturday morning from Amsterdam and arrived in Sydney on Sunday night (a 24 hr trip that used up the whole weekend). It was a bit weird, and we've all been getting up at 6.00am each morning unable to sleep any longer.

Our last days in Amsterdam were relaxing. We stayed in the same houseboat and it was comfortably familiar, naturally, which made it easy to locate and quick to settle in. We just wandered around the Jordaan, along some of the pretty canals- Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht and Herengracht. A true mouthful of gutteral Dutch. We enjoyed the designer shops displaying great innovative lighting, interesting books, unusual clothes and shoes, and variations on antiques and junk. The Waterloo Plein market was still happening in the late afternoon, so we were able to buy that ceramic clog that we so craved. At least Anika was happy. We've been quite selective about purchases, aiming for 'tasteful and functional', but sometimes lapsing into 'kitsch'.
Nearly bought some 2nd hand 80's cycling tops but they were all double extra large - a good look in pinks, yellows, blues and vomity swirls etc. Pity, they would have made great souvenirs.
We enjoyed a nice dinner out at a cafe "Spanjer and Van Twist", accompanied by the cafe cat "Timba", and served by friendly androgenous waitresses.
Early Saturday morning we could be heard rolling our luggage over the cobblestoned streets all the way to Centraal Station. The wheels were impossibly loud, and the streets were so peaceful too. The train trip to Schiphol was typically efficient and we were ready to fly.