Christmas on steroi_s 🧑‍🎄🎅🎄🦌🛷

[Pushka]

Well, jet lag. Ain't it the pits. Hopefully better after a day out walking today. Weather looks reasonable. Nothing planned, that kicks in tomorrow.

BUT There seems to be a snaffu on the Rhine. A tanker has got stuck and they can't get it out. And of course, our long boat is on the wrong side of it. As is every other vessel on the Rhine on both sides. I haven't heard from Viking yet. I expect that the current cruise people might get off loaded onto a bus and hotels, then the longboat will escape once it's clear. Time will tell. Trying not to stress.

 

[Pushka]

Oil tanker is freed now waiting for a days backlog to clear. Hopefully longboat is on the move again.

View at 7.30 am this morning.



Today being free day we walked. Freezing fog they called it. It was. It was -1 when we started and six hours later it hadn’t changed. We crossed one canal and immediately we both slipped and realised it was ice. No damage done.



The first of several drinks. Bought not to drink but warm our hands. We have hand warmers. I’d forgotten them this morning.



Christmas trees in many stores.



And a gentleman’s club. And a bicycle. It’s Amsterdam.



So it’s 11 am and the Christmas lights are shining bright.



Cheese. It’s Amsterdam. We stopped off at three altogether. This particular sample was wonderful.





Christmas Trees. They were splendid.

 

[Pushka]

Tomorrow we have Anne Frank house tour and then an evening canal boat tour of the Christmas lights. Includes cheese and drinks. The boat is enclosed.

 

[Pushka]

After a few hours thawing out back at the hotel we knew we had to venture out again - for dinner. I'd broken out the hand warmers (rechargeable from Amazon) and despite a touch of scepticism from other parties, it seems they were A HIT. It seemed warmer outside now, even though dark. I think it was up to 1c. And tomorrow, a balmy 8c. Which is good as we have the illuminations night canal cruise. We had seen some Indian restaurants and decided as they were close then that's where we'd go. About a 15 minute walk, passing by this canal again.



We gave the Indian restaurant about a 7. We have a fabulous Indian restaurant back home that has become our benchmark. Walking back, 7.45pm and which by last night I was already asleep albeit a very disrupted one. Hoping for better tonight.

 

[sanne]

Really enjoying this. Love Amsterdam, been many times including a stay with friends during Christmas and NY. It started to snow on Christmas Eve and remained on the trees and gardens til NY day. Magical time.
Interestingly when we woke up on Christmas Day to a winter wonderland the bike paths had already been cleared even though the roads were covered in snow. We enjoyed an out of this world experience cycling through the villages before breakfast.

 

[MARTINE]

After a few hours thawing out back at the hotel we knew we had to venture out again - for dinner. I'd broken out the hand warmers (rechargeable from Amazon) and despite a touch of scepticism from other parties, it seems they were A HIT. It seemed warmer outside now, even though dark. I think it was up to 1c. And tomorrow, a balmy 8c. Which is good as we have the illuminations night canal cruise. We had seen some Indian restaurants and decided as they were close then that's where we'd go. About a 15 minute walk, passing by this canal again.

View attachment 356750

We gave the Indian restaurant about a 7. We have a fabulous Indian restaurant back home that has become our benchmark. Walking back, 7.45pm and which by last night I was already asleep albeit a very disrupted one. Hoping for better tonight.

Is the benchmark Jasmin in Adelaide?
I have eaten there for past 25 years every time I travel to the city. What brilliant food
I have never had better anywhere

Ron Gastrobar Oriental Downtown Handout

rongastrobar.nl

I have friends in ‘dam and have eaten here quite a bit. I like modern pan-Asian cuisine think Chin Chin/Longgrain/Hawker Hall (Melb)
Dont be put off by the name Gastrobar!!!

 

[Pushka]

Is the benchmark Jasmin in Adelaide?
I have eaten there for past 25 years every time I travel to the city. What brilliant food
I have never had better anywhere

Ron Gastrobar Oriental Downtown Handout

rongastrobar.nl

I have friends in ‘dam and have eaten here quite a bit. I like modern pan-Asian cuisine think Chin Chin/Longgrain/Hawker Hall (Melb)
Dont be put off by the name Gastrobar!!!

Well, surprisingly no although it is excellent. But in Port Adelaide there's an even better one, Spice and Ice. Crazy prices and they are often having wedding and other celebrations for Indian families so a clue. They also deliver to us. So we buy one to eat and one to freeze and servings are huge

Jasmin's owner had a brother who ran Tandoori Oven in Malvern. He eventually quit the business but Jasmin stayed on. Did you know there was an annual AFF meeting held at Jasmin a few years ago?

 

[MARTINE]

Well, surprisingly no although it is excellent. But in Port Adelaide there's an even better one, Spice and Ice. Crazy prices and they are often having wedding and other celebrations for Indian families so a clue. They also deliver to us. So we buy one to eat and one to freeze and servings are huge

Jasmin's owner had a brother who ran Tandoori Oven in Malvern. He eventually quit the business but Jasmin stayed on. Did you know there was an annual AFF meeting held at Jasmin a few years ago?

Good to know about Spice and Ice! Good venue for AFF get together. As you say with restaurant gold std benchmarks I judge a restaurant by certain dishes.
Best Pad Thai
Best Char Kay Teow
Best Butter Chicken (Jasmin) etc etc

 

[Askance]

Well, surprisingly no although it is excellent. But in Port Adelaide there's an even better one, Spice and Ice. Crazy prices and they are often having wedding and other celebrations for Indian families so a clue. They also deliver to us. So we buy one to eat and one to freeze and servings are huge

Jasmin's owner had a brother who ran Tandoori Oven in Malvern. He eventually quit the business but Jasmin stayed on. Did you know there was an annual AFF meeting held at Jasmin a few years ago?

Haha, im eatin Spice and Ice dhal for dinner even as I read this. Im a fan.

 

[Pushka]

Haha, im eatin Spice and Ice dhal for dinner even as I read this. Im a fan.

Gotta love RADelaide.

 

[VPS]

Gotta love RADelaide.

Consistent not - 35 day 17 tomorrow - lots of Christmas pageants and concerts cancelled because of forecast storms

 

[Pushka]

Consistent not - 35 day 17 tomorrow - lots of Christmas pageants and concerts cancelled because of forecast storms

We've been checking up on the weather there because we want to keep the new garden at Port Broughton alive. We tried seeing the temp there yesterday - forecast for 43 but think it was only mid thirties. Rain - something like 25 mls and up to 40 on Sunday. Yowsers. We do have a camera set up that we check every day as to how green the lawn is. And we had organised for a local to water it if needed. So far, and likely for next 10 days. Not.

Its raining here today. It's 8.32 and only just sunrise. . Not that you could see the sun.

 

[Pushka]

Busy day. Sort of. We had a booking at Anne Frank House for 2pm and then a canal cruise at 6.45pm to see Amsterdam's Christmas Illusions. It was still cold, and damp and more fog and by 10am we were done with the room and ready to escape manned with umbrellas and raincoats. And walked. With no purpose until 2pm. We knew where we had to go. So some photos along the way.

Venice?


These chip places, that's all they sell, are everywhere. But this one had a queue. Hell, why not. So we queued.


My god. They were fabulous. Might have been the zero degrees. The fog. But they went down a treat.

We eventually walked to the exterior of Anne Frank house then onwards to fill in more time. We had stayed in this Jordaan area a few years ago in summer and the queues outside were huge. Now the entrance is off another street.



Passed by the large Tulip place.



And another cheese shop. This one had so many samples but this one was so good we bought some.


Then on to a quaint nearby pub for gluwhein. The first of many.

 

[Pushka]

By now it was around 1.30 so we walked back around to Anne Frank House. We purchased the preliminary lecture as well as the tour. It is such a sad story. And the photos of the concentration camps were simply wicked. Just cannot fathom it. No photos allowed. Everyone was very deferential. A sad time.

 

[PrincessK]

Loving reading this. We did a Scenic Christmas Markets cruise from Basel to Amsterdam last year and absolutely loved it. Accompanied my parents as it was a bucket list trip for Mum and husband was dreading it. It ended up being the highlight of our month long trip. Enjoy!

 

[Pushka]

So we ventured out from this sad part of our trip and talked about it from various perspectives. We need to be vigilant against anti democratic voices and sadly I can see the world where different opinions are no longer acceptable.

Ok. We then went back to the same pub to fill in a couple of hours as the boat tour left nearby. That was planned. Beer this time, then some snacks. We knew that a free bar and more snacks came with the boat trip.

Now, we are having a UK family Christmas and the kids have said they will buy us an Ugly jumper. I already have one, not Mr P. But he's a bit stressed about this, judging by his reaction to this guy who walked into the pub.



Onwards to the boat. It is a beauty. We saw the food and bev preparation. We won't go thirsty.


More gluwhein. Up to three today now.


The food was excellent.




And along the way this happened:
He said will you marry me (in Spanish, I missed it ).

And she said Yes.


Now, we were here to see Christmas Lights. I didn't have great expectations. This was a good thing because, well,


This is a famous Insta photo where you can see seven canals. I can see six but pointless due to a guy who wouldn't move. Theres one on every canal boat cruise.



But we had a fab time. We had quite a walk back and saw more lights. Very busy. We ended up in the red light district and the famous street. I noticed it first. .



And we are both done for the day.

 

[Pushka]

Loving reading this. We did a Scenic Christmas Markets cruise from Basel to Amsterdam last year and absolutely loved it. Accompanied my parents as it was a bucket list trip for Mum and husband was dreading it. It ended up being the highlight of our month long trip. Enjoy!

Ours starts Sunday.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Busy day. Sort of. We had a booking at Anne Frank House for 2pm and then a canal cruise at 6.45pm to see Amsterdam's Christmas Illusions. It was still cold, and damp and more fog and by 10am we were done with the room and ready to escape manned with umbrellas and raincoats. And walked. With no purpose until 2pm. We knew where we had to go. So some photos along the way.

Venice?
View attachment 356836

These chip places, that's all they sell, are everywhere. But this one had a queue. Hell, why not. So we queued.
View attachment 356837

My god. They were fabulous. Might have been the zero degrees. The fog. But they went down a treat. View attachment 356838

We eventually walked to the exterior of Anne Frank house then onwards to fill in more time. We had stayed in this Jordaan area a few years ago in summer and the queues outside were huge. Now the entrance is off another street.

View attachment 356839

Passed by the large Tulip place.

View attachment 356840

And another cheese shop. This one had so many samples but this one was so good we bought some.
View attachment 356841
View attachment 356842
Then on to a quaint nearby pub for gluwhein. The first of many.
View attachment 356843

Cheese and wine @Pushka

 

[Pushka]

Bit under the weather today, better now. MrP went out and about before the rain and took this nice photo as it reminded him of Venice. I might have a fun pack for departure tomorrow. My previously well packed clothes are like a rubbish dump on the floor because there is nowhere to put them.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Bit under the weather today, better now. MrP went out and about before the rain and took this nice photo as it reminded him of Venice. I might have a fun pack for departure tomorrow. My previously well packed clothes are like a rubbish dump on the floor because there is nowhere to put them.
View attachment 356970

Must be just about time for your cruise @Pushka ?
Glad you are feeling better