Food Roulette

Colin & Maria rented bikes from Mac Bike for today. Their touring route had them over most of the city. It started as a sunny day, but quickly turned into a down pour. After Colin got them lost, they finally found a cafe, had breakfast then it
was off to the Cat Museum! Where it was everything Cat! Maria went ballistic!

There were even real cats running around & a special section for the inspiration of the museum.. JP Morgan, an orange tabby who is no longer with us. After talking to one young crazy cat lady from Chicago, it was off to the historical Anne Frank House. There are not many pictures as it rained for most of their trip around the city.

For lunch it was the P. King restaurant. Oh ya! If you're going to Amsterdam, know the differences between a cafe, coffee shop & restaurant, you could be leaving more hungry than when you went in ;). Colin had a Grandma Bob's veal croquettes with 2 kinds of mustard, Maria had an apple pancake, she could live off pancakes.

Another cool thing about Amsterdam and possibly all of the Netherlands is they always give you a cookie with your hot drink, it's awesome!

After lunch it was another tour of the Red Light District, finishing up at a bar just outside the district boundary. This is where the game of food roulette began.

Not knowing any Dutch, Colin & Maria decided to play a game.. Pick a menu item, guess what it is and order it. They both settled on the Gamba's a la Guus. Colin was thinking it was a fully loaded nacho plate with chunks of chocolate and kegs of beer. Maria was thinking gamba's were chicken wings (Colin was secretly hoping it was wings too). Turns out Gamba's a la Guus are actually fully cooked, fully not de-veined or fully not de-headed. Gamba's are prawns, actually giant prawns..

This is exactly how they looked when they were served..

Colin finally admitted to the server he had no idea what he ordered. The prawns were actually quite tasty, it was when she asked if he ate the head and brains it was time to leave.

Since Maria isn't a fan of her food looking at her, she had the bread. Colin & Maria won't be playing food roulette for a long time.

What do you think this sign means?

Pancakes 2- Colin Maria 0 & A Visit to The RDL

A note from Colin & Maria:

Day 2 in Amsterdam (population 780,000) took us on a walk through this historical city. But not before helping some local kid retrieve his ball from the canal where out house boat is that we are staying in, that story later.

We snacked at a place called Gewaeght Cafe, best sandwiches ever! And for some reason, they didn't like the mariachi version of Hotel California, so they changed it to something else.. Not sure what the deal is on Hotel California in this city, everywhere we went the song played.. Mariachi version, live version, version on the accordion, version on the didgeridoo, even the real version!

Anyway back to the adventure, after touring the Red Light District, which is very touristy, yes there is a lot of sex, but very touristy, like it's the weekend sex stop for English college kids and American tourists who can't get none at home. It was kinda interesting. You know you're in the district by clearly marked posts that have red electronic lights.

Continuing on our walking trek through Amsterdam we came across the "Pancake Bakery". We ordered a pancake that was bigger than the plate, it came with with apple cinnamon ice cream and cinnamon liqueur, also we had the Dutch, another very large pancake with hot cherries, vanilla ice cream, cherry liqueur, both came with whipped cream. Very large pancakes 2 -Colin Maria -0. They won this round!

For desert Colin had a Wieckse Witte, a white beer & Maria had a Cider.

Continuing along to get to know they city, we came across a HUGE parking garage for bikes. There were thousands of them!

After stopping into the hash, hemp and marijuana museum, we saw on a poster of a free music festival in Westerperk, a quick, ok 45 minute walk in the opposite direction of our houseboat and on the other side of the city. It was very cool! people were everywhere! Nice park too! But it was late and we had to start heading back for supper..

BTW! Here are the lights below our stairs in our houseboat.

Tomorrow's adventure takes us to a game of food roulette..

Amsterdam, have the pirates taken over?

While sitting on the deck of the house boat watching all the boats travel by through the canal, Colin & Maria had wondered that flag this was for?

Was it a pirate invasion? Was it a company logo? Nope. It's the cities flag! Nice.

A Note From the Canal

Colin & Maria write:

Ever think you’d get stuck on a busy street in London, in the rain at 4:14am? Us neither! But it happened... It’s was a small blip in the travel arrangements that mounted a small period of non-smi-liness amongst us, but things improved and away we went on Easy Bus to catch a flight to Amersterdam.

The bus driver was awesome! A Jamaican dude who loves his Rastafarian music!

It was off to Gatwick for a flight to Amsterdam that took less than 45 minutes. It took longer to get through customs and to get our backpacks.. Once arriving, a very friendly volunteer who works with the City directed us to the area of our houseboat. It was super easy to find! Here is a view from the bedroom!

This is our living area looking from the bedroom towards the kitchen.

This is one of many canals in Amsterdam.

And there are bikes everywhere! Even the men at night going to the bars ride them!

We went to get something to eat, but thought hey! Why not go to the SuperMarket and get food to cook, so we did, and we got a bottle of wine and relaxed on our houseboat in downtown Amsterdam watching the boats, party boats pass by and city lights come up..

This working clock rings every hour and on the half.

Surrounded by a gang of chickens!

Final day in London! It was a quiet day, except for the Underground ride to the London Zoo.. The train was held up because of an unattended suitcase.. British Transport frowns upon any personal belongings left behind.. No terrorists today though..

It was a beauty day to see giraffes, zebras, gorillas, komodo dragons, lions, tigers oh my! Oh ya meerkats too!

Colin & Maria also had lunch with the llama's..

And when they were having their chicken & bacon sandwich, a gang of chickens came around asking questions..



Then a really cool zoo attraction was the coatis, from the raccoon family, except these animals are day animals and they don't eat your garbage. They eat fruit and other veggies. And today was a special day, the zoo staff allowed the animals to cross the rope bridge over top of the crowd! They only do this once every month or so.. Nobody got pooped on..



Unfortunately there were no unicorns, so it was off to the Hard Rock Cafe, the first in the world and where Eric Clapton has a lifetime reservation at the bar! This place is jammed with rock n roll memorabilia! But not before getting back on the Underground, which had a delay, which backed up passengers, which made Colin & Maria feel like they were in Japan and people with white gloves had to push people onto the train so they could close the door and Colin almost got beat up.. Anyway back to the Hard Rock Cafe...

Colin & Maria sat beneath Keith Richard's guitar on the left & Carlos Santana's guitar on the right. Mick Jagger is behind Colin..

That's John Bonham's (Led Zeppelin) drum kit!

On tap for the two tired travelers was 3 Stella Artios' and 1 Corona! The food was fantastic! Maria had twisted mac with chicken & cheese with bacon and mushrooms added. Colin had a delicious open faces sirloin sandwich with brown sauce! The Hard Rock liked C&M so much, they gave them an "All Access" pass. No matter which Hard Rock they go to in the world, they get priority seating, and discounts on food!

Tomorrow is a travel day to Amsterdam. Oh boy.. Not sure how the internet will be on the house boat..

Rolling Stones, Beatles, Steve & Tag Team Hair Drying

The day in South West London started like every other, a team effort in blow drying Maria's hair. Colin would have to hold the plug while Maria's did her hair.

Then it was off to Picadilly Circus for breakfast! Picadilly is like the Times Square in New York or Young & Bloor in Toronto!

Walking to Hyde Park Colin & Maria passed through Green Park, they just happened to be on the "Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk"!

And then, Hyde Park! Hyde Park is a really nice place,

That also has a huge place in Rock N' Roll history... Many, many big acts have played here. Queen, Live 8 also one of the Rolling Stones BIGGEST concerts in 1969, where almost 500,000 people attended! This is the concert that was free, and it was also the show that the Rollings Stones played 2 days after he death of founder Brian Jones. This summer Kings Of Leon will play!

A quick drink from the horse trough, and it was off to Abbey Road! The birthday place of the Beatles albums and album covers!

When arriving to Abbey road, there was actually a line up to get your picture taken at the "ZEBRA CROSSING". You can watch the famous Abbey road crossing live! http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/
Outside the studios.. And 30 seconds from the crossing.

This is Colin pretending he's on the Bealtes cover..

Then it was off to the Thames River for tea and a piece of cake! Maria had Victoria Sponge cake with strawberry filling & Colin had Coffee Walnut! The cake was from the Borough Market, a little kiosk called The Cakehole. This was beside London Bridge.

To make it a little more romantic for the travelers, some guy showed up to play on his 12 string.. Colin didn't tip.. Beside their stoppage for tea, a neat little pub called The Anchor

It's one of London's oldest, built in 1615.. So the two stopped in for a pint!

Maria enjoyed a Pimms Lemonaide. It had real fruit! Orange, lemon, strawberry, lime, orange and a cucumber! Maria "I never ordered a drink with a cucumber before!" Colin had a Stella Artois Black, a little darker and crisper than a regular Stella.

Then it was off for a non-chalant tour around London at rush hour! Some guy yelled at Colin who was wearing a Laconia Biker Week hoodie he picked up in 2009.. Turns out Steve is from Laconia, New Hampshire!

After getting lost in the East End, and seeing some great sights along the harbour

They found a great place for a pint and a pee. The Brown Bear, they don't see many tourists in this place.. But it was really relaxing.. Colin had a St. George the Dragon and Maria had a Strongbow Cider.

To finish the day, it was back to the area near their hotel for a nice dinner at the Courtfield. This place was started by the guy who founded The Scouts. Lord Powell. Go here for great food and atmosphere! Completely Victorian dining room and fun music! Colin had the3 Chicago chicken and chunky chips, Maria savoured the steak with grilled tomato and mushroom. for drink Colin Had a Estella, GREAT beer, and a Starpramen. Maria had a glass of Jacobs Creek Shiraz and a coffee with Baileys.

Tomorrow it's off to mingle with the monkeys!

High Above London at Night!

It was off to the London Eye for a champagne experience at night!

It was a bit pricey, but if you want a different London experience this is very cool, especially at night when all of London's lights come on!

You can also do the less expensive London Eye excursion. This is a huge "ferris wheel" (for lack of better terms) that rotates non stop, It takes 30 minutes to go round and you see all of London. The pod holds about 14 and rotates with the wheel.

But first! It was off for a drink to the All One Bar, right beside the Thames River. It's a Montreal-esque feel, trendy, high class with relatively good prices! The music is from the dancey/crashy category, but this place was more dancey & less crashy..

Maria had a glass of pink spritzer & a glass of Prosecco Delle Venezia, while Colin had a Guiness Extra Cold & a pint of Sharp's DoomBar, a nice beer with good head & a soft taste.

Then it was off to the London Eye to watch the 4-D film which was unbelievable! A kiss before we get on...

And away we go!

Out comes the champagne..

Down goes the day..

and a champagne toast at the top of London.

Next adventure.. Looking for Sir Mick Jagger, The Beatles & a small London pub crawl..