On Friday I left work a couple of hours early and headed out to Gatwick for a long weekend away in Amsterdam for my 30th. There were a good number of us making our way over for the weekend, so it was guaranteed to be a good one! It was just myself, Una and Loz on the Friday evening flight, a lot of the others had slightly earlier flights, or flying from Heathrow. But the plan was to meet up in the Dam once we got there. On arriving there, we met up with Gav at central station, then headed into town and met up with the others at Cafe 't Molentje which is Fish's favourite pub ever apparently. A small little pub, fairly central, and made for a good meeting point.

After a beer there and once everyone had arrived, we decided to head to the apartment and drop our bags. Sizi had gotten in earlier that day and picked up the key, so it was just a matter of getting there, dropping the bags, then heading out somewhere local. The apartments were in Leidseplein, which is the fairly lively area of Amsterdam. We were originally meant to have a large, single apartment which was in Amsterdam North, but last week they called and said there was a problem with the one we had booked in that the surrounding area was a temporary construction site and we'd be unable to stay there. Good timing really... a few days before we were meant to arrive. So after a few calls and emails back and forth, we managed to organise a new place to stay - two smaller apartments but quite near each other. So it worked out ok in the end. But I did have a mini panic at first thinking we'd all be stranded! So after a quick walk around the apartment and dropping our bags, we headed down the road to the pub which seemed the liveliest and busiest for a couple of drinks before calling it a night.

Saturday started off fairly early with breakfast at Sara's Pancake House - a place who know how to do decent Dutch pancakes! So a good start to the day. After breakfast, we took a walk through the streets and alongside the canals, which wind their way in and around some amazing buildings and sights. We made our way out towards Barney's Farm and chilled out there for a few hours. After Barney's we headed into the Red Light District and slowly wound our way around the streets there, taking in all the bizarre and interesting sights, of which there was no shortage of. Especially in the light of day! It's definitely the place preferably at night. We stopped off at Cafe Excalibur and upstairs to the pool room for a few games of pool there, and then headed back to the apartment for a while.

Later that evening I had organised / mentioned it to everyone that we'd be going to The Last Waterhole bar and club just down the road from where we were actually staying, which was handy. They had a live band on, and according to their slogan - rock and roll and a whole lot more. I figured some live music would be a good idea to see my birthday in. Everyone headed through there at first, but then came and went as the night went on - with the apartment within walking distance it came in quite handy. After midnight had struck and I had seen in my official birthday, everyone slow and surely started filtering back towards the apartment. Not quite wanting to go back yet, Uns and I decided on a road trip into town, via a combination of walking, rickshaw and taxi and landed up at The Doors - a bit different to the one in Edenvale, this was more like the classic Pub & Grab - a bar and coffeeshop with slightly more chilled out music. After a while there, we headed back to the apartment and met up with everyone else. So a big night for my birthday, and the best part was we still had the whole of Sunday and most of Monday there!

Sunday was a slow start to get everyone going, but once up and ready we made our way down the road to get something to eat, and decided on a pizza place for lunch, which was just what we all needed in our fragile states. From there, we decided on a canal boat ride around the city, probably the best way to see things and could hop off at a few places along the way if we wished. We went past the Heineken Museum (where Si, Suzie and Will left us), then stopped off at the Rijksmuseum and Museumplein which is home to the massive I Amsterdam sign... a classic photo opportunity. After that stop, it was back into the city centre and a stop by the Hill Street Blues Bar which was also on the list of things to see, so named because it's next door to the police station. Everything in that place is decorated with graffiti, not just the walls, but everything and everywhere you look. Different and cool.

Afterwars we hopped around a few pubs and bars in town, took a walk through the old town and Red Light District again, and then headed back to the apartment. By now we realised that Will had broken the heating somewhere in the apartment... no one really knows how, except that he turned it down and somehow that caused it to break. So needless to say he wasn't very popular, despite claiming all he did was turn it down. And it's not exactly like it's all that hot outside either :(

Yesterday we started off with breakfast from a local place down th road, then another easy going walk through town which never gets tiring really, just taking in the sights and sounds. A very chilled out afternoon, considering we all had flights to catch at some time or another that afternoon. Eventually the time came to make our way to the airport, said our farewells and good lucks for the week ahead, and headed off to get the bus to the airport, then to Gatwick, then finally home. Without any doubt, it was Domino's takeaways for dinner last night - no ways there was going to be any effort at trying to cook something!

A brilliant birthday weekend away - thanks to all for coming, hope you had as much fun as I did. Now to try and get through the rest of today, which isn't going to fun! But well worth it :)