The relaxation of our week with Oma paid off as we hit Amsterdam with renewed energy for New Years. We joined Sam and Shaun and stayed in a classic four storey canal house right in the heart of the city (pictured). We’re not 100% sure how old our house was, but the one next door was dated as 1648.
It was great to spend some more time in Amsterdam. We only popped in for a few hours back in September and so didn’t really get a chance to soak it all in. While we weren’t totally sold last time, it was great to have three days to explore the good parts of the city - in particular, it was wonderful to be able to visit the Corrie Ten Boom Museum and the Anne Frank House. We were still fairly overwhelmed and challenged by the seedy underside of Amsterdam, but at least that wasn’t our only impression.
New Years Eve itself was fairly crazy. There was only a small official firework display, because every Tom, Dick and irresponsible Harry was able to buy infinite amounts of fireworks and firecrackers and let them off to their hearts content. Walking through the streets of Amsterdam on New Years Eve was something like walking through a war zone during an air raid. There was a constant stream of deafening firecrackers being thrown across the streets, often into crowds of people. The masses were left extremely jittery and shell shocked.
All in all, it was a great New Years. As an aside, Amsterdam 'the day after' is quite a sight with rubbish and soggy firecracker debris lining the streets.
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