A couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I had some work in Amsterdam for a few days. We usually drive from as we have lots of stuff to carry with us but this time we were burden free, so decided to take the train from London. The highspeed Eurostar from London to Amsterdam is not quite up and running yet so we had to change at Brussels. Neither of us had been to Brussels before so we decided to have a wander round there for a couple of hours before catching the slower intercity train to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, this was a bit of a mistake. We hadn't looked up any information about Brussels before we left, just presuming that the station would be in the city centre. Little did we know there are quite a few stations in Brussels and, with no clue as to how to navigate the city or its transport system and a very early start, we decided to skip this and head straight to Amsterdam. We couldn't get the high-speed Thalys with our ticket so had to wait an hour in the bitter cold for the next train, which stopped everywhere.
 |
| Long train = time to work and spy on new cities at high speed from the window |
When we arrived in Amsterdam we found our hotel was only a few minutes from the station and was very homely and comfortable. Although super-duper fancy hotels are fun, when you're working long hours you just want somewhere clean and comfortable. As we both had so much work on, on top of the work we were doing in Amsterdam, there wasn't much time for typical holiday-type pursuits.
If you're ever in Amsterdam I would definitely recommend eating at
La Place. It is amazing! There's so much fresh, delicious food to choose from, and the cakes and pastries are absolutely delicious.
De Beiaard Spui 30 is a great place to spend the evening with friends. It's lovely in the summer as you can sit outside by the canal and watch the world go buy. The inside is nice and cosy for colder climes, and the extensive beer menu lends itself well to lively conversations tucked away from the winter weather.
We took the train back to London via Paris as I wanted to see the
elle exhibition at the
Pompidou Centre. I found the hidden A Room of One's Own collection interesting and some of the sculptural pieces, but, on the whole, I wasn't particularly impressed by it. I was also quite surprised that you seem to be permitted to take photos of the exhibitons. There were people with their iPhones and DSLRs snapping away. I can't imagine that happening in London.
The views from the top floor of the Pompidou are wonderful, and you can see for miles. We caught it just as the sun was setting, which, of course, wanted us to run away to Paris and live the romantic Parisian dream.
Trying to find vegetarian food in Paris is difficult and as we only had a few hours there we ate at the Pompidou cafe. The food was really good and the patisseries were very yummy. Plus the people watching from there is great! I don't know if you're similar to me, but I find people fascinating. I don't like to judge them, or make sarcastic sartorial comments, but I love to observe and understand all of the different intricacies that make people unique yet the same.
We then walked over the Neuf Bridge to Notre Dame to hear the bells ring before heading to meet a friend for a drink. Then on to the train back to London, settling down with some work.
So, there you have it. A whistle stop tour of Europe whilst still managing to do just as much work as I would've done at home. The advantages of being self-employed and without having to always work from 'the office'.
Do you have any must-see tips in Paris or Amsterdam? Or Brussels? I was disappointed I didn't get to see it.
Handmade by Emily Shop // Facebook // Twitter
