> The Beesley Buzz: Autumn in Amsterdam - Day 1

Autumn in Amsterdam - Day 1

Earlier this year we decided we wanted to visit Amsterdam and booked to go in October half-term. Our diary was written at the time but only just getting around to posting them up on the blog now...

Written on Monday 24th October 

We'd quite randomly decided on a trip to Amsterdam earlier in the year, before our trip to Wales, and before our trip of a lifetime to Dubai came about. Having wanted to visit the Miffy museum in nearby Utrecht and finding great value easyjet flights, Amsterdam it was.

I'd booked accommodation rather randomly by finding somewhere online and thinking that'll do. 

So yesterday we headed off from home to Southend airport feeling quite pleased with ourselves. Choosing to fly from Southend meant we'd  cheated the traffic we'd usually face when flying from Gatwick. The park and ride airport parking was also a fraction of the price we normally pay for airport parking. Queues to get through security were non-existent as it is such a small and relatively quiet airport. 

So there we were feeling very pleased that we had found a great airport for short-haul flights, when the smugness quickly got wiped away when the entire airport had completely run out of food! It seemed the most ridiculous situation - were we snowed in? No. Was this some war-torn country where supplies couldn't get through? No. Had there been some other epidemic or crisis affecting this part of the country. No. How and why was there no food available????!!! It was a mystery that we never found the answer to.

So we were left with 3 hungry children and having found both the eateries out of food, we were left with the final tuna and cucumber sandwich left on the (rather empty) shelves of WHSMITH. To share between the 5 of us. 

All wasn't lost, or so we thought, we'd just wait for our flight and buy a sandwich on board. I remember from our flight to Paris last year that there was a selection of sandwiches, baguettes and that sort of thing available - Little did we know... 

Absolutely could not believe our eyes when Easyjet came round with the snacks trolley and they too had run out of food! What was going on!

The flight is really short and we landed to a beautiful sunny October day in Amsterdam. 

We actually experienced a bit of an adventure right there in Schipol airport but I shall keep that as a party piece story to tell of another time.  
Evidence of Miffy all around - spotted this balloon at the airport

We love the challenge of finding our own way around in a new place so train tickets totalling a bargain 17.50 euro got us from the airport to our closest train stop to the hotel.  A short walk later and we found ourselves at the Westcord Fashion Hotel.

At this point I could finally feel smug as the hotel had the wow factor and our rooms were stunning.  Very stylish and contemporary.  We unpacked (didn't take long as we travelled hand luggage only) and then ate our dinner at the bar part of the restaurant downstairs. 

It was quiet and relaxed.  Although the surroundings do lend themselves to special occasions and dressing up, we had checked with reception whether we were OK with jeans and trainers as we hadn't packed any formal clothes at all and that was absolutely fine with them. 
rather strange yet 'arty' fashion decor at Westcord Fashion Hotel
Food was amazing, although rather slow, it was the kind of food worth waiting for.  I had a risotto which looked and tasted beautiful,  the boys had burgers, Miss T a child portion of fish and chips and daddy had a duck dish, again presented beautifully. 

Desserts were just as amazing with J choosing the 'Structure of chocolate',  Daddy having the molten chocolate pudding, D with Dutch apple cake , and Miss T homemade strawberry and vanilla icecream. 



These were the doors of the male and female toilets in the hotel. Strange but true!

We'd hoped to squeeze in a swim in the hotel pool but we were all too tired and it was getting late so it was off to bed.  


Other posts in this series:
Autumn in Amsterdam - Day 1  (this post)
Autumn in Amsterdam - Day 2
Autumn in Amsterdam - Day 3

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