Mia's arrival in the 'Dam

I was excited when Mia first said she had quit her job. I was even more excited when she asked if it would be possible to join Kerry and I in our van for a bit.

Kerry and Mia on the river

So we setup a rendezvous. Schipol Airport at 10am, just as Mia got off her plane. What a disaster that turned in to with Mia unable to text. Kerry and I were getting messages from friends back home saying Mia couldn't find us! Eventually we spotted our old flat-mate waving as she walked towards us.

First stop, of course, Amsterdam and all its glorious sights! Ive been to Amsterdam a few times before, twice with Kerry, but Mia had surprisingly not been. Next mission was to find a campsite. We had stayed at a campsite just out of town the previous night but it was like a tourist farm with no personality and as it turns out we would have had to get the metro system in to town anyway.

We looked for somewhere nearer the centre and found a small campsite just to the North of the city on the otherside of the river Ij. Trying to navigate to the campsite however, we stumbled upon a small industrial area where a few other vans had parked up and within 20 minutes we were galiantly walking down the road to the free ferry to the Centrum.

We sampled some of the wares in the coffee shops and had a walk around the canals, heading back quite early as Mia had travelled early morning.

The nexy day we booked ourselves on a very pleasant canal tour. An hour and a half expedition around the canals on a canal boat. There was a commentary on the PA system that highlighted places of note and some of the history of the city.

3D action in Prix D'ami

In the evening we found a great coffeeshop called Prix D'ami, just down from the central station on the Damrak. For 8 Euros we got a drink, a big burger and 3D glasses so we could lounge on bed like sofas and watch iRobot on one of the 3D screens. We spent hours there as waitresses came round and tended to everyones needs. The perfect coffeeshop!

That night Mia got her first taste of the red light district. We wandered aimlessly looking at scantily clad prostitutes try and lure in their weekly shopping money. Its always weird. But I did get to see some scantily clad prostitutes in a way thats largely accepted by other halfs.... so thats a bonus.

A morning in the Amsterdam dungeons followed the next day. I've never been to the London dungeons but have been to the Amsterdam ones before and its great. The live actors and anamatronix tell such good stories and some of the jumpy surprises can really scare you. Then the strange mini roller coaster at the end just freaks you out as the first thing it does is go up a floor like an elevator!

The weather got really nice that afternoon and we found a lovely park just south of the main city. The water in all of the little lakes and ponds seemed really high and it was nice to listen to some guys playing bongos near us.

Of course we had our fair share of feebo!