Life In Amsterdam - Confused Julia

I’ve been in Amsterdam for nearly two weeks now. My, how that time has flown.

I’m here for the whole month of November house- and dog-sitting and it’s amazing how quickly you can spend whole days doing nothing at all when you have your own house and daily routine with dog walks thrown in.

Everything you have heard about the weather in Amsterdam is true: it is wet and cold and windy (and for someone from Manchester to be saying that, you know it has to be pretty bad!). And yet that doesn’t seem to detract from the prettiness of the city or the friendliness of the locals. But it does mean that when you have a house with central heating and a TV full of movie channels, it makes it extremely hard to want to go out and brave the elements.

So, how have I been spending my days in this cosmopolitan city, I hear you ask?

By taking long walks in the Vondelpark, strolling along canals (usually hurriedly due to the rain), eating free cheese samples at the many cheese shops (yes! they have FREE CHEESE! can you freaking believe it?), drinking Dutch and Belgian beers, cooking delicious food and desserts in my own kitchen and eating fries. Lots and lots of fries.

For years, I believed that Amsterdam was somewhere I could see myself living one day, even though I’d never visited the city. Now that I’m actually here, living a pseudo-normal life in Amsterdam, that still remains to be true. It’s a welcoming, eclectic and full of wonderful people.