te huur

Have I mentioned before that it doesn't take much to make me and my (girl) friends disslove into giggles? When we were strolling around in Amsterdam's red-light district on Friday night, the Mermaid launched into a little speech about how that must be what she had read about in her guide-book, an agency advising sex-workers free of charge. Coco and I exchanged puzzled looks and didn't know what the f she was on about until we realised she was pointing to a sign reading "te huur" which means "for rent" in Dutch but sounds remarkably similar to what would translate to "the whore" in Austrian dialect. Needless to say, we relentlessly slagged her off all weekend when we kept seeing "te huur" signs at every street corner. The last straw was when we checked out from our hotel and the word "kamerhuur" (which I'm guessing means "roomrate") appeared on the bill. Admittedly, the joke did get a bit lame but we could happily have carried on in this manner for weeks, no prob.

Apart from a visit to the Van Gogh museum and an exhibition called "Fashion DNA" which I visited on my own, the girls having to hunt down an elusive pair of skinny jeans for the Mermaid, we restricted our programme to open-air activities like walking all over town, visiting various markets (including an impromptu cheese picnic), dodging bicycles coming from all directions and checking out interesting eateries. The first night, we had a somewhat greasy culinary experience at a Surinamese restaurant which was recommended in Coco's guidebook. After that, we decided to trust our eyes and stomachs instead. Our absolute favourite was a café called "De Taart van mijn Tante" where the décor was beyond cool. I wish there was a café like that in Vienna.

I resisted the temptation to buy a bag and thankfully got to live out my cravings via the Mermaid who bought a cool messenger bag with flowers and butterflies (v. top right photo below).

Thanks to a branch of Waterstone's I did actually get a free (shopping) bag which came with the November U.K. Marie Claire. It's the pink one on the left you can see in yesterday's post. Other purchases: a black sleeveless lambswool/angora tank top with detachable "necklace", an elastic hairband, a pair of *gasp* leggings (I hated them in the 80ies, but these are of a much thinner material), a calendar with glamorous 50ies fashion photos and lots of chocolate. Coco (2 pairs!) and the Mermaid boosted the local shoe retailers. Speaking of footwear: we noticed that skinny jeans and boots must be obligatory in the Netherlands right now. Most women were as skinny as their jeans which we attributed to all that cycling they do. Mind you, those who were not wearing boots braved the autumn winds in flip-flops or sandals, which was somewhat incongruous but not all that unusual for anyone who has ever been to England in winter and seen ladies wearing a woollen winter coat with bare legs sticking out underneath. Brrrr.

For some reason, we seem to attract marathons. When we were in Rome in March, there was a marathon and some "marathonistas" stayed at our hotel. Same in Amsterdam last Sunday. Any suggestions for a nice marathon venue in spring?

Amsterdam wildlife...