If you read all this, have a gold star

So, wonderful Amsterdam. Am on a real holiday comedown. Just really do not want to be back, want to still be in the massive Executive Suite we got upgraded to, watching crappy MTV shows and laughing at Dutch accents (sorry, I can't help it) Flight out was perfect, and getting upgraded was totally the icing on the cake! Can't actually remember what we did on Friday, went to the Winston for a burger and a drink, then back to the hotel for a big smoke and I think that was it!!

Saturday got up and went to Barney's Uptown for breakfast which was yummy! Went for a walk around the Noordermarkt because I wanted to see if we could find a cine camera but had no luck. Went on the Woonboot Museum (My Dutch spelling is awful by the way, in English Woonboot = Houseboat) which was interesting, Andy blatantly trying to chat up the girl behind the counter (So, do you live on a houseboat?) Like he gave a shit, he hates the idea of a houseboat!

Then we went to a museum called Electric Ladyland, the first museum of fluorescent art. It was crazy, run by this ageing hippy, and I mean hippy, American with a real Jimi Hendrix obsession, I've never met anyone like him before. So anyway, this place was crazy, with inspiration from Hinduism and stuff, I took some photos but I'm not sure how good they are! Half the 'museum' (for museum read, shop basement) looked like LSD puke and the other half was all rock and other fluro stuff from back in the day, was actually really really interesting, and he takes you down there privately, so it was just me and Andy in this basement with the hippy, wish we'd been stoned, I would've stayed all day! But it was good, I genuinely felt like I'd learnt something, and it was cool just to meet a real hippy-type! He kept saying stuff like, that's trippy shit man!

Then Saturday night we had tickets to the annual Museumnacht, where 40 odd museums in the city open between 7pm and 2am and put on special displays and tours and stuff, plus free transport throughout the city, which we took advantage of, getting on the metro instead of walking 300 metres! So we queued to get into the Artis Zoo which was kinda cool I guess, seeing the lions in the dark was the best bit. Then we went to Hortus Botanicus, which Andy loved being a tree hugger. Then we went for dinner at Cafe Bern, yummy yummy fondue! We headed to the Filmmuseum on the outskirts of the Vondelpark as you could get married for one night, but there was a massive queue and you had to dress up and it was all slightly naff looking so we left and Andy dubbed us man and wife in front of a rather stinky pond - how romantic!

Back to the hotel for more smokage and sexage. Watched the Descent as well which was kinda scary and whilst flicking saw the video for a track by a Swedish artist called Trentemoller, the song's called "Moan", you have to go watch the video on YouTube, it's based on the story of Laika, and I can't help but cry everytime I see it. I just feel so sad and hear the words, "Laika died within a few hours of stress and overheating" in my head, it just makes me feel so so sad, like I know, science and all that bullshit, but poor little doggy. The lyrics fit so perfectly with what you can only imagine Laika might have been thinking, (Yes, I have a Laika obsession.)

Sunday was our two year anniversary type thing so we ordered breakfast to be delivered to our room but when Andy answered the door he decided the tray was too big for him to manage and asked the fella to put it on the bed, where I was naked, thanks Andy, so I had to pull the duvet up to my nose and lie very still! But that was yummy, seemingly Dutch people eat bread with chocolate spread and chocolate sprinkles, like, what the hell?! Anyway, we lazed around and had breakfast then got ready and headed back to the zoo as we could get free entry to one of the museums participating in Museumnacht, so we did that, which was kinda fun. I gave Andy the space pen which I decided to just get engraved with "AF loves AH". My anniversary present was a stuffed elephant from the zoo, which is so soft and snuggly.

Went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, which I'm wondering whether it will turn into a yearly occurance as we went to the Hard Rock in London for our anniversary last year. We decided that when/if (though mostly when) we get married, we'll stay in the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, then spend a fortnight in an apartment in Amsterdam, then a week on a beach. Dreams.

Then yesterday we got up and checked out and were strolling round the town when this siren started going off, it freaked the shit out of me. Everyone else was just being really normal and ignoring it, but sirens and alarms really freak me out for some reason, sense of impending doom I think, even if I know it's just a test. So anyway, it turns out that on the first Monday of every month at 12noon the Netherlands tests all it's sirens. Wish we'd known! Anyway, after that little episode, we got the tram to the Heineken Experience only to discover that it's closed for refurbishment until next May - bastards. So we just got the vlaamse frites with fritesaus and chilled on a canal boat for the rest of the day.

Flight back was a bit bumpy which I didn't like much. Then got shouted at by some rude foreign bloke at the airport for taking a few seconds extra at the ticket machine trying to get the cheapest and correct tickets - fucking impatient twat. Then we got on the wrong train.... 3 times! So instead of it taking an hour to get home from gatwick, it took twice as long, not a happy bunny. Then some other stupid person had a go because the doors on the train weren't opening, "Press the button" came her sigh, despite the fact we fucking were, the driver just hadnt released the doors yet, but it set me off, final straw and I went into a major rant, seriously, why don't people just keep their gobs shut? So, that kinda spoilt the end of the weekend a little which was a shame. And now i'm just soooo tired, and trying to avoid unpacking!