The real purpose of this trip was to complete the 2014 Amsterdam Half Marathon on the Sunday (more of that HERE), so we got an early ferry across from Dover to Dunkirk on the Saturday morning and, after a short stop off in Bruges en route for absolutely exquisite hot chocolate (made with hot milk and liquid dark chocolate; wow), we arrived in Amsterdam. First stop was the race village to pick up our race numbers and my running top, which I was rather pleased with: the system was slick and efficient, with my only complaint being the lack of information regarding parking, or indeed the absolute lack of it, near the race village. I mean, you expect it on race day but it's far from ideal to have to park a half hour walk away just to pick up your numbers. As luck would have it, we found a spare bit of pavement nearby and 'parked' the car there for a short while.
With numbers in hand, and having bought Nick a logo'd long sleeved top, we headed off to Hoofddorp, about 15 miles outside of the city, to find where we were staying: it was with an ex-pat British couple, found through Airbnb. Having used Airbnb a couple of times during our three week continental adventure, it was an odd experience previously: yes, it'd saved us a few pounds but staying in someone's spare room in a messy flat with half their family there, but doing their utmost not to talk to you, just felt like a bit of an imposition.
Fortunately, Mark & Sarah were nothing like that: both very chatty and very welcoming indeed, we felt right at home from the moment we walked through the door, with offers of tea almost immediate. Always a good start! Their home was beautiful and, while not central Amsterdam, was a fantastic and much more relaxing place to base ourselves for a few days. After a run, the last thing I want is crowds and noise! Saturday evening meant a drive into Amsterdam for a super tasty Wok to Walk dinner and back for an early night: the half wasn't starting 'til almost 1400 the following day but extra sleep is always a good thing.
Sunday dawned bright and only a little drizzly; after a gorgeous breakfast of muesli bread, fresh fruit and tea, we relaxed and prepared for a couple of hours before changing into running kit and driving to the park and ride, ready to start our race. It was looking, that morning, like the world record for the Marathon was going to be smashed, with the front runner keeping up an eye watering pace up until a few km from the end, where he, seemingly, collapsed. Fortunately for us, we weren't quite so worried about our own pace!The race was over in a couple of hours, despite a little rain and feeling pretty horrendous afterwards, and we headed back to Hoofddorp to shower, change and go out for a few celebratory beers. Sarah was kind enough to drop us at the station and recommended an utterly fantastic restaurant that did, to put it fairly simply, lots of meat. So, smoked chicken with coleslaw & garlic mayo for me; shoulder of lamb with coleslaw for Nick. And a few beers each, of course! God knows we'd earnt them.
Monday was a day off from work for both of us, fortuitously, so another lazy start, lovely (albeit lighter than Sunday's!) breakfast and a departure back to Bruges; we'd meant to go into Amsterdam and explore a little as I wanted to see the Anne Frank Museum for one, but we've decided we can make that into another trip in itself, hopefully staying with Mark and Sarah again. So, an afternoon in Bruges it was! Of course, having exerted ourselves somewhat the day before, we decided to indulge a little and shared some lovely Belgian beer and a portion of frites and mayonnaise. Oh, and a waffle a little later on too. But, with it being such a lovely day, we decided to climb the Belfry too; it was quite a notable part of the film 'In Bruges' apparently, although I have a terrible memory for films. Either way, the view from the top was spectacular and it gave my already achy legs a bit more of a workout.With the ferry back to Dover booked for 2000 that evening, we planned to make a stop at a Carrefour supermarket to stock up on Belgian beer, French wine and my absolute favourite coffee eclairs. While idly researching what else was in Dunkirk, considering its importance during the war, it turned out that there were a number of shipwrecks still in the sand between Bray-Dunes and Dunkirk that were visible at low tide. Nick attempted to check the tide times but, what with not being able to speak French, handed that task over to me and it transpired low tide for the day was about the time we were going to be around there - a very very fortunate coincidence indeed. So, after the Carrefour stop (where, incidentally, I was told that my coffee eclairs were better than the French ones - very pleased!), we drove to Bray-Dunes and walked down the beach, jumping over large puddles where the sea water had yet to drain.
For two people so very interested in history, and especially for Nick, whose grandfather was evacuated from Dunkirk, this was an incredible sight: the estimate is that there are over a dozen shipwrecks in the sand there, including two large ones (the Crested Eagle and the Devonia, both paddle steamers), many of which you can walk out to when the tide is out. We went over to a couple of them and it really was an incredible sight; a moving and beautiful way to end a weekend on the continent.
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