Have you ever
tried taking a leak in
a wetsuit? It’s very
difficult.
The suits fasten at the back and
grip your body like a stalker. Once I’ve wrestled the
thing to the ground and navigated my jogging bottoms,
Lycra long johns and swim shorts with freezing fingers,
I’m horrified to note the approach of a train bound for
Rotterdam. A passenger snaps a picture with his iPhone
and grins. I’m now comedy Facebook fodder. Excellent.
Inside the tent that he’s somehowmanaged to
assemble in around three minutes, Coen is preparing
that most Dutch of tipples: drinking chocolate, heated on
a camping stove and laced with rum.
Half an hour of chat later and we’re back on the home
straight. In the summertime, Roest – the bar in this
industrial corner – is a hipster’s paradise. Young people
with indie haircuts strum guitars and play boozy games
of volleyball on the man-made beach.
As Coen slaps the blade of his oar into the water,
a hundred starlings stop their frenzied tweeting and
take to the sky. It’s an amazing sight, the beauty of
which, under normal circumstances, would have passed
me by entirely. It’s a fine thing how easily you can get
back to nature in the heart of the most densely populated
city in Europe. I’d just recommend doing it in summer.
*
FOR T&CS SEE P187
Amsterdam
need to know
(
4.5
m
)
Depth below sea level of Amsterdam’s
Schiphol Airport
(
100
km
)
Length of all 165 of Amsterdam’s canals
put together
(
1,281
)
Number of bridges over Amsterdam’s
waterways, some of which open for ships
easyJet
flies to Amsterdam from 18 destinations.
See our insider guide on page 166. Book
online at easyJet.com
easyJet Holidays
Two nights B&B at Amsterdam’s four-star
Best Western Blue Square, departing
London Southend on 3 June, costs from
£134 per person. easyJet.com/holidays*
citizenM hotel Amsterdam City
All 215 rooms in this modern hotel have
MoodPads to control lighting and music,
and rain showers. hotels.easyJet.com
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T H E C H A L L E N G E
A M S T E R D A M
