Today it was easier to stay inside. The city was covered in rain.

Sitting at the cafe on the corner of Ferdinand Bolstrat next to the Heineken Experience I watched Amsterdam life pass by the window. People on bikes talking into mobile phones, people on bikes trying to hold an umbrella against the rain and the procession of confused and lost tourists struggling with guidebooks and maps.

We’d done the museums this morning. The Rijksmuseum with it’s stash of Dutch masters and Rembrandts; the Delftware, silverware and dolls houses followed by the Van Gogh.

The rain didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the shoppers in Albert Cuypmarkt, the large open market situated in the Pijp Area which used to be a canal before the land was reclaimed. Everything was on sale there from pets to perfume.

It always seems when you travel that you find the best places to eat on the last day. Tonight we needed traditional Dutch and headed out to the Rozengracht, passed the police checkpoint testing the passing motorists for drink and drugs.

Moeders is a great place to eat. An older style restaurant offering very well cooked traditional Dutch food. It’s walls are covered with pictures of mothers who have eaten there and none of the cutlery, plates or glasses matches as they were all donated when the place opened.

I started with the Autumn Salad, ‘mixed salad with smoked ham of deer, chestnuts, red lentils, pear, quail eggs & pumpkin chips’ followed by Hotch Potch, ‘the real Dutch “stamppot” mashed potatoes with vegetables served with a sausage of the HEMA (famous department store), meatball & bacon’.

The food was stunning, the service excellent and the atmosphere wonderful. A really relaxed last evening in Amsterdam.