25th Nov - 7th Dec. With Debbie in Amsterdam, then cold weather in Schagen.

Debbie came to stay with us for a week and we started in the red light district of Amsterdam. There were a few ladies sitting in their windows, but it was quiet here this morning.

The Royal Palace (Koninklijk Paleis) dominates Dam Square, and is an impressive building. The old centre of Amsterdam is quite compact, and we enjoyed exploring it.

We decided to continue walking round the city, rather than taking the horse and carriage.

This white house is called the Kleine Trippenhuis, and is one of the narrowest houses in Amsterdam. Legend has it that it was built for Mr. Trip's coachman, who was so taken aback by the size of the new family mansion, that he exclaimed he would be happy with one no wider than the Trips' front door - which is exactly what he got!

We had coffee at the Waag, a multi-turreted building which dates from the 1480s, when it was one of the city's fortified gates. After that it became a weighing house (waag), and is now a coffee house and restaurant. The coffee was extremely strong!

Amsterdam Central Station was built in the 1880s and is an impressive building. It took us about an hour on the train to return to Schagen

Sinterklaas came back to visit the Makado shopping centre in Schagen. His Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) band played and there were dancers too to entertain us. This week it has sadly been too cold to do much during Debbie's visit.