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I'm
a 'Yellow-belly' born and bred, but now live in The Netherlands,
Amsterdam to be precise. I moved here just over 3 years ago and
live in the south of the city on the site of the Dutch Garden festival
of 1982.
I moved here as I got offered a job doing something completely different
to my profession and decided that the opportunity was too good to
miss.
Office work did not suit me at all and last year I returned to my
profession of nursing at the Vrije Universitiet Hospital of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is a great city to live in. Small and compact yet has
everything that cities much larger can boast - except now an M&S.
That was a great tragedy last December when Mark and Spencer closed
their doors for the last time.
It was a vital link for us Brits here for essentials such as decent
bacon, cheese, and pork pies. All visitors now from the UK are only
accepted with an emergency food parcel of such delights!
Eating here can be great with a vast range of restaurants but there
is no substitute for Lincolnshire sausage or pork pies with a good
pickle.
We are luckier than many ex-pats here though as we do have a shop
that stocks those particularly British items such as Malt vinegar,
flavoured crisps, Bovril and Polo mints - the British Store on Kinkerstraat
is a little oasis.
There is also a great fish and chip shop here right in the centre
of the city. Al's Plaice does all the usual stuff, chip butties,
pickled eggs and the best fish and chips this side the North Sea!
(Al's Plaice - Nieuwendijk 10) Amsterdam is about 20 miles from
the North Sea coast.
Zandvoort Aan Zee is the local place on the coast to go, great wide
open beaches, plenty of bracing sea air and on a clear day I'm convinced
there is a distant view of the beach huts at Sutton-On-Sea.
Well that's a little about me here in Amsterdam for you there in
Lincolnshire...
Are
you an ex-pat living abroad? Would you like to write a short ex-pat
diary on a regular basis? If so, we would love to hear from you.
Email us today at:
lincolnshire@bbc.co.uk
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