Amsterdam. Day 2. A planning day with a side of plumbing — the kind of day that reminds you that long-term travel is still life, just in a different postcode.

Started the day by booking the hotel for my next journey to Madrid after I’m done with Amsterdam. The itinerary is already stretching forward: Bruges and Ghent tomorrow and the day after, then Madrid after that. Booking ahead while still present — the strange temporal gymnastics of extended travel.

A stop at the grocery store — €24.89. Then packing for my day trip to Bruges and Ghent over the next two days. The overnight bag, the train tickets, the mental shift from “living here” to “visiting there.”

Then a trip to the hardware store to buy an auger to fix a clogged kitchen sink. Staying with family is great, but it does come with side quests. One moment you’re booking Spanish hotels, the next you’re on your back under a sink with a drain snake. Travel influencer content this is not. But it’s real, and reality is what these posts are for.

Palate — Loulou Pizzabar

After that, a walk along the scenic streets of Amsterdam — canals, gabled houses, bicycles, the golden-hour light that Dutch painters spent centuries trying to capture. Then dinner at Loulou Pizzabar — €61.5 for two. Good pizza on a canal-side evening. Tomorrow: Bruges.

By the Numbers

Item	EUR
Groceries	€24.89
Dinner (Loulou Pizzabar, for two)	€61.5
Total	€86.39

Hardware store cost to come.