This was my first trip abroad with my friends Sean and Alex.  Because Alex had recently moved to Newcastle rather than flying from Liverpool we decided to get the ferry to Ijmuiden from 'The Toon'.  At the time we went most of the city was being dug up as The Netherlands was hosting the Euro 2000 football tournament in only a few week's time.  Despite the disruption we had a tremendous time in the city but felt that we didn't give ourselves enough time there.  We had to get our ferry back to Newcastle all too soon, but with Sean and Alex around there was never a dull moment!

A full write up from my travel diary will appear here in due course along with a photo gallery.