Amsterdam

Despite arriving in Amsterdam from Maastricht, we were again blown away by all the bikes in town. Not only were we having to watch for cars and trams before crossing the road, mainly you had to watch out or the bikes. Then there is the multi storey bicycle park at the train station!
Surviving the crazed cyclists, we got to our hostel which is actually a house boat on the docks about 10 minutes walk from the train station. Checking in we met our host, Corrie, who was super-excited to have Australians on board, and promised us the best room on the boat, one of only two with private shower! The hostel (Nova Vita) was great, not just because it’s a boat, small rooms, great breakfast and a self serve bar with 1.50 Heinekens!

Being unusually motivated for us, we spent our first night on a walking tour of the Red Light District. The Red Light District was what I expected with the lights and windows, however I had imagined it to be all on one street, rather than the series of lanes and alleys that it actually is. The tour was good to do as it gave a bit of background into the district, basic services start from 50 euros and the oldest working girl is a mere 86. There are 5 windows that were opened to have men in them for the ladies to visit. When these were introduced, about 1.5 million men applied for the 5 positions, but the windows were only open for about half an hour. We also saw a well hung gnome, the condomerie and all sorts of other items in shop windows! The tour finished in a pub where we got chatting to a group of aussies from the tour and ended up having a number of beers and bit of a late night.

Next morning we were up for the breakfast on the boat and the free city walking tour. Christine, not feeling the best opted out of the tour. It was a 3 hour tour which due to a delayed start and a break took over 4 hours plus another hour or so in a pub afterwards! Was well worth the investment however. The guide was amazing, an Australian girl who has been in Amsterdam for 5 years.
Starting in the Dam near the national monument we visited the main areas of Amsterdam and heard countless stories. This included Neumarkt, Royal Palace, canals, the widest bridge and narrowest house, bikes, coffee shops, the Old Church, New Church and hidden church, public urinals, bikes, hash museum, leaning buildings, old prisons, Chinatown, the oldest Buddhist temple in Europe (built 2002) and bikes!

After the tour and a beer with the guide and a few of the aussies, we headed to dinner in a restaurant recommended by Corrie, and not to far from our boat. The food was good, not too busy and we were able to sit at a table outside on the foot path watching the bikes and boats cruise past. After dinner we went for a walk, through the red light district and had a coffee and muffin in a coffee shop. It was bit of a quiet night, tomorrow is Fri 30th April, also known in Netherlands as Queens Day.
Queensday started being a bit colder than the past few days which was a bit disappointing. Wearing a jacket and carrying a self serve Heineken we headed out at about midday. We had no plan for the day, just wonder around the city, canals and parks and see what happens. We started around Waterlooplein Square, which was crazy. A big DJ stage and people partying everywhere, by the look of some of them they had been there since the night before. There was a huge cheer as the sun came out followed by a wave of orange as everyone took off their jackets to reveal their orange clothing. It was here that Christine was crowned as the Inflatable Queen of Amsterdam.
The canals were full of boats acting as overcrowded party cruisers. Some small boats looked like they had crammed about 100 people on board. We continued wandering and found ourselves in Vondelpark. This park is normally one of the prettiest in Europe, today however it was the sight of thousands of stalls run by kids and families (think car boot sale). There was everything from home cooked cakes, second hand clothes and toys. The most interesting were where groups of kids were doing songs, dances, play’s or pay to throw items (water balloons, tomatoes, eggs, cake) at them stalls. There was also a family dog to be patted for 20p. It was great to see all the family’s involved in the day. We also got chatting to a couple of local old guys, who were kind enough to give us a couple of cans of beer in the park.

Heading back into town we were looking for something for lunch. We found a thai restaurant with a stall selling spring rolls which were good and continued looking but found a band playing in the street. They were really good, and we ended up buying the CD they had with them. Next stop was at a pub, outdoor tables by the canal and a bbq cooking burgers in buns. We sat and ate burgers and beer by the canal and watched the jazz band playing on the street.

The rest of the night we wandered back through the city, dodged all the rubbish and empty cans on the street. A few more drinks in some of the big squares, wandered through the red light district again and pizza and chips on the way home for dinner. It was a great day with so many people out for a good time!

The next day we were feeling pretty good so we headed to a Windmill that actually has a brewery and bar inside it. It’s a big old windmill, so very Dutch, sadly we were too early as it didn’t open until the afternoon. We continued to wander, heading in the general direction of the Anne Frank House. We continued to dodge the rubbish in the streets and the piles of rubbish being swept up by the cleaners. The canals were also full of rubbish and tourist boats taking tours, how nice! We wandered past the Heineken Brewery but sadly did not have time to do the tour.
After a coffee we visited the Anne Frank Museum. This is an old house, where a Jewish family hid during World War 2. They were in hiding for 2 years before being found only weeks before the end of the war, only the father survived. Anne Frank was the daughter, her diary has been found and published. We have not read it yet, but probably should at some stage.
It was about 5.30pm and we hadn’t had a beer or lunch yet, so we headed for a pub by the canals. After a feed and a couple of beers it was time to wind up our stay in Amsterdam. We wandered through another quieter neighborhood, through the red light district, ate brownies and made our way to our houseboat for our final night.
The next morning we were up for breakfast before heading out to the bus terminal, we had an 8 hour bus ride back to London, which included taking the bus on a massive cargo train under the English Channel.