Amsterdam

Hi All,

Well, I have made it in one piece to Amsterdam! The flight was actually not as bad as I thought it would be - they keep you entertained by feeding you lots, and everyone has their own tv screen in the back of the seat in front, on which you can play movies-on-demand. I managed to squeeze in 6 movies plus had a few hours of sleep.

I had a couple of mishaps getting to my hotel in Amsterdam.
1. After having to buy something to get some change to buy a train ticket to Amsterdam Central Station, I had to ask the lady at the info desk where to catch the train from as the timetables and signs were just too confusing for me.
2. As the train approached Central Station, I stood up to put my bag on my back (thought I better do it before the train stopped as it takes me a while to find the coordination to lift the 20kilos onto my back and didn't want to miss my stop) however, as the train was still moving and with the momentum of the pack, I actually lost my balance a little and nearly ended up in the lap of the man who was sitting opposite me! He caught me though before I fell!
3. It took a little while to figure out where to buy a tram ticket from, but found my tram quite easily and got off at my stop uneventfully.
4. Spent the next 20 minutes or so wandering the streets trying to find my hotel which, according to the directions was only a 2 minute walk away (it actually is only 2 minutes away, once you know where you're going).

I think the maps of Amsterdam are defective. I'm sure there are streets here that aren't on the map. And just when I think I've got it figured out, and I know where I'm going, I realise that I'm actually travelling on a different street and in the opposite direction to what I thought I was! I seriously didn't think I was that bad at navigation, but I have so far gotten off-course about 5 times. Very confusing.

So after I found my hotel yesterday, and I was seriously starting to smell and in need of a good wash (after the 27 hours of flying and airports and the sweating from lugging my pack around), I was told that my room wouldn't be ready until 2 o'clock. So I headed to the Rijksmuseum (on Kim's advice), to check out Rembrandt's The Night Watch. So I headed to the museum (found it easily I might add) and spent a few hours looking around at the artistic history of The Netherlands. I then went back to the Hotel (it was 3 0'clock by then) and decided to have a snooze for an hour before having a wash and going out to dinner. My one hour snooze turned into 7 hours, so I decided to skip dinner and had a shower and went back to bed.

So today I felt much better and refreshed after a good night's sleep and headed to the booking office to book a tour of the red light district tonight. Unfortunately, as today is memorial day, there was no tour tonight. Bummer. So consequently I have time to type this blog and check my email tonight (not much email, please email me or leave your comments here, or I will start to feel unloved). After that I checked out Anne Frank's house (got lost on the way, and had to wait an hour in line). If anyone is planning on visiting Amsterdam, this is one you should definitely visit. I haven't read the book, but the tour was still very moving, and I'm going to have to read it in the near future, I think.

After lunch, I went to The Van Gough museum. I actually enjoyed this museum better than The Rijksmuseum- mainly because I liked the art work better. It of course featured his Sunflowers as well as many, many, many, many of his other works, and the works of some of his artist mates. My favourite was one of an almond tree in blossom that he painted as a gift for his brother when his nephew was born.

I also managed to squeeze in time to see Dam Square and the National Monument today. I have photos which I was going to download but I can't see anywhere on this computer where I can plug my camera into, so that will have to wait until another time.
Tomorrow I start my cycling tour. I just hope that I can find where we are supposed to leave from. I checked it out today, and I think I know where it is... hopefully my next blog will be about the tour and not say "I missed the barge".

Love,
Lis x.