Amsterdam

Wednesday Amsterdam

Our first mishap of the trip. I gambled on the train to Amsterdam going from Brussels Gare Nord where other Amsterdam trains go from, but was wrong. By the time we took the metro to Gare Midi we had missed the train. We had to take the next intercity train which stopped, yep you guessed it, at Gare Nord where we started. Didn't really matter -- we were only 30 minutes later than expected. Walked the 20 minutes to the hostel, and luckily our room was free. Walked around Amsterdam all afternoon looking at the canals, old bicycles with incredible array of seats, carriages and luggage compartments, Rembrantplein with its huge variety of pubs and restaurants, the flower market, Dam Square with the Royal Palace and Cathedral, the West Kirk, and a tour of Anne Frank's house. More canals and bridges on the way home. The hostel was quiet. Couldn't find a convenience store, and didn't stumble through any red light district. Amsterdam is named after the dam built across the Amster canal which is still the main one today. Now Dam is the name given to that district and square in the city.

Thursday Amsterdam

Awoke to a genuine red sky sunrise much to Mandy's delight. Finally woke Ashley. When the guy at breakfast said "you must be the Aussies" he dived under the counter and pulled out the vegemite for our toast. Caught the train to Delft amid much confusion about a train accident being spruked in Dutch. However we did arrive, and walked around the charming little town -- lots of canals, bicycles and markets of course. Couldn't find the pottery factory, but did see lots in the shops. Right on midday the town hall bells broke into “You are my Sunshine”, and “Yesterday”. Took the train back to Amsterdam and we revisited our favourite bakery for lunch - lovely pizza rolls. Walked through the upmarket shopping district down to the van Gogh Museum where we spent a couple of enjoyable hours looking at the “harvest”, “sunflowers”, “wheat fields”, “olive grove” and a number of self portraits, amongst a lot of others, together with some Monet's, Gauguin's, Picasso's and Toulouse-Lautrecs. Walked home in the dark. Finally found a supermarket after asking, and had a microwave dinner. Dutch is a very angry sounding language, but very much like pidgin English so easy to understand, Unlike France and Italy where they know a bit of English and will try if you can't be understood, Dutch use English as a genuine alternative and move between the two without being insulted. Surprised that there were almost no supermarkets and convenience stores, and very few fast food shops. Really liked Netherlands more than Belgium, Spain and France. Lovely culture. Obliging people.