A trip for a treat - Amsterdam.

I have just returned from 3 days exploring the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. 
I travelled there on Monday, only a 45 minute flight from London Heathrow, and settled in at the hotel which was a 20-30 minute train ride outside of the city. This was free as I crashed the room of my friend who was staying there for work. 

Tuesday 
Headed to Amsterdam on the train. 
Took 8 journeys during the trip. No late trains. Only issue was ticket machines randomly refusing my debit and credit cards - not sure whose fault!

Amsterdam Centraal station was not as hectic as I thought it would be.
Headed down a busy, tacky street called Damrak to Dam Square. 
Found the Royal Palace which was a fairly impressive building and a war memorial, which was not that impressive.

Next stop was Amstersdams Historisch Museum. The main exhibition was called 'Amsterdam DNA' and was the history of the city from the damming of the River Amstel and the early settlement to the present day. Big mixture of videos, photos, items....I'm not normally a museum lover but it was very interesting and presented in a modern way.

Some famous faces from AFC Ajax

                                                 
The entire city is built on wooden and concrete piles. Without these it would sink into the sandy ground below!

I headed for the Grachtengordel (girdle of canals). This was a really picturesque and calm area - the sights you see on postcards and on TV.

I had a delicious lunch in a Cafe called Greenwoods.

Do not go to Amsterdam if you are scared of bikes or cyclists. They are everywhere!

I spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around the pretty canals and wondering if the sun would ever come out for some perkier photos. It did not.

The 'floating' flower market, or Bloemenmarkt, was a bit disappointing. As far as I could tell there was no floating involved. The nations love of Tulips was clear though.

I was freezing cold and my feet hurt. I wandered up Rokin towards the station and headed back to Almere. On the journey I caught brief sight of this:

Had to be included for Sophie!

Wednesday
Started much the same as Tuesday but colder.
From the station I went east to the Old Jewish Quarter - the home of Amsterdam's Jews from the sixteenth century up until World War II.
On the way I passed The Amsterdam - I get the impression it is a well known ship used by the Dutch East India company during the colonial era. 

My first stop was the Verzetmuseum. Another musuem, this time outlining the development of the Dutch Resistance from the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 to the country's liberation in 1945. Information was provided in Dutch and English but I also used an audio tour too. It was really worth the visit.

An estimated 4,000 babies were born with British Fathers and Dutch Mothers once the Allies arrived!

On a sobering note - I walked passed the Hollandsche Schouwburg. It was once a Jewish theatre, but the Nazis turned it into the main assembly point for Amsterdam Jews prior to their deportation.

After a hot chocolate in a cafe to prevent serious frostbite of fingers I went back across the city centre to Prinsengracht canal to see the Westerkerk and Anne Frank Huis.

Anne Frank's House is one of the top attractions in Amsterdam. If it was anywhere else I think you'd be at risk of paying an extortionate entry free but it was only 9 euros. You basically file around the old factory offices that belonged to Otto Frank's business and then go into the Secret Annexe. The majority of the furniture has been removed and I guess this makes it easier to fit visitors in. The movable bookcase is still in place and walking through it into the Annexe is quite surreal. Some of the wall decorations still remain, including pictures on Anne's bedroom walls and lines on the wall in the Frank family sitting room showing how Anne and her sister Margot grew. Once you leave the Annexe there are displays about the fate of those who lived in the Secret Annexe and also Anne's original red diary and the subsequent notebooks she used. Photography is not permitted. I felt a bit naughty sneaking this picture on my phone:

"I'll make my voice hear, I'll go out into the world and work for mankind!"

I spent the late afternoon having a wander around the Jordaan district.

Such a pretty entrance to someone's house barge.

Low maintenance plants??

Thursday

Ahhhh the last day! I didn't really have much of a plan.

Bicycles and sunshine

River Amstel

Memorial to the dead of the Jewish resistance at Waterlooplein

"If my eyes were a well of tears, I would cry day and night for the fallen fighters of my beloved people".

Cute street near Staalstraat

In the afternoon I went off to find the Vondelpark and decided to hire a bike! 

The Rijksmuseum - closed for refurbishment

Leidseplein - lively place to head in the evening.

So....you might think that my trip only included historical, sensible places. 
I did have a stroll through the red light district, not really sure what I thought of that.
I also wasted 4 euros visiting the worst museum ever - Sex Museum on Damstrat. Here is a lasting memory of that:

All in all, I really enjoyed Amsterdam, despite the cold. I'd like to go back in the summer one day when the canals are a bit brighter and flowery.