Amsterdam

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Arrived at Schipol airport in Amsterdam in the middle of the day, giving us plenty of time to catch a train to Centraal Station and find our way from there to our hotel (St. Christopher's at the Winston - comfortable, and centrally located, but with some very odd and distracting 'artworks' in each of the rooms. They see this as a drawcard - we weren't so sure.)

After a quick rest, we wandered out to Dam Square to join up with a free walking tour we'd seen advertised in one of the brochures we picked up. This went for about three and a half hours, and gave us a good overview of the main sights in Amsterdam's central area. Our guide, a young Scottish guy now living in Amsterdam and working as a tour guide purely for tips, was knowledgeable and entertaining, giving us plenty of historical facts and fun anecdotes everywhere we went.

On our second (and only full) day in Amsterdam, we walked over to the Zeeburg region, to find where we had to catch the bus from the next day (and established that we'd take a tram next time!), and from there continued on to look at the area around Museumplein (so named because of the four museums around the square). We spent some time in the Van Gogh museum, which holds the largest collection in the world of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings, then wandered home via Rembrandtplein, a buzzing area full of cafes and restaurants.

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Photos

St. Christopher's at the Winston
Inside our room at the hotel, with the weird light-box artwork of knees with ears.

Dam Square
Right near our hotel, and the starting point for the walking tour.

Spui
A square in the centre of Amsterdam, known as a place for book-lovers - there are a number of bookshops around the square, and a book market is held there every Friday. The square is also known for its history as the meeting place of the 'Provo' counterculture movement, who gathered around the statue of the young street urchin that you can see on the left hand side.

Multatuli
Statue of Multatuli, a well-known Dutch author. The guy on the left is our tour guide.

Singel 166
Apparently the narrowest house in Amsterdam. (although there appear to be a few competitors for the title.)

Museumplein 2
Rijksmuseum in the background.

Rembrandtplein
A 3D scuplture version of Rembrandt's famous painting 'The Night Watch', in Rembrandtplein.