July 25th - clear heads + crowds = a less fun Amsterdam

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July 25th



Happy Birthday Janet



Woke early in the morning and saw the rush of activity; Matthew getting ready for work, George up and about with Bev wrangling him and sorting him out some brekkie.



I’m off to Amsterdam today to be a tourist and probably buy lots of CDs! We looked up the Anne Frank house on the net last night because buying a ticket online helps avoid queues but it is already sold out for the entire day! Everyone else’s summer holidays are obviously in full swing… maybe it’s a good thing I’m not staying in Europe too much longer, it’s due to get crowded!

Holland is quite impressive really; its flatness means that you can see for miles and miles (tree and windmill permitting) which makes the train trip from Alphen aan den Rijn to Amdam very picturesque.

Amsterdam is just as beautiful yet touristy as I remember it being, though I was saddened by how much rubbish there seemed to be floating in some of the canals.



Risked my still unpredictable stomach to have chips with mayonnaise & ketchup (because you have to), went to check out Madam Tussauds but the massive queue put me off. Headed along to Concerto, a massive music store that is essentially 4 music stores all leading through into each other… it wasn’t quite as impressive as I remembered… maybe sometimes you just shouldn’t go back. All the same I spent a couple of hours there and spent too much money. Just stopping now for an espresso with fruit juice chaser.

~Later~

Amsterdam is too damned busy now, the army of nice quiet bikes has been joined by various loud and annoying motorbikes and scooters that I’m sure weren’t here last time I visited (or at least not as many of them were here), there also seem to be a lot more loud, fast motorboats in the canals.

Yep, definitely summer holiday time, there are queues everywhere and even the Vondel Park is so full of doped up tourists that you can’t find a patch of grass much bigger than your derrière to sit down!

Bought a bunch of souvenirs for the family, fended off a homeless guy who approached me for money as soon as I stopped to look at a map (oh I’m sure he’s not targeting me because I’m a tourist… of course not), bought a Stephen King book (the Dead Zone) which will probably be my ‘on the way to NZ’ book and then headed back to Alphen.

~Later~

A delicious home cooked pasta with salad and beers and we had a listen to some of my CD purchases and some nice socialising then I got online and booked my accommodation for Paris, a few doors down from the train station. It’s odd that it’s available actually because the Tour de France is apparently on then, plus it’s not too expensive (by Paris’ standards).

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Photos

I Amsterdam
crowded like you wouldn't believe

Reading jukebox
kind of interesting idea. kids could choose a book and this woman read it, while another lady acted out the action