Sheep what?

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Dad's choice today and the maritime museum was the go followed by a night cruise on the canals. So we had a lazy morning and early lunch at home before heading out. The museum is called Scheepvaartmuseum in Dutch and the best bit is the replica of the Amsterdam tallship moored alongside. The original was wrecked off the coast of England on its maiden voyage and apparently can still be seen today at low tide. Visitors can go throughout the entire ship from the cargo holds to the Captain's cabin and kids just love seeing where the captain and the crew stayed. You can even lay down in the hammocks hung from the crew areas. It is amazing to think that on the voyage it was meant to undertake there were 357 crew and 5 passengers all crammed into this space. By comparison the cargo hold is cavernous. An enormous space for cargo shows what prolific traders the Dutch really were. During the golden years of Dutch trade, nearly all the goods traded within Europe from anywhere else came through the warehouses of Amsterdam. The vast majority of trade from Asia, the Americas and the middle east came on Dutch cargo ships just like the Amsterdam.

The museum itself is housed in a beautiful 17th century building which was originally built as offices and warehousing. There are several interactive and educational exhibits mostly aimed at the younger generations which is fine if you just want a general overview of Dutch seafaring. A strangely designed building, it is cut into 3 sections, each cut off from the other so you have to go back to the ground floor to switch between the areas. This gives a bit of a disjointed feel to the place but overall, we saw enough to get an idea of the ocean trading tradition.

After the museum, Em was a bit tired so we wandered around carrying her while she slept. We eventually stopped for some dinner at the Green Grill restaurant which was above a pub in a square full of nightlife. After a 3 course meal, we walked back to the dock to get on our riverboat. Amsterdam is not as lit up as I expected at night but the cruise was still lovely, through all the old buildings and canals and under the arched bridges. After an hour, we headed back to our apartment just as Amsterdam seemed to be coming to life for the night.

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