I AMsterdam at least that's what's on the sign

---

Amsterdam it is then, after a bit of debate as to where I would disappear for a weekend Amsterdam came up the winner. Mind you it would appear that half of England also decided that it would be a good idea to go to Amsterdam for the weekend as well. They're a novel bunch of tourists the English, what better would you like to do when you're in another country but sit around in an Irish pub and drink pints. My luck of choosing nice hotels from the internet may be a bit on the decline here in Amsterdam. While I wasn't really expecting miracles for the overpriced faux hotel I'm staying in, I can see why there were no photos of the rooms on the internet. But if it's location you're after then this place is right in the centre of the red light district where you can find everything that you need and some things that you don't really need as well.

One of the things that one does when you arrive in a strange city is try and get your bearings, this is also handy when trying to locate your hotel after strolling aimlessly around the burbs. Fortunately there's a tour that you can go on through the Red Light District, and an hour after arriving I was off wondering around town learning about my home for the next few nights. Not a bad investment for 10 euro, oh and the tour even came with an Aussie accent. But I did learn that the girls in the window will charge you about 60 euro for fifteen to twenty minutes of your time and that it's not a really good idea to take photos of them. Handy things to know when wondering the streets of a city that seems like Disneyland for adults, especially the don't take photos of the window displays piece of advice.

Being in the almost smart class for english I missed out on reading the Diaries of Anne Frank while at school. But one of the Kiwi wontok said that I should add it to my list of sights if I end up in Amsterdam. Fortunately there's a place to get coffee right next door with free internet, if by chance there's a line up. But for me my timing was near impeccable as I walked straight up to the door and got straight in. The line was around the corner by the time I came back out an hour or so later. A visit to Anne Frank's house is more thought provoking than I was expecting, it sort of sneaks up on you as you move through the displays. With the final clincher being when you learn that she died a month away from freedom. I've now added the Diaries of Anne Frank to my list of books to read next.

Next on the list of places to escape from the cold and the drizzle at was the Vincent van earoff museum. Apart from Sunflowers and Irises, Van Gogh also was a prolific letter writer. Mainly to his brother Theo, who is buried beside him in France. In his letters to his brother, of which they have a wide selection on display, Van Gogh did sketches of his paintings. It was really neat to see the sketch of the painting in the letter and displayed above it the painting that he was referring to. The other bonus was the Alfred Stevens display, yep I hadn't heard of him either til now, but he was into realism painting in a big way. It was an unexpected and enjoyable bonus. One thing I did notice though is while half of England was touring the Irish pubs of Amsterdam, the other half of Europe, mainly the Italians, Germans and Spanish were touring the museums of Amsterdam.

Souvenir shopping in Amsterdam is a novel experience in itself, your choice is pretty much limited to clogs, something that if you had a police charge sheet it would say drug paraphernalia, or well it's a family show so lets just say that's there's more shops selling DVD's and things made of plastic and rubber than anywhere else on the planet. Which does help your navigation around the streets, to get back to the hotel it was turn left at the ipod attachment shop and right at the jewelery for more places on the body then you thought possible place and just down the road past the Irish pub is the hotel. Doing the aimless wonder down the DVD, accessories and paraphernalia street I discovered a tea shop. Yep those leaves that you put in hot water rather than smoke through water like at every coffee shop in town. As with a few shops here they have a museum upstairs in this case it was a coffee and tea museum. Just like the vodka museum I decided it wasn't really worth the walk upstairs. But up the back of the shop there was all these old coffee pots and jugs for sale, that by the look of them didn't quite cut it as museum pieces. Included amongst this little hoard was an old enamel sign for a now defunct brand of tea and coffee for the princely sum of 15 euro. Guess what I'm now the proud owner of, oh and note to sell when buying a souvenir it's a good idea if it fits in your bag. But after I got it back to Paris I managed to "find" a few bits of cardboard to wrap it in for the long flight back to the island.

Once a year in Amsterdam they have what's called Museum Night where the museums in town open up from 7pm til 2am. There's all this entertainment at the museums and free public transport. Conveniently this was on the Saturday night that I was in town. After surfing the net and finding out some more about it like where to buy tickets it was off to Leidseplein I go. After guessing the right tram stop and extracting some more euro from the hole in the wall I went in search of the ticket place. Now when you're in a strange town and you want to know directions to something it's best to ask someone. So ask I did, unfortunately the two police outside Burger King were as helpful as well you know. It went along the lines of "excuse me do you know were this place is", showing them the address I had written down. "This is Leidseplein" was the reply, "what about the ticket place" "um we're not sure but this is number 6", ok so I ask "do you know where number 26 is?" "um no we don't" was the reply. So I went for a walk diagonally across the street and there was the sign for the ticket place, how easy was that. Hopefully they won't have a crime spree there cause the police won't know where it is, but burger king is safe. Unfortunately there was also a woman there with a Museum Night t-shirt on saying that the event had sold out. Time for plan B, Boom Chicago which is an improv comedy show that's been running for more than a few years in Amsterdam. First tip if you arrive just before the curtain goes up the tickets are 5 euro less. It turned out to be not a bad show, if you like your American improv comedy that is. There's also a bit of audience participation to help things along, but it did provide a few laughs.

Escaping from Amsterdam back to Paris was just as easy as getting there, I'm a bit of a convert to train travel in Europe now, much easier than jumping a cheap flight as the train stops right in the centre of town. Although it's not the best to arrive back in Paris when they have a train strike on, but fortunately the buses were still running so I managed to make it back to the oasis of the hotel ok after a bit of an aimless wonder around the train station and bus stops. Escaping from Paris to the airport was just as much fun the next day. Conveniently the strike was still on and only really affecting the line to the airport. So I jump on the same bus as the night before and head to Gare du Nord train station again. Once there there was all these helpful people handing out bits of paper explaining how to get here and there, unfortunately it was all in French. But they managed to point me in the direction of the train that was heading to the airport so I managed to make it to the Airport in time to get the big bird back home.

---

Photos

Anne Frank's house
Despite where the line up to get in is the house is where that dodgey looking guy holding the map is.

Once upon a time these windows would have had women in them.
But they are trying to clean up the area a bit and the council is buying up the buildings and installing artists in them.

The Skinny Bridge
It's meant to be one of the most photogrphed bridges in Amsterdam, who am I to break tradition.