Awesome Adventure 2016: Amsterdam

We spent last Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Amsterdam. The bus ride to Steenwick and train into Amsterdam went smoothly. We have now mastered the ticketing system and managed to time our trip with a direct train, so there was no need to change at Zwolle. We caught the light rail out to the same Holiday Inn that we had stayed at on our trip in through Amsterdam. Sophie and I went for a wander around separately to John and Will, who wanted to spend the afternoon mostly in bike stores.

On Friday, we decided to do the 'Hop on Hop off' bus/boat. The commentary wasn't as good a the one that we did in Paris 4 years ago but because it was a rainy day, the bus/boat was an easy way to get around. The trip included a free tour of a diamond making factory and we too Sophie and Will to the Hard Rock Cafe. We had to explain the significance, as the kids seem to know more about Starbucks than the Hard Rock Cafe. We also visited as many sports stores as Will could fit into the day, along with a walk through Vondel Park. Will even found a bike store that he had seen from the light rain and spent a long time sussing out the road bikes. He has swapped from liking mountain bikes in Scotland to road bikes in flatter places. For dinner, we went to a supermarket and stocked up on salad and packaged sausage rolls, meat balls, etc...I even found something that resembled baked beans for Sophie for breakfast the following morning.

On Saturday we went to the flower market first - using the last of Will's 24 hour light rail ticket. We were a little disappointed by the lack of fresh flowers but the selection of bulbs was spectacular - and a great canal-side setting. We made the most of our 24 hour 'Hop on Hop off' ticket with another ride around the canals. We had baguette, cheese and salami for lunch beside a canal and spent the afternoon in the Rijkmuseum. The opportunity to see a Monet and a large number of Rembrandts was fabulous. There were also many works by Dutch artists and a focus on the seafaring background of the Dutch, with a large number of model boats. The kids activity book included a lot of space to attempt to copy the masters. The following morning we caught the light rail back into Centraal Station and then a prebooked Bahn (German) train to Frankfurt. While we waited for the train, Will tracked down a piano in the centre of the station and decided to perform. There was a sign saying that the piano was for community use - but was sponsored by Gay Pride! Sophie and Will started to attract a crowd - so, passed the piano over to others.