Amsterdam

Photos to come. On a ferry between Kos and Santorini in the Greek Islands.  Satelite internet will not upload photos. Will upload ASAP!

One of the must see places on our European travel itinerary was Amsterdam, the promised land of the back packer. The difference was that this was the family version. As we walked around we could see and smell some unusual goings on and had to keep the kids moving and hope that we need not explain what was going on around us.

Thus we dodged the trams and hoards of cyclists and enjoyed the sites of the great flat land. We were amazed at the sheer number of push bikes that can be seen at all hours of the night, as witnessed after our late, or should we say early arrival in the city. Finding accommodation in the city itself proved a nightmare and we had to resort to driving part of the way back out before we found an opening.  We loved some of the bicycle family rigs with kids sitting up front and parents or grandparents pushing away behind. It certainly was a nice change from the sea of mopeds we have become accustomed to in European cities.

To answer the question posed by one of our friends, no… we didn’t go ‘window shopping’, although we did take a look around the standard shopping districts and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  For me I couldn’t help draw some parallels with Venice, but on a much smaller scale. Many pretty canals with boats of all varieties, but no gondillas. We did note that a favourite party activity is to rent a boat with or without a driver, pack a picnic and fill an ice bucket/esky and then simply cruise the canals talking, laughing and listening to music. What else would you expect for a country that exists below sea level than to enjoy the water?

On our second day we went to Anne Franks’ house.  The rooms that 8 people lived in during the German occupation are so small and the floors creak when you walk, so it is hard to imagine that they lived there for nearly two years prior to their capture without being detected. The Dutch have done a wonderful job preserving the memories of the Frank family on behalf of the millions of Jews exterminated in camps in WW2. The kids were moved by their visit and realised that it must have been so hard to live like this when we have had difficulty staying quite in hotel rooms.

Off to Belgium next on our run back to Italy for the cruise.

The Wockies