I had already concluded that I would arrive at Amsterdam Central station and just need to get one of several metro lines to the nearby Amstel station. The problem was, I couldn't find the damn metro, and after wandering around the station I was told to just go to the machines and buy a ticket for Amstel. So I did that and got on a train headed for Rotterdam I think (a different city in Holland) where the first stop was Amstel. It didn't seem at all like a metro train system to me but it got me where I needed to go...
After dropping off my backpack I went back to Amstel station and got a two day metro ticket. I went up to the platform and at last saw what looked like a normal metro train. I asked one of the staff members if it would take me back to Central station but he said I have to take a bus. I got a bit angry trying to talk to the guy - particularly since I'd just taken a train to arrive here but now couldn't take one back the other way - but he just insisted to take a bus with no other explanation. So I did that, and ended up back at Central station. After walking around a little more I noticed a taped off escalator that was supposed to lead down to the metro, with one small poster saying that all lines are unavailable between Central and Amstel for about three months of upgrade work. Neither of the staff I talked to thought it was necessary to pass on that useful piece of information...
By day three my trusty umbrella had already broken, so it wasn't much fun walking around trying to keep myself and my laptop bag (which I didn't leave at the hotel) dry with half an umbrella. I walked down Damrak which is one of the main streets in the city until reaching Dam Square. I headed over to Anne Frank House to see what the queue was like. Surprisingly it wasn't too bad, until I realised the line moves really slowly. It looked like it would take more than an hour, so I soon gave up on that for the day and moved on.
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| Damrak. |
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| Dam Square. |
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| Anne Frank House. Not In Picture: The rest of the queue. |
I headed further south and passed Bloemenmarkt which means Flower Market or something like that, and then on to Rijksmuseum. The museum looked huge from the outside but it was under redevelopment so I don't know what percentage I got to see. It was quite expensive though, so they probably still charged full price :( It wasn't that great as I didn't know much of the stuff, but "The Night Watch" by Rembrandt was fantastic, it took up an entire wall. Sadly they don't let you take photographs of anything...
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| Rijksmuseum. Foreground: Dutch version of "Ich bin ein Berliner". |
I walked back towards the hotel via Albert Cuypmarkt which is like QV market but in one long street. When I got back to the hotel, my feet were even worse than Brussels, like having "friction burn" all across the bottom of both feet. Not sure if it was caused by walking in wet socks all day, or by walking on the carpet in the hotel which was new and clean, but seemed to be made of a very rough material.
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| Albert market. Hey Hey Hey! |
The television in the hotel was probably the best I encountered along the way. The MTV channel *wasn't* translated into the local language, instead they went with subtitles. There was about half a dozen other English channels too and some decent sports channel.
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