I got up and packed and had breakfast - included again - with two of the Irish guys who were up that early.

Back to the train station and on the train to Amsterdam.

Lots of bikes!!! (two photos)------ Trams

When I was walking back to the hostel I saw Skyler in the street.
I asked where he was going and he said that he was going to see the flower gardens.
I asked if he would be around that night and if he was I wanted to hear if they were worth going to see.
I had seen them advertised but didn’t want to use up half a day by going out there if there wasn’t much to see.
He said that he would let me know.

I checked back in to the hostel and then decided what to do next.

(two photos)-- Tanya outside the House (two photos)

Tanya with the statue of Anne Frank--- Westerkerk (two photos)

I headed straight to the Anne Frank House.
It was a bit of walk and the line was around the corner but I waited anyway.
There was no way that I was going to miss that.
It was definitely worth the wait.
The house was empty but so small.

The Frank Family

They had plaques on the walls with parts of the book on them describing the room we were in - first was her father's business - ie offices and storage rooms....

The movable bookcase

....and then when I came to the bookcase that had the secret annex behind it my heart really jumped.
I had read the book and even though you know it is a true story it is still a story.
This made it very real.

Anne's room

I climbed the stairs and walked between rooms and then I came to the room that Anne had lived in.
The pictures of movie stars she had put on the walls were still there.
They were covered in glass but she had put them there.
I brought postcards of those two spots - the bookcase and her room as they affected me the most.
I am very glad I had read the book before going there.

I then walked back towards the centre of town stopping off for French fries and mayonnaise on the way - I am sure you have seen "Pulp Fiction"

Entrance

(three photos)-Houses and Gardens inside- (two photos)

I went to a place called the Begijnhof.
It is a lovely little garden surrounded by houses that used to be a convent.
It dates back to 1465 at least.

"Oldest wooden house in Holland" (two photos)

I saw the oldest wooden house in Holland which is dated at 1465.

It was quite strange to walk through a small alley with the hustle and bustle of the tourist area behind you and then be in this very quiet place with beautiful houses and sweet little gardens but still be right in the middle of town.

I then headed back in the general direction of the hostel and walked through a small book market which was full of old books (I couldn’t read most of them!!)

(two photos)------ (two photos)

I then went through the flower market.
The flowers were everywhere and so many colours.
It was a bit touristy with souvenirs there as well.

There was walls and walls of clogs and magnets and tulips.
We weren’t supposed to take photos but of course I did but I did also buy.
I bought some tiny clogs and a little ashtray with a marijuana leaf in it saying “Its legal in Amsterdam” on it.
They go with my mini Eiffel Tower that I have on my computer at work.

Cruise boat

I was walking back to the hostel for a coffee and a rest as I had quite sore feet and walked past a canal cruise company.
It was only cheap so I jumped on.

Skinny Bridge-- Arched bridges (two photos)

Mayor's House--- Twin Sisters--- Bartellotti House

Smallest house in Amsterdam (two photos)

The cruise went for about an hour and we went past some beautiful sites - the 17th Century Skinny Bridge, 7 Arched Bridges in a row, the Mayors House, the Twin Sisters which both have the exact same neck gables, the smallest canal in Amsterdam, lovely buildings, the smallest house in Amsterdam that is one metre wide.
Apparently the houses were taxed on frontage so the skinner the better.

Furniture hook- Moving house, and the hook's in use (two photos)

It was also pointed out that as the stairways and doors were so small every house had a furniture hook on the outside so that moving can be done in and out of windows.

Crooked canal houses!! (two photos)

There were some houses in a row that were all very crooked and leaning and I got some great photos of those too.

The edges!!

Apparently one car a week also goes in to the canals so some of the edges have little barriers but many of them don’t.

North Sea Canal (three photos)

We went out in the harbour area which to me seemed like the ocean but it was the North Sea Canal.
There were big ships going past and it was a bit rough in our little boat.

I thought it was quite funny that the canals were just like streets in that they had no parking and give way signs.

Reversing mirror!!

There was also reversing mirrors at one place.

We also went past the back of Central Station which has been in use since 1889 and was built on a man made island.

Canal houses--- Foot-bridge over the canal

Bridge--- Renaissance era building

House boats House boats and the crooked house again!!!

After the cruise I walked back to the hostel for a bit of a chill out.
I sat in the bar and had a coffee and wrote in my diary until it got a bit darker.

Looking from Tanya's hostel towards the Square- National Monument

Then I headed out to the main tourist strip between Central Station and Dam Square.

Rear of the Palace--- Statue of Atlas (two photos)

Tanya in front of the Palace--- The clock tower

I sat for a while in front of the Royal Place and took some nice photos of that area.

A guy came up and asked me to take a photo of him in front of this building.
I said 'Oh the Royal Palace?'
He asked how I knew what it was called and I said because I have a guidebook.
That is the way I found out about everything.
Read a book and ask at the hostel.
He didn’t know what a hostel was either.
How some people get around I don’t know.
How could you got to a city like that and not have a basic plan of attack?

I then walked down towards the station and visited a few tourist shops - everything was just the same.

There were heaps of restaurants and I ended up having Italian.
It was really nice.

The Station at night

I kept on towards the Station and got a great photo of it at night - it is very beautiful.

Click on Tanya's ticket to go to the Museum's web site

Tanya outside the Museum

I went to the Sex Museum and I thought it was a big waste of time.
There was nothing exciting and it was all just pictures and totems etc.
Glad it was only cheap because it was quite lame!

The Palace at night

Walked back towards the Square and had a look at the Palace at night which was lovely as well and went back to the hostel.

I went to the bar and ran into Skyler.
I asked him about the gardens and he said that there was so many flowers it wasn’t funny.
I am going tomorrow!