Amsterdam

Travelled : 58km
Stay: Amsterdam - City camp for motorhomes. €21/without electricity incl service point and Internet. Free ferry to centre.  N52.39859 E4.90113

We took the motorway in the drizzle and experienced a bit of heavy traffic but we still managed to arrive just over an hour later at 9:15am.  We chose our spot at the automated check in booth and parked up. 

After breakfast we set off on the 10min walk to the ferry terminal NSDM with our raincoats and umbrellas.  Departures to Central station are every 1/2 hour on the half hour ie 10:00, 10:30, 11:00... to come back it leaves Central Station on the quarter hour every half hour ie 10:15, 10:45 ... its only a short trip just over 5 mins and  best of all its free!

 Once we got out of Central Station we plugged ourselves into a Rick Steve's free walking tour we had downloaded. We have enjoyed these in the past and find them a good introduction and a great way to see the main sights. We found out that during the 1600's the Dutch Golden Age, Amsterdam was the world's richest city. As it was built on the Amstel River delta, canals were built to channel the water and dikes to protect from tidal surges. Due to its location (river boats coming in the Rhine, across the Channel or from the North Sea) it has been a thriving port and trading centre. Central Station was built in the late 1800 ' s  on reclaimed land. 

Over 700,000 people live here and there are about as many bikes! There are free multi story parking garages only for bikes. 

The stock exchange building was erected in 1903 using 9 million bricks and due to it being on swampy land, sits on 5,000 pilings made of tree stumps. 

Dam square is where the city started. The white obelisk here is a WWII monument. There is the town hall/Royal Palace. 

The entrance to the Amsterdam Museum which was once on orphanage.

 The Begijnhof is a quiet courtyard, lined with houses around a church, has sheltered women since 1346. 

The black wooden house built in 1477 is the oldest in the city. 

The Mint Tower used to be part of a gateway of the medieval walls. We then walked through the Flowers Market area which is now mainly set up to sell to tourists. You may well know that that the best known Dutch flower is the tulip.

They also sold other plants....

This coffee shop also has weed on the menu..

 Raw herrings are a local delicacy. 

From here we walked in the Jordaan district along a few of the 100 canals in the city and crossed a few of the 1,200 bridges. .

Lucky for this building it has one on its side to help hold it up!

The delft ceramics.

Anne a Frank and the house she hid in with her family during WWII

Then it was time to make our way back to the ferry and Bluey.

Oh! Did I forget to mention Holland is also well known for its clogs and Gouda cheese!

Although I think Mark will have trouble walking around in these...