Amsterdam

Leaving the ship this morning we got an intercity train to Amsterdam where we will be staying until Saturday morning. After settling into our hotel, we set off, map in hand, to see how close we are to the museums and sights we want to see.  We are next to a metro station and just a bit further is a tram stop, but we just walked today. 

Crossing the Amstel we had just got to a shopping area when it started to rain, but as it was lunchtime we stopped for a snack and restudied the map. We were just down from an open air market, with three hundred stalls. It was raining on and off, but we stopped at stalls and managed to keep dry.  The stalls were amazing - the food ones really interested me. The fish and cheese stalls had a huge variety - we saw a fish called, in Dutch, Wolf of the Sea. I think it was shark, as it looked just like our flake. 

We walked along the whole street market and then looped back to the bridge over which we crossed the Amstel and back to our hotel.  This city has lots of water and lots of bridges...

...also lots of bikes. I have never seen so many bikes, ever.  They are littered everywhere. The streets are built for them, but I am not yet used to them, they seem to come from everywhere, and fast!