Amsterdam; canals and fascination

Getting off the ship was a delight as we wandered along an airline style gangway towards the main terminal. Down a set of stairs took us into a massive arrivals and departures hall, with tickets machines and booths to one side, rows of seats in the middle and souvenir stalls to the left.

I turned round and looked at the arrival/departure tunnel; that's what I'd be looking for on the way back. Today I was footloose and fancy free, no trips, no deadlines, just me, a map and a pair of feet.

mm, I'll look at those on the way back.

One last turn round to make sure I knew the departure tunnel..

.. and I was out onto the concourse working out my left from my right, "ahr, the railway sheds, that way.."

If you've been to Amsterdam you'll know it's just streets around canals in a ratio of 1:1, so much of the time you're going over bridges, under railway arches, spotting coffee houses. I was aiming and the central region, I wanted to see the real Amsterdam not the one seen on photos.

Some parts, especially around Dam Square had the feel of Soho in London before it was bulldozed and sanitised.

All around De Wallen and the side streets towards Primark weren't pristine, in fact they were like London, dirty with many vagrants. Marijuana shops were everywhere, in bars, cafes and speciality shops intermingled between boutiques, chemists and fashion chains. Everyone seemed chilled, er, wonder why, and people respectful. Yes, old London with a slightly different language mix.

I headed for Stationsplein, where the Visitor's Centre was and picked up a ticket to go onto the canal for an hour cruise.

The weather wasn't sun and heat, but it was dry and although it threatened rain, it failed to materialise. 

Everyone was given a pair of disposable headphones and we plugged into the commentary,  choosing our language first of course. It was fabulous! If you go to Amsterdam, put one of these tours on your To Do list, it wasn't expensive and our captain was great!

Barge living is now THE way to live. Well, to be honest, by comparison with house prices, 1.3million euro is a snip, especially when you can pretty much guarantee your floors will be horizontal, mooring ropes depending, and there's little chance of sinking, maintenance depending of course.

Time for coffee. 

I had enough coinage for that and a small amount of retail therapy. I headed back into the backstreets and hunted out a few shops, bought some lipstick (using it still) and a eye-pencil sharpener. Memories. When I use them, they came from Amsterdam. Oh, I bought shampoo too, lasted well and beautiful smell.

Mm, a nice retail exploration. 

Time? Yikes!! Departure was coming up fast and it takes half an hour to walk back. I had a final coffee, the ubiquitous loo stop and then back to the ship.

As I got back to the departures lounge, the man with the fridge magnets was beginning to pack away. I gestured, wait, wait, selected 3 and paid with the remainder of my currency.

Skipping up the gangway, back on board, I'd had a brilliant day. I'd not visited one tourist destination, I decided I'd do that when I returned, but had looked at houses, boats, shops and the people who spent their days living there. 

Really fascinating. My type of travelling experience