Amsterdam

Well everything was coming up Milhouse ...until we hit Amsterdam. When it rains here it pours and there is not the slightest break for days on end. In a leaky van this is not the most ideal of circumstances. Also at this point the Aussie dollar took a tumble which we did not realise till some time later, but we will get back to that.
Camping Zeeburg is set out so you never have to leave. It has it's own shop, restaurant and pub. All of the above were usually filled with Australian tourists, none of which we actually spoke to.





The day we arrived we had plans to meet up with Mark and Claire as they were checking into Zeeburg that same morning. We waited and finally gave up as the sun went down, only to have them bang on the van window about 10pm. They were due in Amsterdam early that morning but due to a broken train and the fact Claire did not realise that Rotterdam and Amsterdam were not the same place???? it took them another twelve hours.
The next day Matt and Andrea headed in from Germany for the day to join us in Amsterdam. We checked out the flea market, flower market, a “coffee house” and some bars.
Lake and Jessee arrived the following morning and stayed with some of their Amsterdam friends Daan and Lisette and we were also joined by George and Sherry (also from Perth) and her boyfriend Xander. We had quite a possee going on.





We spent the next several days exploring Amsterdam, the thousands of bikes and the beautiful canals that run through the city. Apparently the population of Amsterdam is about 700 000 and the number of bikes approximately 900 000, no wonder it's hard not to get run over.





We spent an afternoon at the Anne Frank house. It's quite overwhelming but extremely informative and well worth the time.
We ended up giving into our sore wet feet after about the fourth day and bought some winter boots. They soaked through within two days. The last night we spent in Amsterdam we all went round to Daan and Lisette's apartment for a traditional Dutch dinner. We had Staampot which was fantastic. It was mash with greens, smoked sausage and bacon bits. We rolled back to camp.






Number one tip, remember to watch the tram lines. You don't want your foot to get caught in the track and fall flat on your face in the pouring rain in front of an oncoming tram. Do you Lake?