Amsterdam-a-rama.

My first holiday by myself (I would say as a single lady, but that's maybe not so much the case...) started on the Tuesday afternoon with an hour delay at Glasgow, and once in Amsterdam, a very confusing tram that went some miles past my stop.

Once I found my hostel and got myself organised, I went out, consumed a pizza the size of a bin lid, two beers, refound my hostel and passed out.

I also discovered that trying to find a coffee shop in Amsterdam that isn't a "coffee shop" isn't the easiest thing to do, but managed to get a croissant and actual coffee down my neck in time to fortify myself for a trip to the Anne Frank Museum. It was perhaps not the jolliest start to the holiday, but I feel that it needed to be done. It's a deeply moving and atmospheric place to be, and I freely admit that I was struggling to hold things together by the time I got to the end. There is no way that I can do it justice, other than to say that you need to go if you get the chance. That a 15 year-old girl could move so many with her words and hopes and dreams is astounding, and something that should never be forgotten.

I had to take a pretty long walk to clear my head afterwards, but Amsterdam is pretty forgiving of things like that. It's flat, and very pretty (when the seedier areas are avoided. I had no real wish to go to the Red Light District) and feels far more like a "real" city than I thought it would. Obviously you have to watch out for bikes, which are all over the bloody place, but it's very nice for a stroll.

Given the weather was like this the whole damn time, you can see why it was extra-super-nice to take a walk!

I walked along the the Rijksmuseum, of which I did a bit of a whirlwind tour. There is SO MUCH to see in there, and I wanted to cover a bit of almost all of it, so off I went.

There was some Henry Moore.

Some jewellery made of teeth and hair (hork).

And some ladies showing a bit of leg.

It was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. As an ex-resident of Leeds, seeing a whole load of Henry Moore was really lovely. The building is sufficiently grand that they didn't feel overwhelming but also weren't overwhelmed.

I was meeting my friend from Uni later on, so hopped on a tram (please remember to check out!) back to the hostel, made myself presentable, and then went out for a rather epic meal of tapas and then a hearty nightcap at a pub called Andersrest. It was ace to catch up, but there was more of that to come when we made plans to have tea on the Thursday night too. I do love a bit of international catching-up!

So, after breakfast off Dam Square, in the shadow of the Royal Palace, I planned not to go to the Red Light District, but thanks to my sense of direction I headed straight off into in, even though I was planning on going in entirely the opposite direction. So I hopped on the nearest boat tour and let the engines take me on a river-level ramble round the canals.

I saw Amsterdam's version of the Science Centre.

And a lot of bridges.

I went to Lucy's for tea, after a nap and an unsuccessful trip to a sweetshop to pick up some astrophysical candyfloss (yes, this is a thing). Over cups of tea, glasses of wine and a pizza we managed to catch up on roughly 7 years of gossip, and I do hope it's not that long between now and the next catch up.

After a night bus back to my hostel and a quick pack of my stuff, I turned in ready to get up early for a long-ass train to my next destination, Hamburg!