First stop after emerging from the train station - food!
We went with French Fries, actually, which we ate while gazing at one of Amsterdam's characteristically wonky lines of narrow houses.
We got ourselves installed in our extremely modest just-on-the-fringes-of-the-red-light-district hotel (which we probably wouldn't choose to stay at again), and made our way out again. This street entertainer was good fun. First he squeezed himself through a tennis racket while balancing a ball on his head.
And then he almost set himself on fire.
We eventually dragged ourselves away from watching him since, captivating as he was, he wasn't the only thing to see in Amsterdam.
Another interesting sight? This condomerie
We found our way to the local flower market, and wandered along it for a little while...
They sell so many tulip bulbs.
We resisted the bulbs, and instead followed our noses to a lovely little cafe nearby, to try out the mint tea. It was lovely.
As was the apple pancake!
It was especially good slathered in honey and golden syrup. Reminder - we've already resigned ourselves to coming home fat.
Oh and to top it all off, some poffertjes! Traditional little Dutch pancakes.
We eventually rolled ourselves out the door, and restarted our now much-needed walk around the city.
We admired how certain fast food restaurants manage to insert themselves everywhere..
And how all European countries seem to love teeny tiny cars.
And how blatantly Italian vespers manage to find themselves parked on a street in Amsterdam.
We stumbled randomly across this reclining statue, and weren't quite sure what to make of it.
So we moved on. Tom found a footwear shop that was able to assess one's walking style very comprehensively using infrared treadmills, and was very excited!
At long last we made our way across town, to pop in briefly to see the diamond museum.
This is the world's largest rough diamond.
So shiny.
Tom managed to drag me away, and we crossed the road to the Van Gogh museum, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
We then made our way across to the Jordaan region to find an early dinner.
We then walked a short distance to visit the Anne Frank house. For those who don't know, Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager during World War II. Her family went into hiding in the annex of a warehouse in Amsterdam when jews were being persecuted, and Anne wrote a diary during that time. We managed to get a copy of it in Prague, and raced to read it (amongst all of the sightseeing) before we reached Amsterdam, making our visit to the house (or warehouse) where Anne lived all the more meaningful.
The original warehouse is the plain rectangular building directly to the right of the one with a peaked roof.
We ran into a really lovely father and daughter couple who had two spare tickets, so we even managed to get in for free!
Then, feeling appropriately sobered, we dashed off to get on the last canal cruise for the evening.
We spotted a lovely little swan.
We discovered that that whale-shaped building was actually called Nemo, and was an aquarium.
After the cruise, we wandered toward the train station looking for a high point from which to view the city.
And we found a hotel that had a lovely little restaurant area up high. The view was pretty spectacular.
And then it was time for the inevitable - a stroll through the red light district.
We saw a few of these...
And a few other things that I'm not going to be able to include here in the interests of being strictly family friendly. It wasn't anything too shocking, but for a good little girl like me, it was just a tad confronting!
The view across the river was lovely, though.
And that marked the end of our very very long one and only day in Amsterdam!
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