Our last day - 25 October

Our flight home was scheduled for 3.30pm, so we set out early to spend the morning at the Rijks Museum. We took a tram and arrived 30 minutes before the 9am opening time. There was already a short queue but we went straight in when it opened.

The main building has only recently been reopened after a massive renovation and it is a wonderful fusion of old an new. The 19th century shell of the building and features such as the stained glass windows have been retained, but the display areas are crisp and modern.

We started on the third floor with the period 1900 - 1950, where the highlights were a beautifully restored 1920s aircraft and some Art Nouveau furniture.

On the second floor (1600 - 1650) we saw some amazing dolls houses. It was the fashion for wealthy women at that time to create them as a hobby by buying or commissioning everyday items to scale for the dolls.

We also saw a lovely baby's cradle crafted in ivory and ebony which was made in Asia for staff of the Dutch East India Company.

That floor was also where the major 17th century art works are found, in particular paintings by Rembrandt. His painting 'Night Watch' was one of the highlights.

On the first floor (1700 - 1800) there was an interesting longcase clock which had a mechanism with moving ships and a painted view of Rotterdam above the clock face.

We could have seen a lot more on that floor but unfortunately, in looking for the way to the wing of galleries on the other side, we accidentally exited the museum. To get back in I would have had to cloak my backpack (which had been missed by the guards when we first entered) and by now the cloakroom queue was huge. We needed to leave the apartment by 12pm so we decided it was time to return then.

As we left the museum we were surprised by the size of the crowds in the entrance area and the length of the ticket and other queues.

A small section of the crowd in the entrance area

Back at the apartment we finished packing and said goodbye to our landlords Harry and Tomoko. We caught the train to Schipol airport and eventually boarded our A380 airbus for the flight to Dubai. It seems that every airport is different and Schipol is the first one we have been to where you go through the security scanners at each departure lounge - which explained why boarding started at 2pm for our 3.30pm flight!

We had a three hour break at Dubai then flew to Kuala Lumpur (with a 90 minute break, when we visited the jungle in the middlle of the airport, for a breath of steamy, fresh air) and onto Melbourne, arriving around 1.30am.

A glimpse of the jungle at KL airport -
enclosed by glass and open to the air

We took the Skybus to the city and then, the most challenging part of the trip home, we managed to get a taxi which we shared with three others who were going on to Malvern and St Kilda, arriving home a bit after 3am.

So ended another wonderful overseas adventure. Thanks to Ian's careful planning, we stayed in some very interesting places and saw all the sights we had been looking forward to. We had lots of fun, met some challenging situations (ranging from tackling a strange washing machine without instructions to driving in Liverpool in peak hour), renewed some friendships and now have another store of wonderful memories - and of course 1,900 more photos!

Thanks to all those who have sent me feedback about the blog. I have enjoyed producing it and I hope it helped us to keep in touch with family and friends as we travelled. Hopefully it will continue in 2015 when we hope to be 'on the road' again.

Amsterdam walks

It was a lovely sunny morning as we set off on the Rick Steve's Amsterdam City Walk. Starting from Central Station, we walked up Damrak, past the 1903 brick Beurs building to Dam Square where there is a fun park, and then up Kalverstraat. Kalverstraat is a pedestrian-only street and it was a relief to escape from the cars and bikes. We found the entrance to the Amsterdam Museum and went through to the Civic Guard Gallery where there were some interesting pieces, including a David and Goliath scene, and some traditional group portraits which had been given a modern twist.

David and Goliath in the Civic Guard Gallery

Painting by Jan Mytnes 1666, adapted by Barbara Broekman 2012
- enhanced with items of old-fashioned haberdashery

From there we walked to the Begijnhof, a quiet courtyard with houses around a church. This used to be the home of Beguines, women who removed themselves from the world to dedicate themselves to God but were not nuns. It is now run by a foundation which still provides subsidized housing to needy single women, mostly Catholic. Unfortunately no photography was allowed there, in respect for the women's privacy.

The next item of interest was the House of Hajenius at 92 Rokin Street. This renowned cigar shop occupies a wonderful 1915 Art Deco building, with painted leather ceilings, elaborate chandeliers, wood panelling and a climate-controlled room for smelling pipe tobacco. More like a museum than a store!

Two photos from the PG Hajenius website

At the end of Kalverstraat we walked through one of the original medieval town gates and followed the Singel Canal which is lined with the shops of the Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market). All varieties of flowers, bulbs and seeds are sold, ranging from tulips (in countless colours and types) to eucalyptus branches and canabis starter kits. As we walked along, we enjoyed the scent from all the flowers.

We followed Leidsestraat through a very crowded  area of fashion and tourist shops to the square of Leidseplein and then continued on to the Rijksmuseum. We had intended to visit the museum but there were two immense queues of people waiting to enter, so we decided it might be better to return early tomorrow. Instead we retraced our steps to Leidseplein where we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant in the sunny square.

On our way back we visited the Oude Kerk (Old Church). While similar to the Haarlem church that we saw yesterday, it was rather run-down and bare. There were however some interesting carvings on the seats in the choir, illustrations of medieval sayings. For instance:

'It's like trying to out-yawn an oven door.'
In other words, don't try to attempt the impossible.

 After an interlude back in our apartment so that we could do the internet check-in for tomorrow's flight home, late in the afternoon we went on another Rick Steve's walk, this time in the Jordaan district. We took the tram to Dam Square where we started by sharing a plate of delicious poffertjes (tiny puffed pancakes dusted with icing sugar) with cream and strawberries. On the way to the Jordaan area we passed the following

• The so-called skinniest house in Amsterdam at 166 Singel - in fact, this is just the entry to a normal house that opens further back;

The red house in the middle

• At the Torensius Bridge, the 'big head' statue of Multatuli (1820-1887), the first Dutch author to criticize slavery in Dutch colonies;

• The upmarket area of Herengracht with stately houses on the canal;

• The huge queue for the Anne Frank House at 5pm, only thirty minutes before the last admission; and
• The interesting and varied houseboats on the Prinsengracht canal.

The Jordaan is a quiet area where many of the ground-level apartments have windows right on the street and small gardens on the footpath around their entrances. Originally built in the 1600s as a working class area, they are now homes and studios for artists, craftspeople and young professionals. There are also many small galleries, cafes and book shops. It seems like a very pleasant place to live and worth a walk to see it!

Enjoying Haarlem

As travel writer Rick Steves says, Haarlem has a 'small-town warmth' after 'wild and crazy Amsterdam'. That was certainly the way we felt as we walked through the old town there today. We arrived just after 10am after a twenty minute train trip from Amsterdam and, as we wandered from the station to the Grote Markt, we enjoyed the lack of bikes, cars and crowds.

Our first destination was the Teylers Museum. This is the oldest museum in Holland and gives the feeling of being in a time-warp with its displays of dinosaur bones, minerals and scientific apparatus; its wooden display cabinets and old labels; and its beautiful Oval Room with cases of coins and medals. The oldest part of the museum was built in 1784 to house exhibits left to the city by Pieter Teyler, a wealthy banker and merchant and it seems hardly to have changed since then. In a newer section, there was an interesting exhibition of drawings and etchings by Rembrandt.

Fossils and minerals

Electrostatic generator 1784

The beautiful Oval Room

After lunch in the museum cafe, we walked along the bank of the Spaarne River and then crossed the river to the De Adriaan windmill museum. Here we were given a fascinating guided tour by a volunteer guide who led us up the circular staircases and then the wooden ladders to the level of the sails. On the way, we stopped to look at some remarkable models which were used to show us how different types of windmills operate. The original windmill on this site was built in 1778 and burnt down in 1932. The efforts of locals resulted in the mill being rebuilt as a museum which was opened in 2002. The views from the stage twelve meters above the river were wonderful, despite the strong wind.

The last sight we visited was the Great Church of St Bavo, the cathedral church of Haarlem which is home to Holland's greatest pipe organ. This huge 'over the top' organ has been played by ten-year-old Mozart and by Handel. The floor of the church was entirely covered by about 1500 black gravestones, some of which moved as you stood on them. There was also a chapel named  the Dog-Whipper's Chapel after the carved figure on a supporting stone. Apparently in the Middle Ages a dog-whipper was employed to discipline unruly dogs and keep order in the church.

Great Church of St Bavo

Ceiling of the nave

Organ in St Bavo

This evening we had dinner with Fred Veerman and his daughter Nikki, whom we met in Tanzania in 2009. It was lovely to catch up with them and the restaurant they took us to was very special. Restaurant Anna is a short walk down the street from our apartment and it was interesting to walk back late in the evening with cannabis smoke wafting out of bars and night life just getting under way.

Two museums and an 'interesting' walk

Ian started the day with a walk to some of the places we saw yesterday so he could photograph them in the early morning light.

On his return we caught the tram from Central Station to Waterlooplein to visit the Museum Willet-Holthuysen. This house, built in 1685, was the home of Louisa (nee Holthuysen) and Abraham Willet from 1824 until Louisa's death in 1895 when she bequeathed it to the city. This couple belonged to the wealthy merchant class and throughout their lives were collectors of paintings, glass, silver and ceramics. The house is gradually being restored to the grandeur of the time they lived there, including many items from their wonderful collections.

A painting of the house (the middle one) in 1865

The beautifully restored garden

Garden sculpture

Item in Abraham Willet's collection

Donated to the Royal Antiquarian Society
in 1861 by Abraham Willet

After a snack lunch eaten as we sat on a bench in the sun beside a canal, we caught the tram back to Central Station and commenced the Rick Steve's 'Red Light District Walk'. As we followed the route up Warmoesstraat, around the Oude Kerk and along the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal, we saw sights we have never seen before! These included a condom shop; shops selling cannabis seeds, mind-bending natural ingredients and the aparatus to smoke them; the statue of 'the unknown prostitute'; a  bronze breast in the pavement; shops displaying all sorts of weird clothes and other gear; Banana Bar with its Art Nouveau erotic artwork; and of course women displaying themselves in the windows of small street-front rooms.

Bulldog Cafe - a colourful place in the Red Light District

Banana Bar, with Art Nouveau paintings

Seeds with magical properties

In the course of the walk, we came to the Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic) and stopped for a tour. This is a restored 17th century canal house where a secret Catholic church was hidden in the upper storeys. The church was built in 1663 after Amsterdam officially became Protestant, at a time when Catholics were forbidden to celebrate mass in public. The upper storeys also housed a confessional and the living quarters for a priest.

Our Lord in the Attic church

Dinner tonight was at the restaurant next door to our apartment building, Het Karbeel - a cosy friendly place - where we both enjoyed 'kipsatay', skewers with large pieces of succulent chicken smothered in peanut satay sauce.

To Amsterdam

It's a well oiled show now when the Hansens take to the road (or rail) again! Out the door by 7.30am this morning to walk with our cases to Central Station, on the route we have checked in advance for smoothest surface and fewest hills. We need to travel to Midi Station for our Amsterdam train and, since the lift to the platform is not working (and I have sore ribs from a bit of a fall a couple of days ago), Ian carries the cases one by one down the two flights of stairs. The train for Midi has is already there so we, and our cases, hop on. At Midi there is plenty of time before our 8.52am train so we have some pastries for breakfast. Slight hiccup there because it takes much longer than anticipated but a burst of speed gets us onto the Amsterdam train in time. Collapse onto the train and Ian hoists each case into the top shelf of the luggage rack, the only space left. We are on our way again!

We arrived in Amsterdam around 10.45am and walked the short distance to our apartment. We were met by Harry, the owner who lives with his Japanese wife on the floor above us. The building is an old one but the flat is modern and minimalist, with a fusion of western and Japanese decor. The most obvious Japanese aspects are a raised platform with floor seating in the living room (in addition to a normal couch and rocking chair) and a Japanese toilet with multiple buttons which perform different heating and washing functions.

 The location is wonderful - across the square from the central station, with a view across a canal to the bright lights of the red light district!

View from our living room across the canal

Ours is the building third from the left.

Twilight view from our window

Amsterdam  Central station

This afternoon we went on a canal cruise - '100 Amsterdam highlights in an hour', free with our Amsterdam Card. It was a good way to get a taste of the city and the commentary was interesting.

Beer bottle creation on the deck of a houseboat

We followed that with a visit to Anne Frank's House. Luckily we had booked a time online and so avoided the queue which stretched for almost a block. It was quite surreal to be in the actual house where the Frank family had hidden from the Nazis and to read pages of Anne's original diaries. A very moving experience!

Anne Frank House, third from the left

There was an interesting area at the end of the house tour called 'Free2choose'. This presentation was an effort to encourage people to consider the fundamental rights to which each human being is entitled by presenting scenarios where basic rights could conflict with each other. For example, should a person have the right to stage a protest against what he considers to be Islamic fanaticism or does this conflict with the right to freedom of religion? Partipants voted electronically and the results were shown on the screen as part of the presentation. Issues were contemporary and relevant, and most of the participants seemed to be young people.

Our major observation about Amsterdam this afternoon has been the difficulty of walking in the streets. As pedestrians, we seemed to be in constant danger from bicycles - there are bicycle lanes on the footpaths and many more bicycles than cars in most of the streets. There is a three storey bike parking area next to the station which holds 3,000 cycles and we were told that there are a total of 9,000 cycles parked around the station each day. Most of the streets around here are one-way but a bike can come from any direction!

Some interesting shop windows