Today doesnt start off that well. The shower in Fionas place failed to work this morning, so no shower. No big deal, so i dress and head to the bus station for the airport. Just as i leave the flat it buckets down with rain. Umbrella is packed away, so i manage to find shelter even if i am rather wet.
The bus service to the airport is quick and as i am flying with easyjet i make sure i have plenty of time. Once checked in i can now relax in a rather small airport. The Edinburgh airport is nothing fancy at all.
The flight is short, 1 hour, and i am greeted by a perfect day on arrival. Its a nice 27c. I take the bus to my accommodation and meet Oscar, my host for the week. We spend some time chatting, then i head out to get some food.
The area is very middle eastern people, not a bad thing as there are plenty of place selling good food.
The day is spent in The Haag, about 40 minutes by train. The weather is overcast and cool. My visit to the Russian consulate was as expected, they denied my visa application. I have to be a dutch resident to get a visa here. Not to worry i will apply in Hungary if i still want to visit. The Haag is has some nice areas and pedestrian malls to walk.
The next few days the weather goes form average to bad with one day raining all day. I have been told that Amsterdam is lucky to get 60 sunny days a year. So these days are spent dodging the rain in the city of Amsterdam.
Thursday is a great day with plenty of sun and warm. So i head out to a little place called Marken. It is a beautiful small dutch village surrounded by water. I have lunch here before heading back to Amsterdam. Once in Amsterdam i begin to explore all the little lanes and alleys and canals. It is a very beautiful city with some amazing buildings and architecture. Nearly all the outdoor seating in the cafes are full of people making the most of this glorious day. The canals are also busy with boats of all sizes enjoying the day.

Today i ventured out of the city to Zaanse Schans to see Dutch windmills, and then to a very Dutch village called Haarlem. The windmills were ok, but i enjoyed Haarlem a lot more. It was very quiet compared to Amsterdam, hardly any tourists. So much nicer to walk the old cobble stone lanes and alleys. The only problem with today was the wind, boy was it windy.
I did manage to get on the wrong bus to see the windmills, and ended up in a town called Zandam, which turned out ok, as there was some neat stuff to see.
All in all a great day. Amsterdam is a nice place, especially when the weather is good, but i have to remember that they dont get much of that. And yes i did walk through the Red Light district during the day, only to say i have done it. Nothing exciting about it at all.
It seem that there are a lot of rabbits here in Amsterdam. They like living in the grounds of the apartment buildings, so when i go walking in the evening, i get to see a lot just hanging out in the nice grassed areas eating, playing and relaxing. They seem to have fitted in to city life ok.

My stay with Oscar has come to an end and its time to move on unfortunately. As i dont fly out till monday, i need to find some accommodation for 2 nights. My first night is a camp ground near the airport. Takes 2 buses to get there, and it is a really nice site. I was not aware of a huge music/dance festival happening less than a kilometre away. The whole area here is a huge forest, so you can hear the music, but its not too loud. After setting up camp i take a walk to town to get some food. Later in the evening i take a walk to get closer to the action, and the noise level gets very high. Cant see much, but i can hear it. All electronic music by famous dj's.
Might get much sleep tonight.
I wake to the sound of rain on the tent, great. It is only light, but non the less its raining, cool and foggy. So once showered i pack up and head for the comfort of the cheap Ibis hotel next to the airport. Nothing fancy here, just cheap.
Not much to do near an airport i thought, then i find out that Amsterdam is one of the best airports o plane spot, so i head to the airport to watch planes for a few hours, and also see inside the airport.
Well that finishes the day, and i head back to pack and be ready for an early start.