Germany wants us gone - Raus Heir! Hamburg has turned on a grey and drizzly morning, we're packed and on our way. Not far from here is a town Aurich, we know it has nothing to do with us. But long ago Uncle Dan planted the idea in our heads that it was related to us, it's the closest thing on earth to an Aurisch Castle, we really should do it. Emerson the natural born Princess, and a Castle only one consonant removed from being related to us?

The was my motivation not to bother, but the Deutschland roads authority had it's own ideas. For the second time in my life I'm trapped with no local knowledge, no data signal and a randomly closed freeway pushing us off into a rural german village. A signal pops up on the phone, WAZE directs us down a country lane, it is gob smackingly beautiful. Picturesque country farmhouses, manicured gardens, window planters, everything is straight from a postcard. Waze says take a right, it looks like a tractor path. Should we? I take the challenge. 5 minutes later I realise WAZE is so confused it's giving me new directions every 30 seconds. We need to back out. We're in a bus, a great big VW transporter. I have to reverse 200 meters back to the road on a thin grass path, back out onto the country lane. It's another half an hour before we find our way back to a freeway, but every minute of it is absolutely beautiful.

Drizzle & red lights, not the Amsterdam kind, mean we don't' make it into Amsterdam until early afternoon. We set ourselves up in the hotel and head off to explore. The closest car park is just behind Jumbo, the floating Chinese restaurant that's the sister of the Aberdeen harbour version in Hong Kong, Emerson is committed to it for dinner - just not tonight. We head off with a plan to make it to the Van Gogh museum, way across town. City of bikes right? Fid and I spend a few confusing minutes coming to understand that the bikes of Amsterdam are organic. Whilst everywhere else we go has public bikes to hire, that's a relic of a government driving change. Here in Amsterdam the people adopted bikes, it's a city of private bikes - no need for a government scheme. Which means we're not just heading to any rental spot on the map. We give up and decide to leg it to the museum. We turn down a street and bump straight into the rest of our party. 

It's a hike right across town, too many shop opportunities for the girls means Dad, Fid & I end up at bar a little ahead while we wait for them. The girls get lost, we have no idea how to describe where we are - plenty of time for a brew and more of these Flemish chips while we wait. Fid spots it first, we've sat down right next to the Upstairs Pancake House of Beastie Boys fame. The girls find us and we head off. We've been smelling the dope from all the cafe's along the way, but on the corner we go past a convenience store coated from floor to ceiling in dope infused products: cookies, cakes, lip balm, beer, chewing gum - it's in everything. Dad takes a few minutes to explain to Max about the varieties - how did he find out? Interesting as it is, it's the store next door that captures the imagination of my family: waffles!  

We cross the canal to find ourselves just outside the flower markets. Luckily Dad's keen eye and memory pointed it out, otherwise we would have just strolled past it on the other side of the road without knowing. Seeds everywhere, no chance you can get these things home. The kids are a little interested, but across the road is a chip cone shop, nothing could be more important to them - it's been 7 minutes since the waffle, forget the dope they've got to keep feeding that carb high!

It's a few more blocks before we find the Gallery/Museum. The decade-long (or was it longer) story of his self-portrait has been a bit of an on ongoing lesson in how house. It's also about the extent of my grasp of Van Gogh, we cut Gab loose to run at her own pace. Dad, The kids and I stroll the 3-4 floors of the gallery at a passing interest pace whilst Gab is clearly enraptured by most pieces. Last year we were in Provance, centred in Avignon, where many of these pieces were painted. The story is he fell in love with the light of Provance, and frankly you can see a significant difference in the celebration of light between the southern spring and summer scenes to the few items from his earlier life back home.

Dad takes his leave to return to Mum at the apartment, we head off to see if we can find a Rijsttafel, trip advisor points out a dozen great places near by, we try one just around the corner but it's all booked out. Next up is the one in Rembrandt Square, can't pass up on that, Indo history and Rembrandt!!?!? I wonder if the Dutch think of these indo people like the English think of Aussie imports? No matter we have a knock up feast of a dozen or more dishes - delicious!

Out in the Square nightfall has brought the revellers - the bars are spilling out into the square, the waft of dope has faded, not because it's not being used, it's just so ubiquitous it doesn't stand out anymore. Tomorrow is Anne Frank's house - tonight is sleep!