we arrived in Amsterdam after getting the Eurostar from London- saw some sicko guy reading porn in the Eurostar station- the kids all thought that was hilarious. Arrived to dusk in the city and the train dumps you right off in the centre , right ear the red light district!! We managed to catch a number 2 tram to Valaius to a great little Hotel called The Apple Inn. It was an 16th Centuary old dutch home- really steep stairs and no lift! So up we go to the top floor nearly falling over backwards with all of our back packs on. Room ws fantastic 4 really comfy beds. Alex is still coughing I will have to fingd a pharmacy.rnWent out that night to a great little pasta place and went out into Leidersplein, the centre of the city, near a hue park called Vondelpark. The trams are really cheap and you buy a tram strip ticket for 6 Euro, they are clean and run regularly.rnNext day we caught a canal boat at Centraal Station and hopped on and off all day, amazing homes on the canal, really fantastic gables, some shaped like bells, some flat and some have beautiful stone carvings outside on the walls. I didnt know that until the 1800s Amsterdam did not have house numbers so these stones have the family crest on them and the persons profession.We saw the Skinny Bridge- it opened just as we went past- not a common sight, and we visited Anne Franks home. This was sobering , to think this happened in Joyce and Bills lifetime. WE saw horrendous pictures of the camps, the kids were very touched by her diary, which was the original. It was surreal to think of this young teenager sitting all day in the dark, writing her diary and she died 28 days before liberation. rnOn a lighter note we tramped off to the train staion for our next leg of the journey. The train took us through Germany to Frankfurt And Cologne- this city has the most amazing cathedral. Then off to Munich, changed from there to Slazburg.