3rd - 7th June Amsterdam

This entry covers from Gouda to Amsterdam during which we had one stop off in the Kaager Lakes - well, the fringes because they get a little shallow and we had already visited them with Halley in the last century - 1 999. To our surprise we found a luxury boat yard "Feadship"having just launched their new super yacht "Sea Owl" that same day. At 62mtrs long it is colossal - a ship in fact - which easily stands comparison with the most luxurious motor yachts in the world.

I should touch on our passage through some major road and rail bridges, a few sluices and dozens of run of the mill opening bridges and for each, the rest of the world has to stop while we go through which reflects how much the Dutch favour their water transport system - probably more so than the bicycle, but only just. The most potentially difficult bridgs opened like a dream as we approached and it all went like clockwork until Harlem when a perfectly ordinary town bridge got stuck and the men in orange ran around talking on mobiles and more men in vans came and they talked on mobiles - eventually as if by a miracle after a 30 minute wait the it opened in time to let a vast industrial barge through which we tagged neatly behind.

The canal side scenery became softer and more pastoral as we travelled North with market gardens running down to the waterside and vast kilometres of silage looking as lush and rich as possible. Harlem still offered the attractive face of Dutch architecture and is reputed to resemble a quieter version of Amsterdam. Jane's birthday which was interfered with somewhat by early 6am starts and by the time we were in the North Sea Canal leading to Amsterdam we were fraying at the edges, a lot of very heavy traffic going in both directions but really no problem until we got to the Sixhaven marina entrance where crossing the traffic to make the marina entrance we learnt that the City ferries take no prisoners and had to make a rapid course correction to avoid a crash.

The next day our French friends in their OVNI caught up with us and we found that it had been Francois' birthday on the 4th as well so he and Valerie treated us to a lovely champagne supper on "Cybele" - what a very nice idea. I should note how convenient Sixhaven is for the town being directly opposite Central Station across the canal and free ferries ( those who try to run you down) running every 4 minutes non stop, however, if you want to see how to fit 150 boats into a space only meant for 100 then come here - and through it all, the harbour master, smiles, laughs and achieves the impossible - a charming man.

If there is one memorable thing to say about Amsterdam, the crowds are overwhelming and as the ferry arrives a mass of people some riding motor scooters, some on bikes and the rest on foot alll charge to get on at the same time as those on the ferry do the same in the reverse direction - it is chaos but nobody gets hurt it seems. We've been cycling around the city which is an experience, if there is a priority system at junctions I haven't worked out what it is, you just go for it and make sure there isn't a tram or motorscooter coming at you from any direction. The best thing to do is get with a bunch of Dutch girls who are all 6ft 6 inches tall and riding sit up bikes so they are then 8ft tall and got with them - if you can keep up.

We wanted to see the Rijksmuseum now newly reopened after 10 years of refurbishment - it was not disappointing. Arrive at 9am as it opens when there are no queues and the place is yours to be taken at your leisure. The building design and integration with the old is very well done and plays with light and space in the modern, and major restoration in the old has revealed the most stunning wall decorations which for decades have been hidden under white paint. There is so much to see, an audio tour of the highlights was a great idea and took 2 hours before we faded not having finished the tour so missing the 16th century work. To be done another time.

And so we leave the boat for a week and fly to Marseilles for a wedding before carrying on up the Ijsselmeer.

The photo is from Prinsengracht - the street where Anne Frank lived and so probably the last view she had before being taken away.