I'm quite confident that by the end of this trip I will have worn my legs down to the stumps. According to my app I've walked for a total of over 4 hours which is about 12 miles, and though I'm weary I feel quite a sense of achievement too.
Mind you, I nearly had an Alan Bradley moment with a tram (that's an old Coronation Street reference which some of you of a certain age may remember?). Be warned gentle readers, that the countdown you get on a pedestrian crossing in London which tells you how long you have to cross the road is the opposite in Amsterdam - the countdown tells you how long you have to wait before you can cross the road. Venturing forth, I was very nearly a tram sandwich. Good job I went gingerly and jumped back in time. Having said that, traffic lights in Amsterdam do (as today's guide said) appear to be a suggestion rather than an instruction, though I think I'm getting better at avoiding bikes. Everything is carried by bike, from boxes, large plants, shopping and pets to tiny children and even babies who appear to be only a few weeks old. They do look fun, but I still don't like them and resent being sidelined wherever I go!
Today I got up early and headed into the centre on the tram, ready for my free walking tout that set off by the fittingly-phallic national monument in the Dam main square at 10am. The guide was very good, and so was the walk which lasted about 3 hours including a break in the middle at a very good place (called La Place, serving lots of fresh stuff at reasonable prices and where I returned for hearty minestrone soup). We covered quite a lot of history, including the Red Light district where we went past the amusingly-named Condomerie among other purveyors of naughty things, and the window brothels. It just looked weird - the sight of scantily-clad, spray-tanned women posing in their windows in their fluorescent underwear - looking bored, talking on their mobiles, smoking - all at 10.30 in the morning.
Lots of other interesting stuff was covered including the Dutch East India company, the Begijnhof (kind of alms houses for single women who just want to do good works), the Waag house (where Rembrandt got to watch live anatomy lectures), canals and the story behind the Anne Frank museum. I didn't make it to the latter - even at 6.30 the queue was still at least 45 minutes and I was getting hungry - but I did get to the lovely Handbags and Purses museum on the Herengerecht, and also to Rembrandt's house, where disappointingly there were only really paintings by his pupils, but lots of his very lovely etchings - hadn't really appreciated them before but now am such a convert I even bought a fridge magnet.
Other retail observations today included the presence of a 5euro shop - is that a posh version of a pound shop? and the rather useful HEMA, which is kind of a mix between Ikea and Primark but less chaotic, sparser and generally more civilised. I also found a great kind of WholeFoodsy supermarket called Magt in order to buy some food and drink rather than spend more money being served it in cafes. (Magt doesn't take cash on the grounds that it's more eco-friendly to process card transactions).
My money is disappearing fast, so I'm trying to stay out of shops unless essential purchases - and I really need to start eating cheap and cheerful fast food rather than sitting down in restaurants, but my dilemma is that I want to stay healthy and not eat crap. On Bryon Fear's recommendation I visited The Little Thai Prince on the edge of the red light district - the food was excellent and my stomach now feels so full that I'm not sure anything more will fit in it until tomorrow lunchtime.
Brisk walk through the park tomorrow to the museum quarter - and it looks like the sun may be out all day. I'm liking Amsterdam much better than on arrival now that I have my bearings (though I still find it quite challenging!), but I'm a little disappointed by the unfriendliness of my Air BnB host. He didn't even call out goodbye when he left this morning (and I was obviously around), and when I called out hello on coming in tonight, he called hello back but didn't bother to come and speak to me. I can't believe I've done anything to offend him, and I'm not expecting him to become my best buddy, but it feels very odd and rather rude. I think the clue is in the word host, even if you are doing it for the money.
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