Did you know that Amsterdam has 3 times as many canals than Venice? I know I didnt! We arrived at our hotel and went straight into the middle of town. After a little chat about the history of Amsterdam we headed off into the red light district, now there is no photos from there as basically its not allowed (sorry guys) but lets just say its an eye opener..and as a mum I actually wanted to sit these girls down and ask what they were doing with their lives, but I didnt.. we just walked through a few areas and the streets seemed to get skinnier and skinnier. If the curtains were closed that means they were “busy” if they were open they stood by the window to try and grab some attention from passers by.

After our stroll through there we had free time to explore the streets. We headed over to the queue of people and ordered some pom frites with mayo and sauce. Quite nice! and very popular with tourists. After our free time we did a canal cruise/welcome dinner to meet everyone and cruise through some canals. This was lovely.. lots of people have houseboats right in the canal, some nicer than others.

What struck me most about Amsterdam was the amount of bikes. We are talking THOUSANDS, its a great way to get around. 40% of the Nederlands is below sea level so the dutch made shoes of wood (clogs) because normal shoes deteriorated.

One of the things I love about the trip is how Graham plays songs related to the country we are in, today we heard the national Anthem, the smurf song (apparently they started here) and tip toe through the tulips!

The XXX actually stands for Fire, Flood and FamineLooks like the houses are holding each other up!
Rob and Kevin (from Hawaii) on the dinner cruiseJake and Harold (Kevins dad) on the cruise