Amsterdam – Day 1

A 10:00 take off from Cardiff ensured a mid-day landing at Schipoll, Europe being 1 hour ahead.  The double decker train carried us to our destination Bijlmer station a five minute walk from the Jaz Hotel. The Metro, a convenient and easy method of travelling to the centre, took us to points of interest where we strolled through streets infested with cyclists on missions at breakneck speed. Avoiding them requires many skills of observation. Eventually we reached the Van Gogh gallery and spent over two hours gazing in admiration at the artistic creations of the genius whose brush strokes tell their own stories of personal development and unfortunate torture. A walk along one of the city’s many canals took us back to the Metro and the return to the hotel bar. After a long day and 19,000 steps an early night beckoned.