Amsterdam Day 1

After a good nights sleep I started off the day with a brief walk to the Van Gogh Museum. I was able to see not only their permanent Van Gogh collection, but an exhibition of Millais that was very interesting. There is a lot I don't know about art.

After the museum I started walking towards the Anne Frank house. I stopped along the way to pick up a sandwich and apple strudel. I found a bench at the church around the corner from the house and ate lunch. There was a small line outside but you move through the place pretty quickly. It was a little unnerving to walk through those rooms and think about 8 people living there for two years. And to think about where they ended up.

After that I took a tram to the Botanical Gardens. They were much smaller than I expected, but better maintained than any others I've seen so far. The most plant varieties, too. Then I headed back to the hotel on foot so I could check out the neighborhood. I had a cider at the square near the hotel and sat down to people watch for about an hour.

Now I'm back up in my hotel room and undecided about heading back out at all tonight. First, my room is on the fourth floor and there is no elevator. Second, the night clerk gave me the key to the private roof deck with a view of the city. I may hang out there tonight.