Amsterdam

(Berlin - Amsterdam 577km/358 Miles)
Total distance traveled = 14,745 km/9162 Miles

By this point I was getting a bit tired of constant travelling. Although I was stopping in cities for a few days, I wasn't really resting. I felt that I needed to see as much of the cities as I could, so was constantly walking around seeing the sights. I had planned to visit other German cities, a couple of places in the Netherlands, and perhaps even Belgium. But at this point decided I'd rather take a more direct route and spend more time at home. I got a train to Amsterdam, and at the same time booked a ferry back to the UK - timing my arrival in Warrington with my mum's birthday.
I know that some people take a year out and travel a lot more than this, but I'm not sure I could do such a long trip. Maybe mixing in more relaxing beach destinations, or staying in places longer would help. Equally, perhaps it's my personality and other travelers don't feel like that have to try and see everything in one go.

Amsterdam didn't impress at first. It was busy, raining, and the first parts of the city I saw were the areas full of 'coffeeshops' and the red light district. As I wandered around looking for the hostel, I wondered why I'd bothered coming. It got better though.

The hostel was away from the squalor and situated near a nice park. It was modern and clean, but a bit big. What am I saying, it was massive. Easily the biggest hostel I've ever been to. This meant it had more of an impersonal hotel feel. Lots of the people staying there were in big groups (school, college, hen parties, stag parties) which meant it was les likely that you'd get chatting to strangers. Although I did speak to a couple of Spanish guys, a Scottish lad, and a Japanese guy, this was more from my efforts to talk to people rather than a friendly atmosphere bringing people together.

Away from the centre, there were some nice areas of the city and during my stay I found some quiet streets, nice little shops, and interesting architecture. There didn't seem to be as many 'must see', 'big' sights compared to the other places I'd visited on the trip. This meant I felt I could relax a bit more and take my time looking around over the three days I was in the city.

I visited the Rijksmuseum and saw Rembrandt's 'Nightwatch', Ann Frank's House, and the Van Gogh Museum (suprisingly it wasn't busy!). I also went out for a few drinks and sampled some of the wares at a couple of the coffeeshops.

I left Amsterdam by bus, and boarded a ferry in Zeebrugge back to the UK. The bus was full of drunk lads who had been on a stag night. Luckily the ferry was big enough to avoid them and I had a few drinks before my last night on the road (or should that be sea).

Not so many photos this time...
http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc250/davingtonsmythe/Japan%20to%20Russia/Amsterdam/?albumview=slideshow