Day 8, 20 June 2014 - Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum / Art is Therapy. Five solid hours of hiking around a pretty stunning museum. Then my feet fell off. The Rijks only reopened recently after major renovations, so it was all round a pretty awesome experience. Slowly but surely, with the aid of lots of treasures in this veritable Cathedral of Art, I am getting my head around Dutch history. (If it's all too much, this is a great read and covers 700 odd years in a down...

Day 7, 19 June 2014, Amsterdam - Bus excursion to Zaanse Schans, Verkade Chocolate Museum, speedy return to Centraal Station, change bus and out to historic little harbour Volendam (look, look, walk, walk) back on a bus, back to Centraal, tram to lunch and PHEW! 24 hour Regional Transport ticket expires (if it could have self-combusted and gone up in a puff of smoke, it would have). Stroll through De Negen Straatjes. Didn't really know what to expect at Zaanse ...

Day 6, 18 June 2014, Amsterdam - Bags & Purses Museum, Van Loon Museum (in a canal house), Amsterdam Museum, excursion to the country to Haarlem for Frans Hals Museum, Teylers Museum and general strollings. It dawned overcast at about 4.30 am and the morning was a lovely cool, grey time to spend indoors. I'm not sure what I imagined the Bag Museum to be like - but based in a luxurious canal side home with some stunning period rooms was probably not it. See...

Day 5, 17 June 2014, Amsterdam - The "Eventual" Tram, The Zoo, Waterlooplein Flea Market, Rembrandt Huis Museum, Our Lord in the Attic, The Oude Kerk, The Girls in the Windows (of the Red Light District), The Flower Market on the Singel, Cruise along the Canals, The Shopping Street and, ta da! - an early night. First off, let me just say... Never trust a tram line that heads off your map... and then appears on the other side of the map. One could assume it's a ...

Day 4, 16 June 2014 - Amsterdam - Centraal Station, Van Gogh Museum, Diamant Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Tulip Museum, Symphony at Concert-Gebouw... imminent tourism induced collapse... I realised this morning that between the Amsterdam Pass (yet to be picked up) and the free things to do like the flower market... that I really needed to get a wriggle on. So I made a plan and got going. Down the stairs, out the door, into Dam Square... ooh breakfast. Now I don'...