A short stroll around Amsterdam

I had a rather long stopover in Amsterdam on the way back to Nice - 5 hours. So I decided to head into Amsterdam for a quick walk around, rather than stay at the airport. Thanks to the efficient Dutch public transport system, that was more than feasible. After finding a locker for my bag, I jumped on the local train, and headed into town.

I figured I'd have about 2 hours to explore Amsterdam, which clearly doesn't do the city any justice. I figured the way to make the best of my time might be a canal cruise, and there were plenty of bureaus selling cruises just by the train station. But alas, they were all sold out - seems that Amsterdam is very busy this time of the year (and yes, the place was pretty much overrun by tourists).

OK, so no choice but to explore the city on foot then, which was just fine by me, as it's my favourite "mode of transport" during city breaks anyway. So how to spend 2 hours in Amsterdam, then ? There are options. Plenty of fine museums to explore - but that would leave no time for anything else. The red light district - after all, one of the main tourist attractions in Amsterdam ? I ended up choosing a rather boring option - Museumplein, based on the recommendation from a nice lady at the tourist office. That would allow me to cross a fair chunk of Amsterdam, check out the famous "I Amsterdam" sign, and maybe have a bite to eat at the Christmas market.

Off I went then, with a firm plan and a map I'd acquired at the tourist office. The walk to Museumpleim was a rather nice one, passing through the very heart of Amsterdam, along a very busy commercial street. Very busy indeed - seems that half of Europe was in Amsterdam on this particular day (reminded me of Oxford Street in London during the mad Christmas shopping period - what a contrast to tranquil Helsinki).  I crossed quite a few of the famous Amsterdam canals as well - all in all, a very pleasent little stroll.

After rewarding myself with a Dutch waffle for my efforts, I finally arrived at Museumplein, just as it got dark. It's basically a big square, located just south of the town centre, which houses some of the most famous Dutch museums (including the Van Gogh museum and Rijksmuseum), the famous "I amsterdam" sign (which has kind of become a symbol for the city, apparently), an ice skating rink and the Christmas market. I have to admit the Christmas market was a it of a disappointment (there were just a few hotdogs stands, basically) - the rest of it was very nice. Photogenic ;-)

After hanging out at Museumplein for 45 minutes or so, it was time to head back - I didn't have time to walk back, so I jumped on the tramway, which conveniently took me back to the main train station. A couple of night shots later, it was time to catch the train back to the airport.

It was short but sweet - Amsterdam surely deserves a longer visit one of these days (my last visit was during Euro 2000, so quite a few years ago!)