Fantastic Amsterdam

Here I am, just back from a wonderful trip to Amsterdam. Departure 22 May - Return 25 May 2007 Airline Meridiana from Pisa.. There were me and 2 other friends... so a girls-only holiday... Departure at 5 in the morning to get to the airport... check-in and when we board the plane the pilot tells us that due to bad weather we will have to wait an hour there for the go-ahead... off to a good start! A pleasant flight and after 2 hours here we are at Schiphol airport. Beautiful and enormous (inside there was even a Rembrandt exhibition), lots of shops, cleanliness and organisation.

To get to Amsterdam central station we queue to buy the train tickets (3.60 euros each way) and then head down (the tracks pass under the airport...) where every 15 minutes there is a train to the centre; we catch it on the fly because they are extremely punctual and after about 20 minutes here we are at the grand central station. Once out of the station the sky was covered with clouds, the temperature rather cool, but the first thing that caught my eye was a multi-storey ramp beside the station with hundreds of bicycles, one tied to another...fantastic! We set off towards the hotel trying to dodge trams, cars and bicycles....cycle paths, roads and tram tracks often intersect and you have to be careful or they'll carry you off... and after already taking the wrong direction we arrived at our hotel.

Y BOULEVARD, 10 minutes on foot from the central station on Prins Hendrikkade, two stars, good breakfast, quite clean... The only thing was the impact of the stairs...they're extremely steep going up and coming down you got dizzy....imagine with suitcases... and then no lift... tragic. We left the suitcases at the hotel and went for a first wander because check-in was at 14.00. First thing to do, buy the "I AM STERDAM CARD", a card with a chip that lets you enter for free or get a 25% discount to visit many