A stroll along the canals

It was a trip organised at the last minute, with a few leftover days of holiday and little money to spend. We flew with Virgin to Brussels from Rome and then, after visiting the Belgian capital, we went by train to Holland, to visit Amsterdam. I'm sorry I can't be precise with the information and especially that I don't have very many photos (few of them decent). I'd just like to give some of my impressions, a few memories of that splendid trip. It was the first post-euro trip. I must say that at the time we really appreciated the convenience, after years and years of "exchange" and costly commissions. We were rather naive and, looking back, we've often said that we were rather naive. The city is beautiful, a bit chaotic and full of tourists; lots of dropouts in the centre and in the "red" area.

But in the end we never had any big problems, apart from the constant asking for money, change etc. Another offer we often heard in the streets of Amsterdam is the offer of drugs (of all kinds) and of prostitutes (even in the presence of my girlfriend they didn't have any big problem!). We stayed at the Waterfront Hotel (hotels are rather expensive in the central area and the quality level didn't seem to us up to the price. Another important thing (I don't know if it's still the case today) is that all payments by credit card have a 4% surcharge. I sincerely believe this is a rather unfair thing (reading the rules of Mastercard or Visa it seems it isn't even legitimate). Many shops in the centre sell soft drugs but also jewellery and in particular diamonds: we recommend a visit to the Anne Frank House (moving) and a tour of the canals (unmissable to get an overall view of the city).

It's impossible to get around Amsterdam by car; if you don't want to take public transport (the trams work well) we recommend hiring a bicycle. You find thousands of them, but two pieces of advice: - respect the signage because they run into you with great ease - always put a chain on it, because they steal them just as easily The centre isn't very big and is easily walkable too. It takes no more than 2/3 days to visit Amsterdam and, I don't know if we were lucky, at the end of March the weather was decent (not cold but rainy). Enjoy your trip to Amsterdam.