Flower power!

On the fourth day of Christmas...

Well, even though I didn't think it was possible, the jokes are getting worse.  It's like Groundhog Day.  We get up, there's a terrible joke.  We have breakfast, there's a terrible joke.  We get on the tram, there's a terrible joke...

Yesterday we were very cultured and spent the day in the recently refurbished Rijksmuseum.  Apparently it was closed for ten years to allow for the refurbishment to take place.  I'm very glad that it was open for us to visit, as it is a beautiful building to walk around.

And it was very informative.  I brushed up on my Dutch history.  I learned how to import Opium, I learned how to conquer a far away land and create a Colony, and I also got some very useful tips on how to improve my painting skills.  How or where I'm ever going to use these skills is beyond me, but lunch in the building was definitely worth learning about.  I could practice that skill everyday.

Today, we were even more touristy and saw Amsterdam in all it's glory from a riverboat.  Or should that be a canal boat?  We got on a hop on hop off boat, and hopped off at all the best places.  The flower market being the best one! We strolled through oohing and ahing at the variety of bulbs and plants and cut flowers on offer.  We stopped for longer than we should have at the stand with the cannabis seeds and plants.  Did some more doddering, but in the end being the straight laced oldies that we are we opted for some tulip and (a very unusual blue coloured) amaryllis bulbs.  We will have to bury them in our bags to get them through customs.  Perhaps I should have paid more attention yesterday in the museum at the Opium importing exhibit!

We're sitting now as I am writing this, beside the water, having a drink, in the sunshine, after a(nother) great day in this busy city.

Apart from the terrible jokes, and the fact that I haven't seen a windmill yet (unless you count the hundreds of tiny ones that you can stick on your fridge), it's been a lovely few days.  We still have one more day, so I haven't given up on the windmills yet.  And my mother hasn't given up on the cake shops yet either!!