A petite drive and walk (Hi Mum!)

Today was another day in Amsterdam. Mum's flight arrived really early, so we left to pick her up at about 7. Getting closer to the airport, I saw an MD-11 from KLM - one of only three passenger versions left in existence! They're being retired in about 3 months, so it was great to see one before they left.

You can catch my first photos from Amsterdam at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645850119538/

After picking mum up, which we tried to make as quick as possible because parking was 5 or 10 Euros per hour (!), we headed back to Amstelkade. Mum unpacked all her crap, which made her room look like a bomb had gone off (and she calls ME untidy!), and we headed off to Breukelen (prounounced Broke-len). It's a town south of Amsterdam that is known for having busy streets, busy canals and stunning architecture.

The architecture was duly amazing, and the canals were really busy. The results were some nice photos all around, mostly without boats but a good mix of photos that also had boats. There were lots of bridges that raise up when boats need to go through, causing big banks of traffic waiting to cross the bridges:

The canals of Breukelen

It should be noted that the weather was quite gloomy - lots of my photos were washed out from light-coloured clouds everywhere.

After driving down the motorway to get there, we headed back through the back streets, coming across a lovely small town by the name of Loenen aan de Vecht. It's not on the water as much, but has a church and some nice scenery:

Loenen aan de Vecht

We arrived back in Amsterdam mid-afternoon, and decided to head out for a walk and to pick up supplies at the same time. We went through Albert Cuypmarkt, a market selling food and drink, clothing, and other accessories, which runs every day on Albert Cuypstraat. On the way back, we stopped at Sarphatipark, which is a really nice small park just north of where we are staying:

Sarphatipark

After a bit of a cruise, we headed to a local supermarket and bought some stuff, and came out to rain that had set in while we were undercover. So we walked quickly back to the apartment and did nothing for the rest of the day.

Favourites from the rest of Amsterdam

Tomorrow we hope to go for a bigger wander through the centre of Amsterdam. See you then!