Sunday, 18 May 2025

Day 4 Saturday 17 th May Amsterdam

Grand Station Centraal 


A second day in Amsterdam. 

A fruitless search of phone shops (two stops before the Concert Hall tram stop)  to buy a reasonably priced European  SIM card to enable wi fi in the van. This led us to  wander along an endless side street Saturday market . I bought a warm scarf to protect me from the continuing  fierce North wind. 

Trips X2 to Grand Station Centraal to search for a ferry cruise of the canals. First journey proved unsuccessful when we ran out of time  and had to head back to the Concert hall for an afternoon Mahler concert( (Symphony number Four - Beautiful !) 

 The second trip to Grand Centraal  was abandoned  when we realised the main  ferry ticket offices were  now closed.

 Two observations - a dearth of public toilets in the city centre , long queues at the two we did  track down (Grand Centraal shopping mall and the  Stedelijk ( basement of Modern Art Museum )  Big problem for some. 

Second observation. For me, life  seems scarier. We watched an incident unfold nearby  -  six  transport police quickly  surrounded a middle Eastern  looking couple waiting outside the station, with identical brand new sets of  luggage. The couple  reacted  very angrily at first . They  were separated by the police  and we left as their papers were being  scrutinised  and everything seemed  calmer/ the couple more  resigned  ( tip off ?  looking for drugs?  ) 


We retired home  for a relaxing ( and  much warmer ) night in the Van. Very peaceful 😴 Anti histamines helped with the high  tree and grass pollen count today. Saturdays in Amsterdam are very busy.


 The Saturday market entrance 

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