Bloody tourists!

On my trip with Ruth to Amsterdam (over 2 weeks ago now) we both remarked on how irritating certain types of tourists are; obviously we were aware of the fact that we were tourists also, but at the Anne Frank Huis we really were amazed...

Now, this is a must-see in Amsterdam, and advance booking is essential if you want to view the warehouse where Anne and her family hid during the war, so it was no surprise that it would be busy during peak tourist season. We booked tickets for an end of the day tour and duly trotted past the huge queues outside and into the museum at 7.30pm.

Sometimes you wonder why people bother to visit such places if they can't be bothered to take the time to view the exhibits and have the courtesy to follow the queue of folks passing through each room. A really great tour was somewhat ruined by a few large groups of tourists seemingly hellbent on getting to the top of the house as quickly as possible, oblivious to the rest of the patrons who were trying to get the most out of the experience. You have to wonder whether people are actually interested in seeing something or are simply ticking off a list of things to see in a city. We also got this impression at the van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum where the crowds were massive and a complete lack of decorum was required in order to view some the museum highlights.

However, some of the smaller museums, Ruth did remark that the Dutch like to label almost everything 'a museum', like Rembrandt's house, the Houseboat Museum and Museum van Loon had no crowds and were far more interesting.

Eschewing the 'traditional' Amsterdam pursuits such as hanging out in the Red Light District and visiting the coffeeshops, we hit tourist overdrive as we took a canal tour, tried on €20,000 diamond rings in Gassan Diamonds and generally shopped, ate and enjoyed the city atmosphere. Amsterdam is a fantastic city and a return trip is a definite!