on the canals

A beautiful Spring Sunday day in Amsterdam, sunny 21*C, and with yesterdays party crowds all nursing hangovers somewhere the city showed off at its best. Everyone who owned a small boat I think took to the water today and enjoyed the best day of the year so far. There was a lovely atmosphere everywhere.
We started the day at the Jewish Museum and took a guided walk looking into the Jewish lives at the time of the Nazi occupation. The tour finished at  Anne Frank's house, or more accurately at her fathers jam 'factory' where she and her family were in hiding. They lived closer to where our walk started. It was a very interesting walk. The first extra shows 'stumble stones' which is an ongoing project created by an artist from Cologne who as he discovers facts is laying a stone for each Jew outside their home in Amsterdam. As he intended you keep stumbling across them in the streets and they act as a real reminder of some tragic stories never to be forgotten.
After lunch we took a boat tour to rest our weary legs and see a different angle to the city.
The last extra is an extraordinary site of an inner city coot building a nest in the fender of a boat, just look at all that plastic !!