Turn, Turn, Turn

Windmills. If I had to name my favourite energy generating spinning machine, it would have to be a windmill. I can't get enough of them. Though I was able to see plenty of them on the train to Amsterdam this morning. The train even passed reasonably close of a couple. Fantastic machines, big, white, spinning. They're fantastic. Windmills!

Of course, I did see other things today. I was able to get a bus to Haarlem and take a train from there to Amsterdam Centraal. The train stations are a bit bewildering at first, though I quickly got the hang of them. I just had to swipe my travel card going into the station and make sure I got on the right train. After that I just had to be sure to swipe my card again leaving the station at the other end, to be sure I wasn't overcharged for my journey.

The trains themselves seem pretty good too, comfortable with lots of legroom, and they're broken up into sections. The train I got in was a double decker, which I'd never even seen before. Naturally, I took the top deck to get a nice view of the countryside on the way in. The countryside itself is mostly canals, though I already knew this much. After seeing some of the cycle lanes that wind through the fields, including one particular long thin wooden cycle bridge that spanned a lake, I decided I'd like to go cycling around Holland some time. It might make for a fun holiday with friends.

Amsterdam Centraal is right in the centre of Amsterdam. I don't really know much about what to find where in Amsterdam, so I just picked a direction and walked, stopping to take a few photos of check out any interesting looking shop. After a while I found myself in the stamp collecting district. Old men showing off their bound albums of stamps and old coins. So I headed back to the city centre and picked a different direction to wander in.

I had a fun time looking around the city centre, though I didn't really find anything interesting to do. I still have no idea where the Art Museum I was recommended is. The weather was pretty unbearably humid today, my back was slick with sweat. So after lunch I headed back to the train station and grabbed a train back to Haarlem. There was an Irish scout group on the bus on the way back to Heemstede, though I didn't talk to them.

So it turns out I'm not much of a tourist. At least I've seen enough to get my bearings next time I go looking for something in the city, a few points of reference isn't a bad thing. Though a map may help. I was also able to find a shop that sells the phone I have my eye on for a decent price, though I've decided to leave off buying it until I can write a halfway decent application. I also picked up a moleskine weekly notebook dated from July right to December 2011. Hopefully that will help keep me a little more organised than normal next year.