The Netherlands, Van Gough and Melody Gardot

I love the Netherlands and am so excited to be going to Amsterdam in July. If you stay near Vondel park you are close to all the great art centres, the Rijksmuseum with its wonderful paintings, the Van Gough and the Concertgebouw, where the jazz singer Melody Gardot will sing on July 3rd  - check her out on U Tube if you have not already heard her. I lived in near Amsterdam in my 20's and never wanted to leave. I also thought about moving back recently which allowed me the luxury of  three visit.

This picture is taken in Delft. Next time  I am back in Amsterdam again . My favorite passtime is walking the canals along with this there will be time for the galleries and viewing the wonderful paintings.

Years ago when I lived in Zanvoort a seaside town near Amsterdam I used to visit 2 small former fishing villages on the Zuderzee outlet called Volendam and Marken. These villages have critcism heaped on them by locals and tourist guides for their trippery nature and for being a tourist trap however the buildings are really worth seeing as is the trip itself involving a bus and ferry . I think take a bus to Volendam and then there is a ferry acress to Marken. This ferry trip alone would make it a wonderful day out. The bus to Volendam takes about 30 mins , the ferry  30 mins and the trip back to Amsterdam another 30. The bus leave s from central station but check i have not done in for decades.

Throughout the Netherlands there are many lovely canals

Some canals are tucked away in small towns and bicycles are a great feature everywhere . This final picture is of a small town that I wandered through near Dortrecht.