when the train could, it went at good pace

During the train ride, I played the Anne Frank ticket game, you have to connect before 09:00 and get out of the virtual line as soon after 09:00 as you can. I took 6 browsers and was able to time it ok on one of them and got tickets for that afternoon after other museums were closed. To be honest, I don't think the visit is worth it but Jennifer read what she wrote and was happy to see it:

The train arrived late, but we still had a few hours to spend in Amsterdam that afternoon.

Day 1: Half day around Amsterdam

Next, was the Amsterdam Museum:

After that, we went to the New Church, which was gutted because it was catholic and looked too nice. Now, it's used as a museum to show pictures:

We then had to leave to get to Anne Frank House for our timed tour which sure was hard to get. That was one no pictures place, likely mostly to keep things moving. Again, Jennifer was happy to see it, but I'd say it's fine to skip if you can't get tickets, honestly you're mostly just looking at an empty house with a few plaques you can read on the internet:

locations of jews

secret door to the other building that hid Anne Frank and her peers

The days being long, we had more time to go around:

We then went to the Hemp an Hash museum, which was quite informative:

Hemp can be used to create materials in more sustainable ways than plastic

it's actually illegal to grow pot in Holland but the museum has a special allowance

well said

OMG, pretty sad misinformation, well done federal government

By then, the day was finally ending past 22:00:

Day 2: Museums, canal cruise

nice way for a teacher to share knowledge with her class

Van Gogh wrote many letters to his bother Teo

Next, was the excellent Rijks Museum that we should have spent more than 3H at:

Napoleon was the King of Holland for a while

We then left the Rijks Museum, we did the modern art Stedelijk Museum, which honestly wasn't worth as much time in comparison. We should have allocated more time at the Rijks Museum, sadly Rick Steve's book which missed a lot of newer attractions, also failed to recommend time for each of those museums:

We still had some time for the nearby Banksy Museum, which was actually better than Stedelijk for us:

Again, long days, so after dinner, we had time for a canal cruise 20:30 with plenty of daylight left:

Day 3: Naval/Science Museums and more

a few bikes around the train station :)

We biked to the naval museum:

royal parade boat

pretty

The Dutch were the top map makers at that time in history:

Next was the science museum next door, great views from its patio:

We spent quite a bit of time at the science museum, and then biked to the rembrandt house:

We then had to run out just in case to get to the Google Amsterdam Office south of the city before they closed at 18:00:

we took the fast subway there

nice views from the top

We then came back to town to have dinner with two of our cousins:

But the super long days still weren't over, so more museums:

Day 4: Half Day in Amsterdam

the entire city is on top of piloti to reach the stable layer below

Next door was Cromhout House which I went to by mistake as the 2 buildings were too close:

it was then time to go to Amsterdam station to get to Zandvoort for Luminosity. We got to visit the Zaandvoort/Haarlem area

Day 5: North Amsterdam and more museums

we went to the film institute, an interesting building, but probably a so-so attraction

The 'this is holland' show next door was pretty good

And then we went to the observation tower

nice view from the top

a few more bikes

After those 3 attractions, Jennifer went to rest, and I went to bike across town to the Heineken Museum, which was a fun visit, even for me who don't like beer:

cannabis condom? Why not? :)

After the museum, another bike trip across town:

I then went to check out 2 more churches, the old church (church of our lady) and the catholic church hidden in a house when they were forbidden:

Red light district museum was an interesting stop:

A bit more biking through Amsterdam to get to our dinner at the Silveren Spiegel

Our 2nd hotel was very nice and close to the main station, very nice decors:

Day 6: Hermitage Museum

the winning shot of the trip

Hermitage museum is quite big and worth a good 3H if you have time

It was then time to go to the Amsterdam airport for a flight home: