Amsterdam, this was a bit of a winner

This is a tricky city to get to from Berlin. Direct flights are either hideously expensive or if you want a cheap ticket you have to fly at some ungodly hour.
We opted for a six hour train ride which actually isn't as bad as it sounds.
Prior to arrival we had a preconceived notion that central Amsterdam would resemble some kind of drug smoker's paradise and whilst it's true that there are any number of 'coffee shops' filled with glazed eyed stoned clients, the reality is that Amsterdam has far more to offer.
For starters, the whole central city area is just a hive of activity. Obviously cars are thin on the ground however there are fantastic bus and tram services supplemented by no less than ONE MILLION bikes...yes, one million bikes!
This is a tourist Mecca if you love canal cruises, art galleries, history museums, great bars and top line restaurants. On that score we trawled the web and dined at three top Dutch style restaurants on successive evenings namely Van Speyk, Greetje and Bistrot Neuf. 
Art Galleries....in a word ' stunning'. The Van Gogh Museum itself was a credit to the Dutch. The collection itself was mind-blowing and covered the one-eared wonder's entire painting career. I was particularly taken with the 1888 painting' Fishing Boats on the Beach at Les Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer' as I clearly recalled that whilst alive my parents had a print of same hung up in their house. We also have a connection to this painting having recently visited this beach in Provence and also in Arles right next to our hotel on the river were three identical boats as an echo of Van Gogh's presence in that town.
Now, on to the main arty event of this trip. A visit to the Rijksmuseum to check out Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch'. I have always been fascinated by this painting probably because it has been the victim of two knife attacks over the years. The restorers have done a marvellous job and up close you can barely detect any damage. The thing is, this painting is really interesting to look at. There is just heaps going on. That's not to say that the rest of this 400 piece collection of masterpieces aren't magnificent, because they are. It's just that I think 'The Night Watch' is something very special. On the other hand Julia is very keen on Vermeer. You come away from these galleries with a greater understanding of why the Dutch were a force to be reckoned with way back when. They refer to it as the miracle of the Dutch Golden Age, and they were right. W e wandered by Anne Frank's House but the queues went on forever so we flagged any thoughts of dropping in.
A word about Schiphol Airport, our departure point. Prior to arriving at the airport I kept on wondering how the logistics would work out with just one terminal. The answer is....this terminal is a Biggie! To give you an example our departure gate was D26, a brisk 20 minute walk. Once the aircraft left the departure gate it taxied for no less than 20 minutes and in it's travels passed over one creek in flood, a rather wide canal, 2 dual carriage-way roads and a couple of 6 lane highways. The Pommies behind us were cracking any number of jokes about the possibility of taxiing all the way to London. As an aside the flight itself to Gatwick was all over in 38 minutes!
Like Berlin, Amsterdam is a great location for a yearly visit. The clog factory, the flower market and the windmills can wait for another day.