Keukenhof flower festival and surrounding tulip fields in the rain from morning to early afternoon. Cruise of the canals of Amsterdam that departs from Damrak to the harbour, famous landmarks in and around the canals to the Magere Burg in Amstel river and back after lunch right to late afternoon. Early dinner and a meeting of two americans followed by the tour of the Van Gogh Museum.

We began the early rounds of getting to the Damrak to board the tour bus - this time for the Keukenhof flower festival. Unfortunately today was miserable with bucketloads of rain coming down from the heavens. I am not sure what we did wrong to deserve this weather, but, like all travellers, we would have to learn to bear these sort of conditions. Nevertheless, our bus guide confessed she made the effort of praying for good weather.

Like our guide the day before, we were given a quick rundown of the history of Amsterdam and the famous landmarks that appeared as we travelled towards our destination. But as we headed along our destination, we were surprised to find that many of the fabled tulips fields had their flowers cut. The guide anxiously explained to us that this had to be done to save the energy of the bulb for the flowers of next year. She then told us that April and May would be the best time to see the Tulip fields.

A few minutes later, the bus drove into the Keukenhof and parked alongside the other buses at the Hyacinth Car park. Despite the steady rain, large numbers of tourists and visitors had turned out today - probably under pressure of going beacause of time constraints imposed in their itineraries. It would take us another 15 minutes of queing and dodging other visitors before we could appreciate the beauty of the Keukenhof.

Starting from the entrance, we turned right and walked past a large pond and fountain, viewing the tulip beds as we went. Many of the beds had been prepared by different exhibitors which have their names staked near each one. There were many different varieties, including a couple that took the shape of a crown, as well as some beds with mixed and identical flowers. We passed through the Koningin Juliana Pavillion briefly before heading for the tulip beds and water garden of the Oranje Nassau Pavllion.

We first came across a chessboard under a shelter that was surrounded by tulips and blossom trees. Some people had started moving chess pieces around while others stood observing. Walking up towards the chessboard, we could catch a better glimpse of the area and thus plotted our way towards the traditional garden, west of our current position. There were not that many tulips in this garden but there were many neatly-cut cypress trees, as the emphasis was on a formal garden. We then wandered off to the large water fountain and canal that faces the front of the pavillion. There was also a lookout which provided a full view of the remaining tulip fields that were in bloom. From here we picked out a field of red tulips that was just near the labyrinth. After getting to the labyrinth we both walked into a small narrow track east of the Prins Willem Alexander pavillion. Here there was a good position to take photos of the remaining tulips while obtaining a reminder of what the tulip fields should be like before the flowers would eventually disappear.

After taking a lunch break inside the packed Prins Willem Alexander Pavillion, we ventured east through more tulip exhibits to the Japanese Nature Garden and the windmill. Here we encountered the peacefulness of the Azalea canal and the calm sound of flowing water inside the nature garden. Unfortunately we did not have time to go inside and explore the windmill that was just next to the garden. Thus we proceeded north towards Koningin Beatrix Pavillion then west back to the Hyacinth, again encountering more tulip beds before arriving at the entrance. As I walked it was easy to feel amazed at how much effort the exhibitors put in to displaying their tulips.

Later in the afternoon, we arrived back in Amsterdam and caught the tram back to the Museum quarter for the Van Gogh Museum. But due to the high attendance, we ended up buying tickets for the 6pm session. With time to kill, we returned back to Damrak and took a canal cruise. While heading back our tram passed a rowdy public gathering of football fanatics outside Leidesplein, and picking up some along the way, but we got back to the Damrak without any incidents.

As it was still raining, it was fairly difficult to take photos during the cruise with the raining pouring down over the windows, so I decided to listen to some of the commentary instead that was playing inside the boat. The cruise took us to the harbour of Amsterdam, then worked its way down the narrow canals, to Amstel river before heading back to Damrak. Of the most interesting sites were the church of Zuiderkerk - now an exhibition centre, the Magere Burg and the houseboats along the river - a popular form of housing introduced recently to resolve the housing shortage around the city.

We had an early dinner at a noodle bar inside the shopping arcade opposite Vondelpark when we both met a couple of large middle-aged american men who were eating at the same table and picked up our Australian accent. After introducing themselves, we then talked about the reasons for moving to and living in London for travel and that we would be leaving Amsterdam to go to Spain in a couple of weeks. We also expressed our interest to visit America in the near future. We also mentioned that we would be going the Van Gogh museum soon and how we had to wait until 6pm to get in. But the topic they really liked discussing was the famous crocodile hunter, his bravery in handling dangerous animals while being annoyingly excited at the same time. After finishing their dinner we the friendly americans fairwell before they left the restaurant leaving both of us to finish ours.

Not long after they left, our evening soon became even more eventful when we were forced to leave the restaurant. The public gathering of football fanatics around Leidesplein had got violent and the riot police were called in to disperse the crowd with tear gas - as a result the noodle bar had to close for the day. Understandable - since the tear gas did spread as far as Vondelpark where we were eating and it could have even affected our food!

We soon arrived at the calmer confines of the Van Gogh museum. Unlike other museums, we were not allowed to take cameras along so these had to be handed in the cloakroom before continuing. Other than that, our tickets were good value since it included a detailed guide of the paintings of Gaugin and Van Gogh and a audioguide that gave an in-depth story of some of the most important works of these artist. The audioguide and the galleries were structured to give an interesting insight into the story of Van Gogh and Gaugin, from their first meeting and Van Gogh's aspirations in creating a community of artists, the breakdown of their relationships and the evolution of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers". As a result, this probably was one of the most immersive exhibitions we had encountered since we were left appreciating the effort made by Van Gogh and Gaugin in creating their famous works of art.

It was quite late at night when we left the museum. By this time, the rain had stopped which was a bit of a relief. Although most of our day was ruined by rain, we still managed to see quite a lot of Amsterdam. It may have seemed crazy touring the Keukenhof and the canals in the rain, but we had no choice due to time constraints. And the riot at Leidesplein added to the craziness and absurdity. But meeting a couple of cheerful, larger-than-life americans and a well presented exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum made the day a more pleasing experience.