I spent a couple of hours wandering though this charming, spacious park between visiting museums. The 120 acre park, set to the west of the Museumplein in Amsterdam, was built in the 1850s and combines areas of woodland with grassy lawns and a series of lakes. There are cafes, a restaurant, play areas and an open air theatre runs events during the summer months. As a keen birdwatcher I was delighted to find a stork just metres away from me strutting around collecting twigs for its nest. Further along a heron was fishing, oblivious to cyclists and roller skaters, and a pair of egyptian geese swam in the lake by the cafe with their tiny chicks. Rounding a corner, I discovered my third Iamsterdam statue: this one sporting a gold crown. It was not as crowded as the Iamsterdam signs in front of the Rijksmuseum and at the airport. I would imagine the park is even more beautiful in summer when the flowers and the rose garden are in full bloom.
