Tuesday, June 07, 2005
We love comments
We only just noticed that people are commenting on our posts! Sorry we haven't got back to you.
I have now set blogger to email me when you comment so if you have a question we should be able to answer it within a day or two (if we are in town).
Thanks to those who have commented and to those who haven't plucked up the courage yet, give it a go, it's not that hard here's how.
Look forward to hearing from you.
p.s. you can add comments in our picture gallery too.
(0) comments
I have now set blogger to email me when you comment so if you have a question we should be able to answer it within a day or two (if we are in town).
Thanks to those who have commented and to those who haven't plucked up the courage yet, give it a go, it's not that hard here's how.
Look forward to hearing from you.
p.s. you can add comments in our picture gallery too.
(0) comments
Monday, June 06, 2005
Clogs, tulips, windmills.....are not what Amsterdam is all about
Well, it's been over a week since we went to Amsterdam. Apologies for this late posting but we've both been a little poorly lately and not had the energy to devote to composing a good blog post. That doesn't mean to say that this posting is going to be a masterpiece.....but here goes.
Day One
Joe and I had the day off on the Friday so enjoyed lazing around for the first half of the day. Our flight was due to leave around 6pm. The cues were crazy at Gatwick with long weekend holiday makers. We meet Nick and Erica in the departure lounge. We arrived in Amsterdam (the flight was only 45 mins) around 10pm at checked into our lovely B&B. Our host Reti was most accommodating with info on the city. As in London, it was very warm so we headed around the corner to have a drink and a snack before bedtime. We hoped that this weather would stick around....
Day Two
We found our way into town (the B&B was in the trendy Jordaan area and not far from the centre of the city) and into the main "Dam" square. First stop was wandering around the shops as the sight we wanted to visit didn't open till 12.30pm. Erica and I didn't complain and happily trotted off down the shopping side streets. Come 12.30pm we gathered outside the grand town hall and made our way in. It wasn't the flashest grand building we've seen to date but still impressive. Apparently some of the French royal family lived there for a while. The Netherlands has a history of being ruled by other countries for a long time.
After the town hall we caught the tram down to the famous Van Gogh museum. It was great. I loved the floor devoted to the great artist's work running from his early years to the paintings he drew while in the institution he checked himself into. I'm not an authority on art but even I could see that his brushstrokes where revolutionary and use of beautiful colour innovative.
From high art we went downhill to the Heineken Brewery. This was an interactive 'experience' that included a free gift (Heineken branded half pint glass) and three half pints of beer. We queued for a while and when we got to the fun interactive stuff we were warned that the place was going to close soon and that we'd better hurry up and get to the last bar for our final drinks. And this was at 5.30pm! Not highly recommended...unless you're a big Heineken fan....which I'm not.
We went back to our B&B for a rest before heading out for a lovely meal in the evening. It is so nice to not have problems communicating as everyone speaks English. It takes a lot of stress away.
Day Three
It started to get a bit chillier on this day. Amsterdam actually gets quite windy like Wellington. A highlight was visiting the Anne Frank House. A museum is now inside and surrounding the house that Anne and her family hid in during WWII. You can go through the secret opening behind a bookcase to the annex where they lived. The front of the building was a factory that Anne's father managed. When he knew they were in danger he registered the business under the names of his assistants and prepared the annex for his family to live in. Only a select few of his workers knew they where living in the annex and provided food, books etc. They couldn't make any noise in the day for fear of the factory workers hearing them. In the end someone called the Nazi authorities to report them. No one knows who it was. Anne died in a concentration camp just one month before the liberation however her father survived.
We visited the flower markets next which were very pretty and then caught a bus out to two traditional fishing villages - Volendam and Marken. It was nice to get a little way out of Amsterdam to see these places. We wandered around the peaceful and pretty streets enjoying listening to the birdsong and seeing some of the country side. On the bus ride out and back we spotted a couple of old windmills. There was also a modern windfarm nearby. A mixture of the old and new.
That night we ventured out to the famous red light district. It was pretty harmless and touristy in the end. We had walked around that area in the day but it looked completely different at night as the window blinds are drawn to reveal ladies in bikinis showing off their wares. It's like looking at department store windows with human mannequins. The window boxes are lit with fluro lighting which works to great affect if the ladies where white bikinis. The buildings alongside one canal are fully lined with these ladies in the windows. I was told not to take close up photos as apparently the ladies come out of their window boxes and chase you demanding money.
Day Four
We went to the markets first for a browse and then on to the Sex Museum. This traced sexual material back through history and there was one gross room that focused on people's fetishes. I did squirm a little! Not the place where you feel totally comfortable but an eye opening experience nonetheless.
We made a last dash to the Amsterdam history museum but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to do it full justice. I would have liked to have gone to the main museum as well to see some fine Dutch artist's work like Vermeer and Rembrandt. This museum is apparently undergoing huge renovations which will not be completed till 2008.
Photo gallery
Some pics are up on our photo gallery. Nick and Erica took some good shots so hopefully I can get hold of some of them to put up on the gallery as well - Amsterdam pics
(0) comments
Day One
Joe and I had the day off on the Friday so enjoyed lazing around for the first half of the day. Our flight was due to leave around 6pm. The cues were crazy at Gatwick with long weekend holiday makers. We meet Nick and Erica in the departure lounge. We arrived in Amsterdam (the flight was only 45 mins) around 10pm at checked into our lovely B&B. Our host Reti was most accommodating with info on the city. As in London, it was very warm so we headed around the corner to have a drink and a snack before bedtime. We hoped that this weather would stick around....
Day Two
We found our way into town (the B&B was in the trendy Jordaan area and not far from the centre of the city) and into the main "Dam" square. First stop was wandering around the shops as the sight we wanted to visit didn't open till 12.30pm. Erica and I didn't complain and happily trotted off down the shopping side streets. Come 12.30pm we gathered outside the grand town hall and made our way in. It wasn't the flashest grand building we've seen to date but still impressive. Apparently some of the French royal family lived there for a while. The Netherlands has a history of being ruled by other countries for a long time.
After the town hall we caught the tram down to the famous Van Gogh museum. It was great. I loved the floor devoted to the great artist's work running from his early years to the paintings he drew while in the institution he checked himself into. I'm not an authority on art but even I could see that his brushstrokes where revolutionary and use of beautiful colour innovative.
From high art we went downhill to the Heineken Brewery. This was an interactive 'experience' that included a free gift (Heineken branded half pint glass) and three half pints of beer. We queued for a while and when we got to the fun interactive stuff we were warned that the place was going to close soon and that we'd better hurry up and get to the last bar for our final drinks. And this was at 5.30pm! Not highly recommended...unless you're a big Heineken fan....which I'm not.
We went back to our B&B for a rest before heading out for a lovely meal in the evening. It is so nice to not have problems communicating as everyone speaks English. It takes a lot of stress away.
Day Three
It started to get a bit chillier on this day. Amsterdam actually gets quite windy like Wellington. A highlight was visiting the Anne Frank House. A museum is now inside and surrounding the house that Anne and her family hid in during WWII. You can go through the secret opening behind a bookcase to the annex where they lived. The front of the building was a factory that Anne's father managed. When he knew they were in danger he registered the business under the names of his assistants and prepared the annex for his family to live in. Only a select few of his workers knew they where living in the annex and provided food, books etc. They couldn't make any noise in the day for fear of the factory workers hearing them. In the end someone called the Nazi authorities to report them. No one knows who it was. Anne died in a concentration camp just one month before the liberation however her father survived.
We visited the flower markets next which were very pretty and then caught a bus out to two traditional fishing villages - Volendam and Marken. It was nice to get a little way out of Amsterdam to see these places. We wandered around the peaceful and pretty streets enjoying listening to the birdsong and seeing some of the country side. On the bus ride out and back we spotted a couple of old windmills. There was also a modern windfarm nearby. A mixture of the old and new.
That night we ventured out to the famous red light district. It was pretty harmless and touristy in the end. We had walked around that area in the day but it looked completely different at night as the window blinds are drawn to reveal ladies in bikinis showing off their wares. It's like looking at department store windows with human mannequins. The window boxes are lit with fluro lighting which works to great affect if the ladies where white bikinis. The buildings alongside one canal are fully lined with these ladies in the windows. I was told not to take close up photos as apparently the ladies come out of their window boxes and chase you demanding money.
Day Four
We went to the markets first for a browse and then on to the Sex Museum. This traced sexual material back through history and there was one gross room that focused on people's fetishes. I did squirm a little! Not the place where you feel totally comfortable but an eye opening experience nonetheless.
We made a last dash to the Amsterdam history museum but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to do it full justice. I would have liked to have gone to the main museum as well to see some fine Dutch artist's work like Vermeer and Rembrandt. This museum is apparently undergoing huge renovations which will not be completed till 2008.
Photo gallery
Some pics are up on our photo gallery. Nick and Erica took some good shots so hopefully I can get hold of some of them to put up on the gallery as well - Amsterdam pics
(0) comments
