Amsterdam
Another long weekend, another trip. A quick glance during the week revealed that there were cheap flights to Amsterdam, so after gathering a couple of friends, off we went.
Tom, Renat and Vadik were in Amsterdam from Thursday 7th June to 10th June. As we discovered after we booked our flight, finding accomodation is extremely difficult. It seems that when someone wants to book a room on a Saturday in Amsterdam, the Sunday evening must also be paid for as well. We were prepared to overnight in the airport on Saturday night, but there is a twist. As we arrived in our hostel, we were informed that it was overbooked. We then trekked from the friendly and cultured neighbourhood of that hostel (near the concert hall and the Rijkmuseum) to the red light district, where we were told that an apartment awaits. During the day, the red light district is quite normal. We met the owner of the shop downstairs, got our keys, booked the room for Saturday night as well, and we were ready to see Amsterdam.
On the first evening we discovered how noisy the red light district can be in the evening. We stayed on Warmoesstraat, which is where the coffee shops and restaurants were, but no prostitutes. Every now and then some idiot would start screaming down the street, probably trying to call out to his drug selling mates ... but you get used to it over a couple of nights. The main street with all the rooms with that faint red glow is split by a canal, a couple of blocks away. However, there are smaller side streets with the same offerings, with some located directly opposite the old church. Chinatown is also directly adjacent to the red light district. I have read that the Amsterdam Chinatown is the only one in the world where people from other ethnicities have settled. The restaurants, as a result, are also very mixed in their flavour - Thai, Indonesian, amongst others.
We did manage to wander out of the red light district. We did a bike tour which took us on the obligatory visits to a wind mill, cheese farm and a clog maker. More cultural activities included a visit to the Anne Frank House, the Van Loon Museum (some rich guy's house next to the canal) and the Van Gogh museum. I asked several people during my trip about the pronounciation of "Van Gogh", and ended up with different answers, so I give up.
I enjoyed walking around Amsterdam a lot. It was relaxing and scenic to stroll along the canals and the narrow streets, and to have bikes and trams whiz by instead of millions of cars (well, there are still cars, and the bikes can be plain belligerent). The narrow houses, packed like sardines on the side of each street, with the hook on the slanted roof to carry furniture upstairs and sometimes unintentional tilting due to dodgy grounds, have a certain unique charm. And the mushroom shops with the detailed descriptions of the effect of each (e.g. "gives a medium high without being too strong"), are just ... interesting.
Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokmanho/sets/72157600557047455/
Tom, Renat and Vadik were in Amsterdam from Thursday 7th June to 10th June. As we discovered after we booked our flight, finding accomodation is extremely difficult. It seems that when someone wants to book a room on a Saturday in Amsterdam, the Sunday evening must also be paid for as well. We were prepared to overnight in the airport on Saturday night, but there is a twist. As we arrived in our hostel, we were informed that it was overbooked. We then trekked from the friendly and cultured neighbourhood of that hostel (near the concert hall and the Rijkmuseum) to the red light district, where we were told that an apartment awaits. During the day, the red light district is quite normal. We met the owner of the shop downstairs, got our keys, booked the room for Saturday night as well, and we were ready to see Amsterdam.On the first evening we discovered how noisy the red light district can be in the evening. We stayed on Warmoesstraat, which is where the coffee shops and restaurants were, but no prostitutes. Every now and then some idiot would start screaming down the street, probably trying to call out to his drug selling mates ... but you get used to it over a couple of nights. The main street with all the rooms with that faint red glow is split by a canal, a couple of blocks away. However, there are smaller side streets with the same offerings, with some located directly opposite the old church. Chinatown is also directly adjacent to the red light district. I have read that the Amsterdam Chinatown is the only one in the world where people from other ethnicities have settled. The restaurants, as a result, are also very mixed in their flavour - Thai, Indonesian, amongst others.
We did manage to wander out of the red light district. We did a bike tour which took us on the obligatory visits to a wind mill, cheese farm and a clog maker. More cultural activities included a visit to the Anne Frank House, the Van Loon Museum (some rich guy's house next to the canal) and the Van Gogh museum. I asked several people during my trip about the pronounciation of "Van Gogh", and ended up with different answers, so I give up.I enjoyed walking around Amsterdam a lot. It was relaxing and scenic to stroll along the canals and the narrow streets, and to have bikes and trams whiz by instead of millions of cars (well, there are still cars, and the bikes can be plain belligerent). The narrow houses, packed like sardines on the side of each street, with the hook on the slanted roof to carry furniture upstairs and sometimes unintentional tilting due to dodgy grounds, have a certain unique charm. And the mushroom shops with the detailed descriptions of the effect of each (e.g. "gives a medium high without being too strong"), are just ... interesting.Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokmanho/sets/72157600557047455/
Comments