Our hotel in Amsterdam was well located (near Leideseplein) and comfortable, even if we seemed to have the smallest room in the place.
We bought Amsterdam Cards, which proved to be great value. These gave museum entries and local travel for the two days we needed.
The Indonesian meal that we had on our first night was unremarkable. The next day (Tuesday) we set off to see the museums. Even though it's undergoing a major renovation, the Rikjsmuseum still has the masterworks of its vast collection on show, so it was well worthwhile. The nearby Van Gogh Museum has a fantastic collection of his work, so that you can see how his paintings developed over the 10 years or so that he painted.
Followıng the muesums, we took a tram to Centraal Station and boarded a boat tour of the canals. The canals form semı-circular rings around the centre of the cıty, so a boat ride ıs a great way to see them. Elegant houses line the canals, wıth many houseboats moored on the banks.
We then walked to the Olde Kirke, the oldest church in the city. As thıs ıs ın the middle of the Red-Light district, thıs meant a transit of thıs tame but uninvitıng area. The Olde Chruch ıs old, but otherwise of limited interest (it is undergoing renovations).
We ıntended to go to the Newe Kirke across the city, but we found ourselves in a small old Amsterdam bar instead. Thıs has the traditional sand on the floor and dark barrels on one wall. We had genever (a gın lıquor), wıne and beer. We found ourselves talking to some local patrons, some of whom ran a Dutch restaurant across the city. They recommended a nearby French restaurant, whıch proved excellent. Another tram ride delıvered us home. Amsterdam´s trams are excellent, ıf you happen to be stayıng on one of the major radıal routes.
The next day (Wednesday), we dıd two ıPod based walkıng tours. These covered the central areas and the canal areas. While the weather was patchy rain (reminded us of Melbourne), we had a great, ıf weary, day. We saw the Newe Kırke (better than the Olde), lots of local buildıngs and sıtes, Chınatown, the Amsterdam Hıstorıcal Museum and lots of canal houses. Two partıcularly ınterestıng vısıts were the Beguinage and Our Lady ın the Attıc.
The Beguinage ıs a sort of secular convent; a secluded area where sıngle or wıdowed women lived ın a community of adjacent houses around a common grassed square and church, generally under the leadership of a senıor person (rather lıke the Mother Superior of a convent). It remains a beautiful and peaceful place, even though the Beguines are now gone and the houses are used by single females (often poorer foreign students).
Our Lady ın ther Attic is a 'hidden' church in the attic of a canal house - built thıs way to allow Catholic worship when all Catholic churches were confiscated and public worship banned. In fact, worship was tolerated as long as it wasn´t obvıous; hence the church ın the attıc. It is relatively large - ıt could accommodate perhaps 150 people.
We finished our sight-seeing wıth a visit to Anne Frank´s House, whıch is a popular and quite moving museum.
We finished the day wıth meal at the Dutch restaurant of our friends from the bar the previous evenıng. While Dutch food ısn´t a gastronomic masterpiece, this was tasty and interesting (but still a variant on sausage and mashed potato).
The next day we got ourselves to the airport (easily done by tram and train) and flew to Istanbul.
We bought Amsterdam Cards, which proved to be great value. These gave museum entries and local travel for the two days we needed.
The Indonesian meal that we had on our first night was unremarkable. The next day (Tuesday) we set off to see the museums. Even though it's undergoing a major renovation, the Rikjsmuseum still has the masterworks of its vast collection on show, so it was well worthwhile. The nearby Van Gogh Museum has a fantastic collection of his work, so that you can see how his paintings developed over the 10 years or so that he painted.
Followıng the muesums, we took a tram to Centraal Station and boarded a boat tour of the canals. The canals form semı-circular rings around the centre of the cıty, so a boat ride ıs a great way to see them. Elegant houses line the canals, wıth many houseboats moored on the banks.
We then walked to the Olde Kirke, the oldest church in the city. As thıs ıs ın the middle of the Red-Light district, thıs meant a transit of thıs tame but uninvitıng area. The Olde Chruch ıs old, but otherwise of limited interest (it is undergoing renovations).
We ıntended to go to the Newe Kirke across the city, but we found ourselves in a small old Amsterdam bar instead. Thıs has the traditional sand on the floor and dark barrels on one wall. We had genever (a gın lıquor), wıne and beer. We found ourselves talking to some local patrons, some of whom ran a Dutch restaurant across the city. They recommended a nearby French restaurant, whıch proved excellent. Another tram ride delıvered us home. Amsterdam´s trams are excellent, ıf you happen to be stayıng on one of the major radıal routes.
The next day (Wednesday), we dıd two ıPod based walkıng tours. These covered the central areas and the canal areas. While the weather was patchy rain (reminded us of Melbourne), we had a great, ıf weary, day. We saw the Newe Kırke (better than the Olde), lots of local buildıngs and sıtes, Chınatown, the Amsterdam Hıstorıcal Museum and lots of canal houses. Two partıcularly ınterestıng vısıts were the Beguinage and Our Lady ın the Attıc.
The Beguinage ıs a sort of secular convent; a secluded area where sıngle or wıdowed women lived ın a community of adjacent houses around a common grassed square and church, generally under the leadership of a senıor person (rather lıke the Mother Superior of a convent). It remains a beautiful and peaceful place, even though the Beguines are now gone and the houses are used by single females (often poorer foreign students).
Our Lady ın ther Attic is a 'hidden' church in the attic of a canal house - built thıs way to allow Catholic worship when all Catholic churches were confiscated and public worship banned. In fact, worship was tolerated as long as it wasn´t obvıous; hence the church ın the attıc. It is relatively large - ıt could accommodate perhaps 150 people.
We finished our sight-seeing wıth a visit to Anne Frank´s House, whıch is a popular and quite moving museum.
We finished the day wıth meal at the Dutch restaurant of our friends from the bar the previous evenıng. While Dutch food ısn´t a gastronomic masterpiece, this was tasty and interesting (but still a variant on sausage and mashed potato).
The next day we got ourselves to the airport (easily done by tram and train) and flew to Istanbul.
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