Blogs from Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 163

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Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 24th 2006

Amsterdam is way shady and not a cool place. It is especially not cool when your hotel is in the redlight district and you have a 5 minute super uncomfortable walk to get anywhere not ridden with filth. Van Gogh and Anne Frank house were both cool though. We also met up with Jack's friend Juan which was fun and good for Jack I think. Never coming back though.... read more

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 22nd 2006

Arrived in Berlin for a fleeting overnight visit. Cam and I wanted to see as much as possible before our impromtu visit to Hamburg tomorrow to visit Jakob, a german exchange student from school, and Chris, who he stayed with in Aus. Saw the Reichstag ie. parliament but couldnt go in because the line was so massive, then went to a Jewish memorial which was a really strange looking construction. Im not entirely sure of the inspiration or meaning. Berlin was really spacious and extremely super-sized, theres no way you could simply walk around the city. I guess after the war and all the destruction they had the opportunity to rebuild that way. Back at the hostel I saw Danny, a guy Id travelled with earlier and we went along with him to a beach bar. ... read more
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 21st 2006

Tony and Anne both work at different divisions of KLM, so we got a tour of the aiport. Tony works in the cargo section, as the technical supervisor, so we got shown through the freight handling terminal. One of the interesting sections to the cargo section is the live animals. They send lots of dogs, cats, chickens, as well as more obscure animals like elephants and sharks! Anne works in purchasing, so we got the tour of her offices followed by a few whit beers in the sports bar across the road. We had a beer tasting night at home, trying lots of different Belgian and German beers, including cherry beer, fruity pink beer (aimed at teenage girls), Duvel (Devil) beer - which is 9% alcohol, as well as more Heineken and whit beer. After beer ... read more
Sports Bar terrace
Tony's Street
Girly Pink Beer

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 21st 2006

Did some shopping as I was in dire need for some shorts as mine got wrecked in Bruges after sitting on some dubious substance. Found some for 7.50 euro which was quite the bargain so I was rapped. It has been so hot , about 10 degrees above average and eight people have died in France as a result. It is ridiculous that people have died of heat exhaustion in this era. That arvo Cam and I went to the Anne Frank house. It was amazing to see the building the lived in for two years. Ive never seen stairs so steep in my life. It was just a mind boggling experience, and Im glad Id read the book before hand, even all those years ago. Afterwards there was an exhibit on controversial human rights issues ... read more

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 21st 2006

We had the plane tickets, the know how and the train routes ready to go to Amsterdam but all came to a low straight away when we realised we had caught the train from London to the wrong airport. So a couple of hours and a few hundred dollars later we were in the air aboard an Easyjet plane sampling some of the finest cuisine which included a sandwich and water. A hour later we were in Amsterdam where we caught a train to the centre of Amsterdam. With no accomadation booked we were hoping on a opening somewhere. Marty, my brother, went scouting in his delerious hung over state and found us a descent hotel room to stay. We were all glad to rest and have a shower and gear up to check out Amsterdam. ... read more
Slanty building
Us at window of hotel room
Amsterdam Canals

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 19th 2006

Chocoholics would love Holland, one of the staple breakfast foods is Hagelslag, chocolate flakes that are spread over toast. A great way to start the day. See photo attached for what Hagelslag is. Today we went shopping in Leiden, the nearest large shopping town. It is basically a college town, and the birthplace of Rembrant. There has been a large festival recently to celebrate the 400th birthday of Rembrant, and there are exhibits and reminders of his works all over the city. We met Anne's (our Aunty) son today at dinner, and his girlfriend Mika, who have promised to take us out in Amsterdam partying on the weekend. Tomorrow we are planning to hire a boat and cruise the canals of Leiden and possibly out to the coast. ... read more

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 19th 2006

Arrived in Amsterdam and I must admit I didnt take an immediate liking to the place at all. Just went wandering and had some Indonesian for dinner. There is a big asian influence in the area which I havent seen so much in Europe, because the Netherlands colonised a lot of asian countries. I wasnt at all interested in the red light district of Amsterdam but ended up going as Cam, Georgia and Sarah wanted to see it. It was quite surreal walking down this canal past lines of red lit window boxes with bikini clad girls posing in the windows and stunned, gaping men loitering out the front. One looked quite like Paris Hilton which I suppose shouldnt be a surprise! A lot of hostels provide breakfast over here but Ive never seen breakfast like ... read more
Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 18th 2006

I was lucky to get an exit-row seat on the 12.5 hour flight from KL to Amsterdam. Lots of legroom is a godsend on long flights! Arriving in Amsterdam at about 5am, I was met by my uncle Tony, and cheaufered back to his house in Oegstgeest. Megan and my cousin Kristie arrived a few hours later after completing their contiki tour. Setting off to begin to see the sights of Holland, we visited a working windmill, a castle in Leiden, and then stopped for lunch on a floating barge in a canal in Leiden. (see photos) Holland is in the middle of a heatwave, it is about 30 degrees. Drinking cold Belgian whit beer overlooking the picturesque canals of Leiden is tough work! It is time for a siesta now, as the sun is up ... read more
Windmill
Annie's verjaardag

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 18th 2006

Hello from Amsterdam. Today we took yet ANOTHER walking tour. I think we've walked like 200km this trip. Both our knees and one achilles tendon need replacing. Hopefully with super robotic parts, intended for the space shuttle. It was very exciting for us to see not one but two lesbian couples making out during our tour. These were people on the tour by the way, not people on the street. One couple was clearly fake, we decided, as they were just getting a bit too excited about kissing. Overactors. Anyhow, if we don't get killed by a bicycle on this trip it will only be because the tram got us. They have the right of way over pedestrians, and there's lots of close calls. You can't hear the friggin' things coming! Oh, I should mention that ... read more
Amsterdam
University of Amsterdam
Canal

Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam July 17th 2006

Well, here we are in Amsterdam, Holland. Here's one for you all, the country goes by two names, the Netherlands and Holland and the people are described as Dutch. Go figure? Anyway back to where we left off. We were in Paris still and it was the day that Jaimee parted company with us. She had to fly back to the UK as she had another Airforce ball that she had to attend, so she couldn't spend the extra day with us. How many people head off overseas and pack their ball dress, mind having said that, she has attended 3 of them. Jaimee reckons it's just as well the balls have all been in different places as no one at these balls has seen her in the same ball gown. Anyway we saw her off ... read more




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