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Published: March 25th 2008
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Good Friday. The alarm sounds at 4:30am. We’ve got half an hour to make it to the bus to East Midlands Airport. Of course we’re not so sharp at this unpleasantly early hour so the planned 10 min walk to the bus stop transforms into a (backpack equipped) 5 min run! But we make it.
Our research isn’t as thorough as normal so upon arriving at Amsterdam central station by train from the airport, our first port of call is the TIC. Our Lonely Planet guide claims it is on platform 2. Really? How strange. Sure enough, there it is. And look at that queue! With Lachlan guarding the bags, Ariana battles the line. She emerges later with two Amsterdam cards, Keukenhof tickets, and plenty of enthusiasm. Let’s go!
On the tram from Central Station on route to our hotel we notice a flower market and agree that this has to be our first stop after we drop off our bags. Our hotel is in a lovely area of Amsterdam, right next to Vondel Park and surrounded by five story terraced houses.
Free from luggage and equipped with sleet shielding umbrellas, we meander along the canalside market stalls
admiring the many bulbs and flowers. It takes some convincing, but as much as 50 tulips for ten Euros is a bargain - Ariana, it’s not practical to transport them back to the UK.
Seeking food and shelter from the increasingly heavy sleet, we take a couple of side streets and emerge into a typical European square - flanked on all sides by restaurants and cafes. We choose the one on the corner and duck into a warm family owned Dutch pub. It seems that the ‘no smoking’ laws haven’t found Holland yet. But the beer (Heineken) is cold, the sandwiches Dutch in style and tasty, and most importantly it’s warm. Tucking in, we ask the bar maid, while awkwardly trying to produce our map, “Excuse me, could you tell us where we are?” The response: “Amsterdam”.
As it turns out we are in Rembrandt square. So, surely the Rembrandt museum can’t be far away? The museum, when we find it, is Rembrandt’s house done up to be as it was when he lived there 400 years ago.
On leaving, the weather has fined up, so Lachlan insists that we use the time to try and get
Flower Market
No easy way to the UK... some photography in while the light is good. We pause for some obligatory frites (Dutch chips accompanied with mayonnaise) then direct our rather aimless meanderings toward one of the canal tour departure points.
The one hour journey takes us on a loop of the canals that criss-cross the city. It is an amazing, and possibly the best, way to see Amsterdam. The houses are all terraced, most up to five stories high with trees and bicycles out the front. The canals themselves are also lined with dwellings - those of the floating kind (houseboats). In the fading evening light our cruise arrives back at the starting point, and our thoughts turn to something close to our hearts, food.
As it is Good Friday we know that seafood has to be on the menu. Avoiding the South American steak houses (Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil are all well represented), we settle for a quaint looking Greek restaurant. Our mixed fish platter comes with some traditional Mediterranean sardines that are bigger than Nash’s average Mangrove Jack!
Easter Saturday. After spotting the lengthy museum queues yesterday, our plan is simple- beat the rush. Tram 2 takes us to Museumplein where we
grab a couple photos and enjoy an outdoor breakfast. Inside Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt’s 1650 masterpiece, Nightwatch, and the scale model and associated history of the 17th century Dutch naval fleet are highlights. This is the best museum that we’ve ever been too. Ironically before we arrived in Amsterdam it wasn’t even on our radar, but having been, we can’t imagine missing it.
The second most famous Dutch artist is Van Gogh. Conveniently his museum is right next to Rijksmuseum, so we join the back of the small line that has already formed. It has only been open for 30 mins! The highlight is Sunflowers, but Vincent Van Gogh’s life story is very sad - tragically battling mental illness and taking his own life before receiving any real recognition for his art.
Good ol’ Tram 2 takes us to Spui, where we jump off in search of lunch. We’ve been to a Heineken pub, so the next tick in the box is an Amstel pub - Lachlan is sure our trip to will be incomplete without it. We order a selection of warm food and pints of Amstel and Wieckse Witte (Dutch white beer) to wash it down with.
Saturday is our day of museums, so to stay true to our cause (avoiding the long queue to the Ann Frank House) we poke our heads into the tulip museum, which provides some interesting background information on the iconic flower for our trip to Keukenhof tomorrow.
With the wind setting in and the temperature dropping a few more degrees, the best place to be is indoors. Consulting our I Amsterdam guide for an option, we conclude that the museum of modern art is a winner. We’ve found in the past that sometimes these places can be filled with what looks like high school art projects, and we pass a few such pieces and some interesting paintings before finding Stedelijk museum’s awesome Magnum photography exhibition. Time flies and pretty soon we’re being ushered out of our last museum of the day.
As our morning has been spent devoted to Amsterdam’s more cultured side, we decide we can’t leave without a walk through the red light district. A few side streets away from Dam Square the restaurants give way to coffee shops (that don’t sell coffee), brothels, and groups of English Lads (no doubt on a stag do). Certainly an
Spring?
We had to wait until Easter to see some decent snow! eye opener, innit!
Dam square feels a bit touristy for dinner, so back on Tram 2 we head for Leidseplein. With beef back on the menu we take seats at a Dutch restaurant. The night is still young so after finishing our delicious meatball and stew meals we duck into a local pub. The bar manager is a rather manic gay bloke who insists that, after we order our Heinekens, Ariana comes behind the bar to pull the beers herself. Not a bad job for a first timer! Much hilarity ensues as the bar manager cheekily lets a French couple ordering two “Einekens” know that the beer has been renamed and must now be called Heineken. The Dutch have a witty sense of humour!
Easter Sunday. Not wanting to leave Holland without trying some famed pancakes we set out in search of such a restaurant and find one just opposite the Canal Boat Museum. The traditional three-in-a-pan pancakes are thicker and more flavoursome than those we eat at home and go down very well with fresh coffee. The Canal Boat Museum is actually inside a canal boat and gives us an insight into what life might be like
Keukenhof
Some of the many varieties of tulips blooming at beautiful Keukenhof living in such confined quarters. Come to think of it, our apartment isn’t much bigger although thankfully for Lachlan our ceiling is higher!
As luck would have it, Holland’s premier annual flower park opened on Thursday so we can’t miss an opportunity to see the tulips in bloom for ourselves. Two bus rides out of the city takes us to Keukenhof, a 32 hectare garden filled with plots of daffodils, hyacinths and (of course) tulips along with greenhouses displaying too many varieties of the beautiful flower to count. With apple and cherry blossoms floating down from the trees and the occasional waft of snow drifting through the park, it feels like we’re visiting at a special time, right on the edge of the seasons.
We aren’t ready to leave Amsterdam yet and our departure time is approaching but back in the city we manage to savour one last Heineken with frites and mayonnaise.
Our original intention when choosing a destination for our Easter getaway was a location that doesn’t close down during this period- Amsterdam, you didn’t disappoint!
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