Blogs from Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 186

Yay! After 5 some-odd weeks apart, Kat's made it across the pond for a week-long stay. After picking her up at Schipol Airport, we went up to Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank house, Heineken Experience brewery tour, and of course walk around the 'scenic' red light district. Kat was less than impressed with the quality of the ladies who were out and about during the mid-afternoon hours, but hey, I guess if you're particularly lonely, the friendly lady with poor dental hygeine and fat rolls on her forearms might be the kind of company you're looking for. The Anne Frank house was markedly crowded, but well worth it. The museum does a good job of relating the differnt parts of the house and relevant artifacts to the war history and personal story of the house's ... read more

Thanks for following our 2005 travels through Europe. Hope you enjoyed our journals. As dusk falls over Amsterdam we take a last look out of our hotel room window and see this beautiful sight - Amsterdam at dusk. If all goes well, our plan is to visit The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary in 2007, in the meanwhile, we'll report from Northern California's Gold Country - its highways and byways. We are acutely aware of the overwhelming beauty and natural wonder just outside our own front door. So long, till next time, we love you!... read more

This is truely an experience, one which I can see doing again. For an admission price of Ten Euros, about Fourteen US Dollars, it is fun and a great value for people who like and appreciate good beer. Admission includes three half-pint glasses of Heineken - one early in the tour at the "Brewhouse Bar" and the last two at the end, in the "See You Again Bar" - as well as a souvenir tin and glass at the very end of your tour. Exhibits include explanations of the brewing process and the history of Heineken. Highlights of the tour include two Disney like rides; the first in which visitors stand on a moving platform as they witness the bottling process through the eyes of a bottle; the second involves a simulation of a Heineken horse ... read more

London to Amesterdam From the contiki Guide : A warm welcome from your Contiki crew this morning as we head for the White Cliffs of Dover and our ferry crossing to France. We continue through Belgium to the Netherlands and its capital, Amsterdam, for the evening. ( Dinner ) ... read more

Today, we'll take a bike ride through the Tulip Fields of Holland, just a few miles from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. This trip was organized by Frederik from Let's Go Bike Tours. We experienced the magnificent flowering bulb fields with thousands of hyacinths, narcissus and tulips in countless colors on a bike, very exhilerating and picturesque! The scenery is beautiful and very Dutch. The bike lanes are almost completely flat. We saw the tulip fields and modern, as well as centuries old country houses, small towns, villages and a visit to the Pannenkoekenhuis (pancake house) and Uitspanning "De Oase" ("The Oasis" Pub) for Pannenkoeken (traditional dutch pancakes) and locally brewed beer. The best time to see the bulbs in bloom is around mid-April to early May (or a little earlier or later, depending on ... read more