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Published: September 17th 2012
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Amsterdam
Canal boats Europe and United Kingdom Trip - May 1993
After spending five days in Bavaria, we flew to Amsterdam where we were going to stay for two days. As we approached Schipol airport, I looked out of the plane window and saw swathes of colour from the tulips growing in Holland - so colourful and brought to mind the old song "Tulips from Amsterdam". Such a cliché, I know, but couldn't help myself.
From the airport we caught a train to the centre of Amsterdam. This was the first time I had ever seen a ‘double decker’ train, but unfortunately we didn’t get to travel in one. We dragged our very large suitcases (on wheels) from the station to our hotel - Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, courtesy of the company that Paul worked for. My arms felt like they were pulled out of their sockets, because the suitcases were so big and already quite heavy, after all we had to pack for a month and we needed a place to put the toys and presents we bought! That was one lesson we learned for future travel - pack
lightly and never have such a large suitcase
Amsterdam
Miniature windmill at the clog factory for travelling again, even if it does have wheels!
After dropping off our things and freshening up, we headed out for a light lunch at a food stall next to one of the canals. Paul's boss recommended we try the 'paling' roll (eel), but I wasn't sure if I could stomach a whole roll filled with eel, so I opted for a prawn roll and Paul and I shared, half a roll each. The freshest prawns I had ever tasted, the eel wasn't half bad either, and the bread roll was delicious! We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Amsterdam, taking in the sights and sounds of this city.
Paul had one day of business and one to be a tourist. While he worked I walked around the streets of Amsterdam. So many bicycles and the canals! More than a hundred kilometres of canals with about 90 islands and 1500 bridges of all shapes and sizes and very easy to walk in circles. Not only beautiful but with so many different uses - a tourist attraction to go on the canal boats, but also a home for people living
Amsterdam
Madurodam's miniature cities on some of the boats, transportation to name a few. I noticed quite a few buildings leaning a bit and was amazed that they were still standing.
Of course no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a peek at the red light district! After dinner one evening we just had to see it with our own eyes. It certainly was a most unusual sight for us. We didn't linger for too long though, because there were still too many sights to see.
We went to a show one evening, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was about. On the way we saw the buskers performing in the streets and stood watching them, enjoying their performances.
On the day that Paul didn't have to work, we decided to go on a bus tour so we could see and learn as much as possible about Amsterdam and its surrounding areas. We certainly saw a lot. As a lot of tourists do, we went to see a clog factory, then went to Madurodam, a miniature city of a typical Dutch town. It was fun to watch the models and good to
Amsterdam
The Hague see Holland from a different perspective.
Those two days were filled to the brim with activity and one more part of our trip was complete, but we were to return fleetingly to Amsterdam before the end of our travels.
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