Hallo from Amsterdam!

30-31 July

The Herengracht Area

Canal Tour

A boat house

The view from our hotel room

The Rijksmuseum

The Royal Palace

A view from the Dam Square

Begijnhof: Historical houses

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Notes from Amsterdam:

• A city where beauty and serenity coexist happily with a slightly seamy side. From the seedy nightspots of the Red Light District, to the grace and elegance of the city's 17th-century canal houses and the rich cultural heritage of its museums, Amsterdam is a must-see!
• The city is flooded with Americans, Aussies, Kiwis, and Canadians nowadays (or is it always like that?).
• English seems to be the the second language here. It is spoken and understood everywhere.
• The summer hasn't arrived to Amsterdam yet!. Still windy and cold.
• Amsterdam is a heaven for the cyclists and cycling. It is claimed that there are more bicycles in the Netherlands than inhabitants. The endlessly flat landscape and thousands of kilometres of well maintained cycle tracks make cycling an extremely popular activity.
• Famous Dutch beers: Heineken, Grolsch, Oranjeboom and Bavaria.
• We experienced: Credit cards are not as widely accepted in the Netherlands as in other European countries.
• We noticed: they are trying to keep the city clean, but lots of tourists probably make it hard to keep up.
• The canals give the city its originality and uniquness. Amsterdam has around 100 canals, crossed by around 1000 bridges. We learnt; 40 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level, guarded by dikes and dunes. Drainage canals all over the country lead away the rain water. Some 27 per cent of the country has been reclaimed from the sea.
• We learnt: The sale and use of "soft drugs", like hashish and marihuana in coffeeshops is 'tolerated'. Meaning that it is illegal, but not prosecuted - so long as the coffeeshop owner does not sell to minors, sell hard drugs, sell more than five grammes per person, advertise drugs or cause a nuisance to neighbours. It is said that the aim is to seperate the soft and hard drugs markets and enable police supervision, so that young people who want to experiment with soft drugs do not get dragged into the underworld and end up being addicted to hard drugs. Just so that you know; we tried neither! :-)
• The red light district is a must see! Even families with children were doing sightseeing there, so Weird, and so not acceptable!!! Lots of tourists for sightseeing, not many customers during the day!. At times you think that you're in a movie set.
• We stayed in a place called "Hotel Old Quarter", in the middle of the city, alongside one of the canals. We enjoyed beautiful views from our room window. The hotel had a traditional Dutch "local pub", the brown cafe, with a characteristic dark wooden furnishings, low ceilings, dim lights, and a fog of tobacco smoke. It is a warm and friendly place. Apparently there are hundreds of them in Amsterdam.
• We now more appreciate hygine and safety standards in Australia, since started to observe those in Europe!!!
• 'Buy some grass?" You might hear this from some people on the street trying to sell you drugs.
• Rijksmuseum: an Amsterdam landmark, possesses an unrivaled collection of Dutch art, begun in the erarly 19th century. The Neo-Gothic style huge museum opened in 1885. It is home to the works of Rembrandt (1606-69), Vermeer and other Dutch masters. The most famous of the collection are the 'Night watch' by Rembrandt, the 'Kitchen maid' by Vermeer and paintings from Frans Hals and Jacoob van Ruisdael.
• An extract from a book about the Dutch: " A fiercely independent people, the Dutch have long been champions of freedom, and have a traditional tolerance of minorities. Jews have been welcome for centuries, and although Catholicism was banned after independence, the authorities turned a blind eye to its practice. (ps:The Dutch are Protestants) Today that tolerance is extended to asylum seekers, gays and lesbians, and people of different backgrounds. A respect for the right to live one's own life underlies the liberal laws on prostitution and drugs". So, there you go!
  

I don't know how to say goodbye in Dutch - so lets go with Ciao! :-)

(see you in Geneva)