Amsterdam, Holland
We arrived in Amsterdam around 8 pm on Sunday, July 18, after a two hour flight from Kiev, Ukraine. We then took a 15 minute local train ride from the airport to the city. After dropping off our luggage at The Times Hotel we set to explore the city for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel to FINALLY take a shower and take off the clothes we had worn since Sat. morning. We had dinner at a local pizza restaurant. We then, around 10:30ish, went to the hotel and took off the grimey, sweat drenched clothes and scrubbed down with the most wonderful shower I have ever had!!! We agreed to meet at 6:30 am in the lobby the next morning to do a walking tour that Bob had printed off the Internet. Cynthia and I turned the air down as low as it would go (YEA! AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!!) and turned in for a wonderful night's rest.
The view outside our hotel window. We were right on a canal.
Another view outside our room.
The cobblestone streets were really pretty, but you had to be very careful because they were not level. I almost tripped several times.
Bob in his room at the hotel. Our room was right above his.
This was the name of the street our hotel was on.
Amsterdam At Night
The City Of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, probably the most planned city of northern Europe, has long been a well-known city. In the 17th century Amsterdam was the centre of world economy, and nowadays the city is known for its tolerant character. Although the seat of Netherlands government is in The Hague, Amsterdam is the nominal capital. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of more than 750,000, and the most visited, with over 3,5 million foreign visitors a year.
Interesting Facts About Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the nominal capital of Netherlands.
The city houses more than 1 million bikes. Bikes can be rented. We saw bikes EVERYWHERE! We had to be careful walking in the streets. You could easily be run over by a biker.
Amsterdam is home to more than 300 coffee shops.
The city owns 70 glass topped canal boats.
Amsterdam is known to house the maximum number of museums in the world, per square meter.
If the sea level rises even slightly, Amsterdam would be one of the first cities in the world to drown, as its altitude is below sea level.
Scenes Around Amsterdam
This is The Secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family lived in hiding for 2 years during World War II. We took a tour and it was very interesting.
Each building has its own character. Notice the hooks hanging from the parts of the building that jut out. These are used for raising and lowering objects up through the windows. They were used before elevators were invented.
The Westerkerk Clock Tower
The Westerkerk (western church) is a impressive Protestant church in Amsterdam, built in 1620-1631 after a design by Hendrick de Keyser. The church is in Amsterdam's Jordaan district, at the bank of the Prinsengracht canal.
The tower bears the symbol of the imperial crown of Maximilian I of Austria.
Rembrandt van Rijn was buried in the Westerkerk on 1669.
The Westerkerk is located close to Anne Frank House where diarist Anne Frank, her family and others hid from Nazi persecution for two years during World War II. The Westerkerk is mentioned frequently in her diary - its clock tower could be seen from the attic of the house and Anne Frank described the chiming of the clock as a source of comfort.
Its gigantic bell rings every half hour but with a different tone to mark the half before the hour, in other words, the 12 rings of 11:30 are different from the rings of 12.
The Canals Of Amsterdam
Bob, Barbara, Cynthia, and Debra
Beautiful Reflections!
Amsterdam is truly a unique town.
We are now clean and finally have on clean clothes. After touring on Monday morning from 6:30-10:30 am, we boarded the train back to the airport and flew back to the USA. We were not here very long, but just long enough to whet our appetites to come back. I hope to return to Amsterdam one day when the tulips are in bloom.
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