Amsterdam is known not only for its canals but also as the bicycle capital of the world. The number of the bicycles in the city looks like exceeded the population of Amsterdam.
Wherever you look at, bicycles everywhere. The cyclists have even more right on the road than the motorists.
The main purpose though of our short visit to Amsterdam is to finally see up close the works of one of my favourite artists, Van Goh which are housed at Van Goh Musuem, The museum is the world's largest collection of art works by Vincent Van Goh.
Van Goh Musuem is one of the three major and most important museums in Amsterdam. Rijksmusuem is the biggest among the three where you could find Rembrandt works and Stedelijk Museum houses most of the Modern Arts. All these three are found at the Museum Quarter in Amsterdam, Musuemplein, not far from each other. Equally important as well, the Anne Frank's house- a biographical museum dedicated to the Jewish diarist during the Hitler's terror.
From Venice, we flew to Amsterdam Schiphol by EasyJet. The flight took almost two hours. No time difference between the two cities though, temperature is so much low in Amsterdam. The city is also considered as Venice of the North, both are renowned for its canals. From the airport, we purchased train tickets to Amsterdam Centraal. At present, single trip costs 5.30euros. We did not opt for the day tickets, once in central, we went around the city like the locals, cycling. We took the Intercity direct, 14 minutes non-stop.
Amsterdam Centraal is the main train station in the city. Apparently, it is located in the heart of the city. Several lines of the city trams and buses end here. International trains to other European countries such as Brussels, Paris and Cologne depart at Amsterdam Centraal.
From the Central station, we walked to our rented apartment at Singel 96 with our big luggage. It was just a 10 minute walk. The tall building seen is the major Catholic church in Amsterdam, The Basilica of Saint Nicholas, located in the Old Centre district.
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| Fietsflat next to Amsterdam Centraal Station, The Netherlands |
Fietsflat is a free parking area next to Amsterdam Centraal Station. It is a 3-storey complex and could accommodate 2500 bicyles. Fiets is bicycle in Dutch and flat is commonly called for apartment with multi floors.
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| Fietsflat next to Amsterdam Centraal Station, The Netherlands |
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| Prins Hendrikkade street in Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
Beautiful architecture of the tall and narrow houses/buildings, most or all have attic and basement. More so, check out the hooks affixed to the top that carries furniture and other goods up through the windows.
In Europe, it is common to find museums in the medieval center. Amsterdam is an exception, you find brothels instead. The ancient area was not named Museum Quarter, Red Light District instead.
The apartment we rented for our 2 nights stay in Amsterdam was along the Singel Canal. Opposite was the less popular and less crowded brothels. Amsterdam is known for its Red Light District streets, the area of prostitution and sex industry. Prostitution is legal in Amsterdam and the brothels are in the neighborhood.
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| Tall and narrow houses along Singel Canal, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
View from the second level of the apartment, Singel 96.
The rental rate for two nights was 440 euros, tax inclusive and free wifi. The price was reasonable considering the nice view of the canal and proximity to Central station and to most of the major attractions in Amsterdam. We never took the public transport in our entire stay.
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| Grandcafe De Heineken Hoek at Leidseplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
After dinner, we went out to buy souvenir at the Hard Rock Cafe. We just walked to get a bit familiar with the city. Hard Rock Cafe was near the Leidseplein.
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| The Bulldog Palace at Leidseplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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| Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam in the Netherlards |
And look at those crossing the tramways as the tram was approaching!
More people getting off from the tram to join the party. The night was still young.
The Leidseplein Square in Amsterdam is home to many cafes, bars, theatres and restaurants. The square is few minutes on foot to the Museum Quarter, where the three major museums in Amsterdam are situated
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| Tiny Alleys at Amsterdam, Netherlands |
The following day, we rented a bike to go around the city. We never used the trams and buses, the public transport in Amsterdam.
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| Amsterdam Brick Facade |
Taking photos while we were cycling. Should we miss this city, we have these photos to look at.
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| Outside the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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| Pond at the Museum Quarter at Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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| Honthorststraat, a street along the Museumplein |
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| Dozens of Miffy at Museumplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
The lined colourful statues at the Museumplein was like an open air Miffy Museum. This famous cartoon was created by a Dutch artist, Dick Bruna in 1955,. The statues were some of the 60 statues created by the different artists for Miffy Parade held in 2015. The parade was one of the events organised to honour the creation of Miffy, who has been amusing the kids and also adults for six decades. Miffy's 60th year was celebrated worldwide.
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| Rijksmuseum facade at Museum Quarter, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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| Fountain and small garden outside the Rijksmusuem, Amsterdam in the Netherlands |
Most of the roads in Amsterdam are narrow and apparently owned by the cyclist.
I amsterdam SIGN
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| I Amsterdam Sign at Museumplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
The sign, I amsterdam, is situated at the back of Rijksmuseum.
On our way to the Van Goh Museum. We purchased a 3pm timed ticket to avoid the long queue.
Van Goh Museum in Amsterdam has the most collections of Van Goh in the world. His works are without a doubt fascinating. We could figure out his life story from his painting. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed These pictures were taken cautiously from afar, away from the eyes of the museum personnel. If caught, we would be forced to delete in front of them.
Van Goh's paintings are full of life and very expressive. It shows how he was influenced by the others especially by his brother as we follow the path of his life. His different style of paintings influenced many artists as well. I wonder if he felt happiness while painting. Does he really love painting or it was a tool for him to channel his emotions? He was truly gifted but apparently, very lonely. It is so sad he did not live that long. On the other hand, if he found pain every day of his life, he deserved to be in peace.
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| Van Goh's self portrain, Van Goh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
I hope the next time I visit this museum, photography would be allowed. I wanted to visit the Rijksmuseum too where Rembrandt works are displayed. My girls, however, do not appreciate yet these kind of works. We planned to visit also Anne Frank's house on our first night- opened till 10pm. However, we did not want to start our first day in this beautiful city to feel the sadness at Anne Frank's house. We were at Leidseplein instead, as shown on the earlier part of this post.
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| Paulus Potterstraat |
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| Paulus Potterstraat |
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| Paulus Potterstraat |
Vondelpark is the best place to relax away from the crowd at the Museumplein.. The Park is the largest in Amsterdam Such an inviting green landscape for a picnic. It is also great when you want to be all by yourself, lie down on a cool spot and listen to favourite music.
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| Park Bench at Vondelpark in Amsterdam, Netherlands |
We cycled to this park after a visit to Van Goh Museum. A brief stop and sat on the park bench while watching the ducks in the lagoon playing around a sculpture looks like a wedding dress.
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| Water Fountain at Vondelpark |
duck on a sculpture of a wedding dress at Vondelpark
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| Cycling at Vondelpark in Amsterdam, Netherlands |
The most popular tourist attraction in the Netherlands is the Amsterdam Cruise. Should we visit this city in the future, we will surely hop on one of these boats.
The rental shop was already closed when we returned our bicycles. We were advised earlier though to drop the keys at the box the owner had showed us.
Amsterdam is truly one of the beautiful cities in the world. Small city though, it has so much to offer. Canals and the bridges, Unique tall narrow houses, Museums, Gardens, Park, Tiny alleys, Bicycles everywhere...
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| Singel Canal, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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| Singel Canal, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
On our way to the Central Station, on foot
Off to Brussels
Continued from Cheap Grand Canal Cruise in Venice by Vaporetto.
Check out 2015 Europe travels: Europe Tour June 2015
Check out other places visited. Pls click the photo for the link,
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| 2016 USA tour |
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| Japan 2016 |
See Also:
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Gold Coast,
Australia |
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Lucerne, Switzerland
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Singapore River
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| Munich, Germany |
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Family cycling
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The making of Harry Potter
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Universal Studios
Singapore |
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Shrimp Stew
|
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Family World Travels
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