First I must say that I wrote a long detailed blog yesterday and of course it crashed just when I was to save and post....so I will try to recap 2 days here.
The day before yesterday was our first real day in Amsterdam and we did ALOT. We started out thinking that we would do only one area of the city, the left side or west side. We started out walking and discovered a really cool area of shopping with trendy shops and alot of neat gift ideas. So we wondered through very slowly stopping at almost every shop. It was great. Then we discovered that we were closing in on on museum and decided to start the museum tours. Our first was the canal museum which presented a nice light show history of how the city was built, who built it and why. It was really interesting because we discovered that the city was a totally planned city. It started out a small village but because of its location to England and all of Europe and its location in relation to ships going east and west, it became a very big trading station. As it grew it needed to expand and so the city decided on a plan with circular canals and long blocks with houses built in squares with the center of each square being a garden or "green". And it grew in stages....really cool planning. From there we stopped at the photography museum. It has several shows but the biggest was on photo journalism. It was on the war in Serbia with video interveiws of journalists and how they handled the awful situation. Then we worked our way downtown to the center of town and all the action....people everywhere...........do people work in this city???? We stopped for lunch at one of the canals and ate some sandwiches we made from our breakfast (must save some money). We then visited one of the preserved homes which gave an example of what each house looked like inside which were built by the city planners. It was dated by to the 1400s and the same family STILL OWNS IT. Then it was getting later in the day and we got very thirsty, so off to the Heiniken Experience. It was the old brewery which was changed into a visual experience on how the beer is made and all about the company. We all thought it would be boring but ity was THE HIT OF THE DAY. It was part DisneyWorld and part party. They gave us severl free beers and experienced a vurtual ride of pretending we were beer!!! It was great. We ended in the bar with more free beer and met several people from Stockhom. We compared travel and beer tasting!!!
By this time it was around 7:30 and we saw a small Indonesian restaurant nearby and decided to go for it. It was great and the owner was so nice. We wanted more bread and he was out so he ran down the street and got more from a local bakery for us...........coool. Tom and Ann Marie, it was their first taste of Indonisian and they liked it. Jeff got to relax and got some help by us in guiding and touring. He had been the general guide with his parents and now we could help out with maps and etc.
After we were rested and ready to go again, so we decided to hit the Red Light District. It was not too far away and we wanted to try the trolley (tram) the best way to get around the city other than walking. WE headed to the district and it was packed,.....super packed. There were people, noise, music, honky tonk everywhere. We actually had to ask where the "girls" were. Once we knew we got to "tour the girl's area". Fun. At first on one street, we saw the I guess you would say the "less prime" collection. Then after awhile, we hit the super "prime" area. They were young really cute and quite nice looking. They even tried to get Tom to bite!!!! No deal said Ann Marie. Now it was around 11 and we took the tram back to the hotel. The older Upsons went straight to bed, but Jeff, D and I were still wired and we had one nightcap before we headed to bed. GREAT DAY.
Yesterday.............
We all were tired from the day before but ready to go. That day we had the boat trip on our first agenda. Also we all wanted to see Ann Frank Museum some time. The glitch was that the Upsons only had 2 days at the hotel due to booking and had to check out and move to a new hotel during the day which cramped our style. We hit the boat right after breakfast and it was great. Lots of pictures. Then we started walking and found the house boat museum....cute place. It was a house boat that was made into an exhibit of what it is like to live on one. Really cute and quite interesting....AS WE ALL SAID...NO THANKS.
We were now down in the major part of the city and decided to go to the Palace. This was really interesting because it was the sight of the early government then later changed into a palace for the king and queen. it was in total shambles and the governament restored it to the way it looked back in the 1000's or so and when it was the seat of governemnt. They restored EVERYTHING....and did a hell of a job. They showed what it looked like before and of course now. They also found ways to see exactly how it looked by scraping off paint and taking the fabrics off to see what was underneath. This was a huge building with many rooms so we took a long time to tour. Then right across the street was a big church with a huge exhibit of Islamic Art. DOUBLE WOW. It was an incredible exhibit. Annndd, besides the artwork, the church itself was incredible to see. It was a highlight of the day. For lunch we all decided to chuck the home made sandwiches and go to a place that had Danish pancakes...........oh man. Some of us had apple, some banana....oh man were they delicious. After that that is all we talked about most of the day!!!
The Upsons then had to leave but Jeff decided to tag along with us and we walked and toured until it was time to go to the Ann Frank. WE got in line and it moved pretty well. There were hundreds of people going to see it. We were to meet the Upsons there but they never showed. We have not yet found out what the delay was. so the 3 of us went in and toured. After we knew of supposedly the BEST INDONESIAN RESTAURANT IN THE CITY. So the 3 of us were off to find it. We did and wow wow. It was fabulous. WE had the traditional rice dinner (I forget what you called it). They serve you a large dish of rice which you share and then about 10 different dishes all small, just enough for the 3 of us. They ranged from mild to very spicy. Also they served chutneys and salad to accompany the meal. We of course ordered Indonisian beer to go along with it. It was really a treat. We then took the trolley to the Upsons new hotel to say goodby (we would not tour anymore with them) and help Jeff find the hotel. It was in the Red Light District. When we arrived the Upsons were not there....so we said goodby to Jeff and went back home to bed.
Today we are on our own and will do some walking and shopping and see the last few museums and shows that are left. Tomorrow we take the train to Haarlem to tour and pick up the car and start our flower tours!!!
I hope this works this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment