"Netherlands ~ land of the clog and... " a Netherlands Travel Page by Jenniflower

Some of the text on this page is taken from our Amsterdam page as it pretty much sums up our thoughts, and this is the only city we have visited thus far in the Netherlands:

Amsterdam... land of water and land, history and culture, coupled with modern 'liberties' and lifestyles. Our holiday here was a mixture of highs and lows, some things we absolutely loved, and other things made us feel very uncomfortable. I guess this can be said of most cities in the world, as there is good and bad everywhere, but for us, we had never encountered this type of element before.

We saw some spectacular architecture, old juxtaposing the new... this NEMO museum an excellent example of modern and 'on the edge' architecture!

Van Gogh - the Dutch painter so well known after his death, as is the way with so many fine artists unfortunately. He struggled to survive during his own life, depending on his brothers art-networking to sell his paintings to earn a meagre living.

We bought a few prints from the shop there, a lesser-known rolling landscape in bold colours, and the well-known bedroom study. This photo is the closest port near the museum.

The photo here is a scanned image of a mousepad at home (it has been relegated to the shelf however, as I have a new Pride & Prejudice one that has taken its place...) ;)

Water and the construction of many bridges have been of vital importance to Amsterdam’s development over the years. Along the banks of the river Amstel a city developed that heavily depended on the water for its survival, for defense, trade and to drink. It is often called the Venice of the North, and with good reason!

What appealed to us was the lapping of the waters as our canal boat gently steered down the canal, watching the towering, skinny buildings on either side of us. Watching the young lady sunbathing on the roof of her river-boat; the young man beating his dust-filled carpet with a rod; the young girl curled up on the windowsill overlooking the canal, engrossed in the novel she was reading.

It offers, to the viewer and visitor, an intimate glimpse into the life of Amsterdam and is very special.