"AMSTERDAM SPECIAL......" Netherlands Travelogue by eden_teuling

Just let your eyes travel at ease over this beautiful scene: it is my AmsterdamA WONDERFUL city: do you see all the canals and these magnificent old houses along the canals? You can make a boat tours partly through thefamous canals and partly through the harbour. At one point the guide>will try to frighten you, but don't let hin: the boat can go under and through all those narrow water ways, let me set your mind at rest.
Try to ignore all the cars parked all over town. Do travel by Public Transport: cheap, easy, no wheelclams or tickets and it is a lovely way to experience the city! Better: hire a bike!!!!! and do as we do, because WHEN IN ROME DO AS THE ROMANS DO......

AMSTERDAM IN SPRING....

On the 3rd May this year I boarded an early train to AMSTERDAM with my camera and with high hopes of finding the trees along the canals covered in tender green leaves so that the sun would be able to use the wholes-of-all-shapes to throw her rays and very welcome warmth on those who walked there at leisure and ease, hasted along by bike, or just sat there on the kerb or on the stairs of one of the old but still very dignified rich-merchants' houses, enveloped by peacefullness, undisturbed by the many noises of this lively City-on-the-Amstel.
These 17th Centuries' lookers-on with their many, many gleaming eyes,row above row up to the attic, have sat there pensively and seemingly untouched by the good and bad, the happy and sad they have eyewitnessed. They lie there so unimaginably patiently and rooted like old trees.

SPRING IN AMSTERDAM.....

Isn't it wonder that Amsterdam is is overflowing with tourists who want to see for themselves how it is here all throughout the year ?

This is definitely Spring in Amsterdam. I felt so lucky that sunny day, crossing the city from here to there and back again, all on foot, not to miss a detail somewhere. And I didn't miss a thing: I can assure you!

There were quite some major and minor roadwork and the dust and fine sand were blown into my face, against my still winter-white arms and legs, sticked to the blood of the blisters which always appear when I don't wear socks for the first time in Spring. Wasn't that painful, you ask? Of course it was, but who cares?
Time enough during the train ride home to enjoy my precious little "trouvailles" and to take stock of the damage> : blisters, an almost empty purse and watering eyes from the sand and wind, which last thing I am used to living in Zeeland, near the dunes and the sea!

WALKING THROUGH AMSTERDAM IS REWARDING.....

very, very long ago founded........still here......: fotografie-artistique" in a wonderful Art Nouveay style building!

TOO LATE....DAMAGE DONE...

Being in time for my train I still had some minutes time to walk through the tunnel (to the platforms) to Het IJ, I told you about above.

Many hundreds of bikeswere waiting there for their owners to show up after work, an outing, a shopping spree, a supper, a secret meeting, a cup of tea in the sun BUT...............yes, you CAN of course wait TOO long before picking up what is rightfully yours......

Someone must have been in need of a wheel, another one of a cycle bel, and the third and fourth ones for other still usable parts of that forgotten poor bike, chained to the railing for ever, for ever?? no but for a very long time....

ONE OF AMSTERDAM'S GRACHTEN / CANALS

Each year I wonder how these trees, so bare and poorly in Winter can find thecourage and strength to grow leaves to surprise us with an extra dimension of beauty, of life, of quiet places to let your eyes rest, to make us forget for a short time the exhaust fumes and the noise of the City!

Imagine you were one of the many roots of one of those trees and you would have to get your food&drink from deep under these heavy buildings, trying to find and suck up some food and to work hard to get it up and up through all veins the tree has to let it reach the tops of the twigs because you would know that only that would make a bud change into a tender-green leaflet, later to form a canopy of foliage that isthe charm of the AMSTERDAM CANALS?

I couldn't think of having to carry that responsability year after year after year.

Let's love and pamper them and feel grateful that they are willing to adorn this exclusive City for us, that Amsterdam, that must feel like a bride in Spring, that's how I (and you, reader, perhaps, too)experience her then.

Perhaps I have discovered here how she has managed to show that radiant young bride's face every Spring>, through all the past centuries and hopefully for many more to come,......... could that be ???????????

ANNE FRANK

May I ask you now and here to have a look at my ANNE FRANK page, top right of this page at the bottom of the list of travelogues, because all I described here, is the place, Amsterdam, which was her HOMETOWN, where she lived, played, wrote, went to school, dreamed, cherished ambitions for her future.On this special ANNE FRANK PAGE is a LINK to BERGEN BELSEN in my GERMANY page, the place where she died so tragically

WALKING THE CANAL-BELT.....

Sorry for being so enthusiastic but here is another canal with slowly budding leaves, paperthin leaves each with its own subtle poem written on it by Mother Nature. The sun kissed and tickled me here and there and made me laugh and happy, bringing me in a pensive mood: time to sit down on the kerb, a stone step, a ridge, places enough....
Sitting there, now suddenly face to face with the canal I was caught again, this time by the Houseboats.
Nibbling some cookies, an apple, peeling my lunch-banana I came to think of the Houseboat Museum!

You can easily spend a whole day watching and wondering about these boats, their variety, the inventiveness of the owners, all they have added to create, because this is creating, a most atmospheric ambiance to really LIVE.

The canals are not just there, they are USED. Think of the Prinsengracht OPEN AIR CONCERT, the audience in all sorts of boats enjoying the music that fills the special night air hanging above the water: oh, so festive an atmosphere.
Well.....all we can celebrate on the canals will be celebrated there in processions of all that can float.

One festive day all will be coloured ORANGE, another festive and very spectaculair day all will be coloured PINK.................

But, I am getting carried away, that must be the doing of the sun warming my shoulders and back.....even when I close my eyes I can see the dancing dots of sunlight that are showered over my head, how lovely, I feel loved.........I have to join in the melee again,let's go back to the houseboats.
First some more information for you, my dear reader (although I am not sure if anyone will ever read this, but that doesn't matter: this memorable day I enjoyed is on paper now in black on white, open to the day-light!)

GIVE ME A KISS, MISS......

Where? On THE DAM in AMSTERDAM, of course!!!!

In the background the PALEIS OP DE DAM : THE PALACE ON THE DAM..

RENT-A-BIKE AND ENJOY AMSTERDAM TO THE FULL....

In this narrow alleyway you can find one of the many "firms" where you can rent a bike. As you can see the saddle will already be welcoming warm, the sun having found a miraculous way to send some rays from high up into the groove caught between the rows of buildings.
Try a bike for a day and I am sure you will want to prolong your rental agreement!

ONE WARNING here: beware of the trams and buses although the constant tinkling of their bells will accompany you through Amsterdam-that-has-been-built-on-thousands-and-thousands-of-piles; remember we are in the Low Lands here, one big swamp in fact!.

The Royal Palace on the Dam was built on exactly 13.659 wooden poles !! Otherwise you wouldn't be able to visit it now, it would have been swamp-swallowed. To all of us the sound of driving piles into the ground is very, very familiair.

Cycle to your heart's content from the city center to the north and the west, the south and the east, enjoy the many different regions of Amsterdam, the canals, the numberless bridges, THE PEOPLE, a herring (head backwards, herring high above your face and...let it sink into your mouth to have bite after bite....that's the way to do it!), and so much more.
I can assure you that your head will sink down into your pillow filled with pleasant and wondrous thoughts after such a day!
Do take an umbrella: you never know and......you can buy them in the street for just 1 (yes, one) Guilder which is about 40-50 USD cents.

The yellow sign says: RENT A BIKE AMSTERDAM, the firm's name. Enlarge the photograph and you can see all the details.

You can also hop onto the Circle Tram (line 20, which stops at all the main attractions. It runs from 9 AM till 7 PM.

By the way: we too have a CIRCLE BOAT LINE !!!!that will take you to all museums!

PASSING BY ON THE IJ.....

Het IJ is a sort of river. When you arrive by plane-and-train you leave the railway station by turning to the right(downstairs) after having left the platform. This is THE way to the city center. Would you turn to the left (have a try, it is worth while and will only take a few minutes) you can see "het IJ". Here I stood watching the ferries leaving and returning (there is no room to build a bridge) to take people with prams and bikes of course to the other side where lies an extension of Amsterdam. It is also here that the the Port of Amsterdam activities started, centuries ago. The modern Port of Amsterdam lies more to the west.
Watching the ferries is interesting because they have to cross a very busy river and the ships that keep the mainstream have RIGHT OF WAY. To feel the wind blow your sorrows away as if they are just trivialities is a magnificent and relieving feeling; of course you know they will come back in their usual proportions once you are on your way home......but do enjoy the wind and water there.

I saw it come and pass this beauty and somewhere (in the UK, I think)must be a young man with a photograph of himself and this ship which photo I offered to take then and there.

During our GOLDEN AGE (17th Century), the IJ was AMSTERDAM'S NATURAL HARBOUR which was the homeport for hundreds of ships, many of these belonging to the DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY..(SPICES, PRECIOUS METALS, FABRIC ETC.)

Time to enter the city and wave byebye to the waves of het IJ and believe me or not: they waved back at me.

BIKES EVERYWHERE....

RED, yes, this red bike was on this little bridge, one of the many over one of the canals and yes, it is in the REDLIGHT DISTRICT where the canals and the houses (monuments) are (in my humble opinion and.....if you have eyes for THEM.....) the most beautiful.
The OUDE KERK (Old Church) takes pride of place here; it is the oldest of Amsterdam.

The translation of the name of the bridge, you ask?
It says: "Varkenssluis" which could be translated by : lock of the pigs and why ???????? Don't ask me that.

PROUD BRIDE AND GROOM...

Walking through sunny, noisy, lively AMSTERDAM you can expect lots of surprises!

I just had time to get my camera and take this picture: yes, it is what you see: a bride, in white, laughing and heavenly happy in a carrier tricycle.

Two fearless Amsterdam students who have just given each other their YES.........The guests and fellow students, all on bikes were riding in front of them, yelling, singing, laughing and ringing the bells of their bikes like crazy to show their enthousiasm and their eagerness in the party-to-come !

He cycles her to the place where a giant of a party will be given where beer will flow like rivers and which will last......and last.........

READ THIS BROCHURE....

Oh, so special, don't miss it, especially for children too: do go there............REMEMBER: small is beautiful ........and.....small is tough!

All you need to know is on this brochure, see the entry price for children up to 152 cm high .........

This is great fun and pleasure.

READ THIS BROCHURE...

The other side of the brochure which you just have to read to feel attracted, to pack your bag and visit>.

Nice for photographers.

After visiting the museum go have a look at all theHouseboats in the Canals: how you will be surprised, I can promise you that. Yes, there (too) live softdrug growers and grow their stuff for your eyes to see, like in the City itself!

ALL OVER THE COUNTRY WE HAVE THEM.....

This is one of the many, almost 2000 houseboats in one of the Amsterdam Canals.

These houseboats really are so very interesting and funny, beautiful and precious and.........expensive!

Most of them cost more than a beautiful house/villa!
And....you live in the middle of the middle of this wonderful City, which is priceless.

This house was built on the hull of a "tjalk" a typically Dutch cargo vessel 19th and first half of the 20th Century.

These Houseboats are VERY SOUGHT AFTER as you will understand. They are SO SPECIAL and ATMOSPHERIC.

You would be surprised by their interiors! Some luxe de luxe!!

A KLIPPER-AAK BECAME A HOUSEBOAT....

This houseboat is a "klipper-aak" and you can find it at the famous PRINSENGRACHT.

ANOTHER DELIGHTFUL INTERIOR....

Let me show you the interior of the "klipper-aak" above, isn't it just great, cozy, snug and radiating warmth ?

Have a good look: a VERY BEAUTIFUL bedspread adorns the ceiling and what books would there be in the book case, I wonder?!

THIS IS THE STUFF......

Yes, here it is. Weren't you all waiting to see this??
It is one of the boats were MARIHUANA is grown publicly!

Bright-green leaves, a boat filled to the rim with this miraculous stuff...........

Dreamy dreams............

The photograph shows the bow of a "tjalk".

BARGE IN FRONT OF A WONDERFUL FAçADE...

This is a KEEL (AE)or flat-bottomed boat (BE)on which a house was built.

On the stern an extra room was built that is somewhat higher.

We always have to make the most of the space available.

I love the entrepot (storehouse) almost in pride of place here in the photograph.

VERY ATMOSPHERIC....

This photo proudly shows the interior of the "tjalk" called "THE TWO BROTHERS".

The door in stained-glass, an open fire and a hearth covered in Old Dutch hand painted tiles>.

On the right a little alcove, bed recess.

LOVELY BOAT....

This houseboats you can find at the AMSTELDIJK.

The boat is richly decorated and threatens to sink >under the load of flowers and plants in pots an all that can contain flowers or plants.

On the "pavement" in front of the boat is a lovely garden for warm summernights to sit till it is time, or even a bit later to go "below deck(s)"......

LIVINGROOM ON A BOAT...

Stylish livingroom of an artist. This boat too is a "tjalk".

Walking there you now know where the sweet music your ears catch from the air comes from, that lovely piano!

He plays better than I do!

ONE LOVELY EXAMPLE FROM THE RIJKSMUSEUM...

Of course there is a lot to tell about the museums and there is already a lot in the pages but...more is to come.......

To start with:

On the "revamped" MUSEUMPLEIN (Museum Square), which reopened in 1999, are the three most famous museums of Amsterdam: the Rijksmuseum with its splendid collection of Dutch Masters, the Van Gogh Museum with wonderful paintings by the famous, alas so tormented artist and the Stedelijk Museum with Modern Art by Picasso, Malevich and Chagall, but also (as yet) less well-known contemporary visual artists.

The Van Gogh Museum has recently acquired a fine annexe, which is for the most part situated below ground level. Nearby is the Vondelpark, which was laid out towards the end of the nineteenth Century and is a listed Monument. Ponds, leafy lanes, bridges and lawns: just GO there!!

In this famous Rijksmuseum you can find so many treassures of art! Rembrandt of course, but also this painting by Floris van Dijck. I put it here on this page, because these apples come from an orchard and we have lots and lots of them, especially in Zeeland and the Betuwe. A special "blossom tour" in spring is a real delight. Info: VVV = tourist info office, every town/city/village has one!
After the second world war we started to grow new orchards, with trees, so low, that the fruits can be picked without dangerous capers on ladders, this saves time and lives. We are used to them by now (although the old orchards were so very romantic with the sun through their leaves, giving the apples and pears, prunes and cherries this extra shiny red "cheeks" and with the shady places speckled with splashes of eye blinding sunshine) but many guests from abroad who I show the numberless places of interest of mysmall-but-beautiful country often ask me what those blossoming things are, never having seen such low trees.

There are many more things to admire in the Mueseum, from porcelain to period rooms etc..

Oh, by the way: don't forget to buy a bottle of our yum yum hhhhhhmmmmmmmmm
EGGNOG, add some whipped cream and eat it with a small spoon, I bet you will enjoy it.

SEEING ANOTHER AMSTERDAM.....

Pictures in winter (too), boat tour preferably in one of the other seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn!

On chilly days the boats arwe comfortably heated.....you won't become an icicle.....

The famous canals are so very nice, whether you walk along in early morning or late at night, or make a boattrip to see old and new Amsterdam, try to count the numberless bridges.. The guide will tell in 4 languages everything that is of any consequence and you can let your eyes feast on our beautiful "grachtenpanden" The houses where the rich merchants used to live, centuries ago, so typical for Amsterdam and the Netherlands. See these frivolous gables, alle those gleaming windows and pay attention when the guide tells you this is the most narrow one of all, and indeed, imagine how it must be inside!. Water is the keyword, in Amsterdam as well as wherever in these Low Lands lying below sea level. Here: a miracle, mirroring the houses in full glory, on a bright winter's day because in the other seasons they are hidden from sight by the trees with their dense foliageplanted in front of them!!!

EVEN IN WINTER....ENJOYABLE....

OUR COUTRY IS ENJOYABLE.....

Very atmospheric scenes, land- clouds- and sea-scapes....not to forget the SMALL AND OLD VILLAGES in the COUNTRY SIDE.....

SO TYPICALLY DUTCH....

THERE ARE LOTS AND LOTS MORE TO ENJOY IN MY NEXT TRAVELOGUES, GIVE IT A TRY AND LEARN ABOUT MY HOLLAND, IT IS A WONDERFUL, COURAGEOUS, SWEET LITTLE COUNTRY !