Erin: Day 4: Amsterdam, Netherlands Part II

Day four found us waking up to a beautiful morning in Amsterdam.  We had requested a late check out and we were going to use it!  Waking up to look at the skyline of Amsterdam was amazing…  It was the first time that it really hit me - I’m backpacking in Europe.  It seems like some moments feel surreal and like I’m just moving through the motions and then other moments are really profound.

After waking up, I had a shower and settled in to do some work.  I got in four to five hours of work and then started to pack up and prepare for the long day ahead.  Due to the duration of our bus trip from Amsterdam to Berlin (11.5 hours), we had the whole day ahead of us to sight-see and tour around Amsterdam some more.  This was great as there were a few things we still hadn’t seen that we wanted to.  After ordering a pot of coffee from room service and downing it, we packed up, dropped our bags off at the concierge desk and hoofed it into downtown.

When we walked into the city, we walked by a bike lot.  This is extremely common in Amsterdam as bike is their primary means of travel (until the snow flies that is!) and there are bike roads next to each regular road all over Amsterdam.  It’s very cool to see them cater to the bike drivers here.

The bike lots outside of Amsterdam’s city central.  These bike lots are everywhere!

We then walked past Centraal Station and past this gorgeous, Old Church where we peeked in the doors and took some photos of the outside.

A really old Church (Oude Kerk in Dutch) seems out of place between these houses.

After grabbing some nice shots, we headed for Anne Frank’s house as we both really wanted to see that.  Weaving through alleyways, we came across different parts of the Red Light District and of course, more tourists gaping at all of the “stuff” happening in this area.

The Red Light Bar and Coffee Shop in the Red Light District.

Before we went to Anne Frank’s house, we stopped at Sara’s Pancake House to enjoy a Dutch waffle (traditional).  We also walked through the Royal Palace place and grabbed some photos of the hundreds of pigeons that were surrounding the crowds… It was gross!

Pigeons outside of Amsterdam’s Royal Palace… So many… It was disgusting!

Amsterdam’s Royal Palace in the city center.

Traditional Dutch Waffle with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Finally making it to Anne Frank’s house, we got in the short line-up and made our way inside.  The tour through the house is so well put together.  There are artifacts, the house itself, videos and quotes… the entire thing just comes together in a very heart-wrenching way.  It was sad to learn more about her story and it’s weird to sit and watch it all and take it all in without becoming affected emotionally.

Anne Frank’s House - where she hid for two years during the Nazi’s rule.

After visiting Anne Frank’s house, we headed to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam that houses Rembrandt’s work.  We got to see the infamous “Night Watch” painting which was fabulous!!  The painting seems 3D and features a portrait in motion technique.  We looked around at other Rembrandt’s paintings and closed down the museum at 6pm!  It was funny - we were rushing through and the curators were laughing at us and telling us which paintings were an absolute must-see!

The Rijksmuseum that houses Rembrandt’s work including “The Night Watch”.

We then headed toward this museum / hotel / park and it took us forever… LOL  Who knew Amsterdam was so large!  We saw, along the way, where they brew Heineken beer and we also got to see the “softer” side of Amsterdam which was nice.

The location where they brew Heineken beer.

We got to our destination, snapped a few shots and started walking back to the hotel.  Once there, we had a nice dinner of some real tomato soup and some tortilla chips with guacamole (best guacamole ever!) and waited in the lobby until it was time to head to the bus station.

The night sky of Amsterdam.

We went to the station, super early so we headed to a cafe (or so we thought it was just a cafe), walked in and felt immediately out of place… We were carrying around backpacks and everyone in there was dressed to the nines.  So, we grabbed a spot out of sight at the bar and ordered two coffees.

Me, sitting in the cafe where we were definitely looking like backpackers!

After downing them, we headed back to the station around 11:00 PM and boarded our bus for the 11 hour bus ride to Berlin, Germany.

Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, Trina Lamarche, Europe, Europe travel, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Berlin, Germany, Eurolines, Rembrandt, Rijksmuseum, Red Light District

Erin: Day 3: Amsterdam, Netherlands Baby!

After our tumultuous start to the day (see previous post), we finally arrived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  Our first stop was the airport as that is where we dropped off our rental car.  The big sign greeting as to the Schichpol airport was welcomed as we were just glad to finally be there.

Welcome to Amsterdam!  At the airport…

Once we dropped the car off, we headed inside to take a train from Amsterdam airport to Amsterdam Centraal - the main station in Amsterdam’s downtown area.  After walking up and down escalators twice, we FINALLY found the ticket booth, bought tickets and hopped up on the train.  It was a double-decker train so we decided to go to the second level… We were so excited to get on and were talking about Amsterdam and all of the sights we had seen thus far when this man walked up (a fellow passenger) and was like, “Ladies… No talking on this train.”  What?!  No talking?!  Sure enough - there were signs that said SILENCE! and a man holding his finger to his mouth…  Crazy.

So, we sat in silence the whole way (having a difficult time doing so too!) and then eventually got off at Amsterdam Centraal.  We found our way out of the station and headed toward our hotel - the Movenpick Hotel - which is right on the water and only minutes from the station.  Our room was GORGEOUS!  Beautiful views and ultra-modern.

Amsterdam’s downtown core.  The Amsterdam Centraal to the far right and the Red Light District to its left.

Our view from the other way… Water, boats, etc.

The ultra-modern lobby at the Movenpick Hotel.

After leaving the hotel, we headed into Amsterdam’s downtown area in search of the Red Light District.  As disturbing as it might be to us more close-minded North Americans, we wanted to see this popular tourist area.  So, we headed down and were immediately greeted with a few things of interest…  First off all, the station smells really bad.  It smells like food but not food I would EVER want to eat…  I can’t even describe the smell, it was awful.  Second, we weren’t five minutes into the downtown area when the smell of marijuana penetrated the air.  Now, for those of you who don’t know, marijuana is legal in Amsterdam… as is prostitution.  And both are rampant everywhere.  There are streets (much like below) where “coffee shops” line the streets and sell different marijuana based products.

Trina and I in front of one of Amsterdam’s many alleyways lined with “coffee shops”…

Aside from just that, Amsterdam has beautiful architecture and wonderful canals that weave their way through the city.  Here are a few of my favorite shots of that…

Shops lining the streets of Amsterdam.

One of the many canals weaving through downtown Amsterdam.

Shopping and alleys filled with interesting characters…

The famous canal houses along the canals in Amsterdam.  Beautiful!

Yes, the shops really do sell this stuff…  We did not venture into any as we were too scared (haha) but I did grab a few photos!

The Red Light District was interesting…  There were x-rated shops, bars, cafes and more but the most disturbing part for me were the alleyways.  I was trying to describe this to my mom earlier but I just don’t think I was doing it justice with regards to how sad it really is.  Someone at the hotel tonight told me it is only sad if I impose my views on what is sad / right / wrong onto her.  He said that she might really like it…  I highly doubt it.  These girls had the saddest looks in their eyes and they looked so empty.  The rooms they were standing in, separated from the public by a thin sheet of glass and a locked door, were so tiny and had a bed, a sink and a bathroom inside of each one.  I don’t even want to begin to imagine what happens when the curtain draws closed…  That’s how you know when a girl is “occupied”.

You aren’t allowed to take photos there but I did get a photo of the look and feel of the alleyways.  Apparently at night it’s different looking because then it really glows red - all of the rooms have red lights in them.

A street in the Red Light District.

In the middle of the Red Light District is the Church called Ould Kerk and it is a really old gothic Church.  We stopped by to take a few photos but it was in the middle of contruction so we didn’t bother looking to go inside.

Ould Kerk - a gothic Church in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

From there we headed to the city’s center where there is a statue and the Royal Palace building.  We sat there for a bit watching street performers and some street jumpers do different tricks.  The one thing I noticed here was that this city was teeming with people in their twenties.  I felt strangely out of place as all of these people who were my age were partying and there for very different reasons.

The Royal Palace in the center of Amsterdam.

We ended our quick tour around Amsterdam with a nice pedal taxi back to the Amsterdam Centraal station.  The guy was from Ireland and told us that he’d been there for five years and really liked it.  I also asked him if the locals partook in any of the Red Light District stuff or if that was more for tourists (most cities operate like that so I had to ask!) and sure enough, the locals don’t really frequent it.  Interesting fact!

The pedal taxi in Amsterdam.

Trina and I on the pedal taxi… Trina was in her glory!

Tomorrow we’re doing more touristy stuff including a visit to Anne Frank’s house and then we’re catching the bus to Berlin.  It’s a loooong bus ride as we leave around 11pm and don’t get into Berlin until 9am but it’ll be worth it :)  We’re so excited to get to our next destination… Four countries in five days baby!  We’re on a roll.

Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, Trina Lamarche, Amsterdam, Red Light District, Movenpick Hotel, Movenpick, Netherlands, Europe, European travel, backpacking through Europe, virtual assistant, virtual assistance

Erin: Day 3: Brussels to Amsterdam by Car?!

As you can tell by the subject of this blog posting… We had our first unexpected detour in plans for our trip.  Trina and I awoke at 8:15am and quickly showered and packed up before heading out to the train station.  We were rushing because the train for Amsterdam left around 9:52am and then not again for two hours so we wanted to make sure we got it on time…  We arrived at the train station, grabbed our ticket and lept downstairs toward the train.  The one thing we didn’t notice was how eerily quiet the entire station was.  That’s when we were told that there was a strike in Brussels and ALL major transportation (public) out and into the city was stopped.

Being the resourceful queens we were, we took a taxi to Brussels main train / bus terminal to see what we could find out (we were previously using a tram station that serviced smaller areas).  When we got there, sure enough… everything was stopped and would be until late that night.  We asked around and finally found a Hertz rental car place right in the station.  We booked our car, loaded up our bags and jumped into the Astra ready for action.

This is looking optimistic… The look changed after an hour and fifteen minutes stuck in Brussels downtown area.

With minimal directions from the Hertz guy and no maps, we tried to leave Brussels.  TRIED being the key word.  An hour and fifteen minutes later, we were still driving around the city… aimlessly.  The thing is, there are few street signs, the street signs do not match up to the map and it’s just plain confusing.  So, we went back to the train station and I ran in to get clearer directions.  Thirty minutes later, we were well on our way out of Brussels and heading for Amsterdam.

The countryside along our route from Brussels to Amsterdam.

A beautiful bridge along the way…

We stopped at a little service center along the way for some schnitzel and chips (French fries I learned) and had some interesting map adventures…  Trina became really, really great at giving directions and I calmed down once we were on the highway… lol  I was getting a little stressed out and nervous that we might NEVER make it out of Brussels.  We laughed a lot too… AFTER we were out of the city that is…

Our first sight of Amsterdam!  56 kilometers to go… Not long!

The road trip was an unexpected bit of fun and I’m so glad it ended up making its way into our trip.  Everything happens for a reason and I think we were meant to get a taste for Europe by car and not just by bus or train.

Beautiful countryside with old-fashioned wind mills.

Oh, and before I forget…  Bringing the car back to the airport, I went down a one way (and did a quick reverse) and we spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out if the car took regular gas or diesel and then looking at the pumps trying to figure out what regular gas actually was… Neither of us read Dutch nor were we equipped with books to translate… LOL  It was interesting.  The guy in the gas station was no help either.  When Trina asked him what kind of gas we should put in the car, his reply was I don’t know - you’re the one driving it!!

In my next post, I’ll tell you all about Amsterdam but this post needed its own separate entry due to the sheer size of the folly (Brussels’ strike) and the adventure (rental car)…

Technorati Tags: Brussels, Amsterdam, Belgium, Netherlands, Holland, Europe, car rental, auto rental, driving in Europe, Dutch, Erin Blaskie, Trina Lamarche, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, VA