Euro Trip 2010: Short Trip to Amsterdam

As part of my 2 week business trip to Belgium, I have planned to have myself go to its neighbor country of the Netherlands which used to be known as Holland.   My main target is to see is its capital city of Amsterdam.  Well going to Brussels, my KLM flight from Manila had me connecting through Schipol Airport in Amsterdam but was not able to actually see the city that time.  And so with my other colleagues, we have set a trip to the city.

Well the trip was just a short one since we just planned to drive to the city back and forth within the same day.   The drive to Amsterdam is about 3 hours from Brussels.  And so we left Brussels at around 8am on the 31st of October.  Our route took us to driving past through Antwerp at the north before reaching the Belgian border and through Utretch in the Netherlands.  Well, before heading to Amsterdam, we first made our way past the city to its north to the small town of Akersloot to visit my colleagues friend from there.

But on our way to Akersloot which is about 30 minutes north of Amsterdam, we had short trouble of having gone low on gas that we had to detour to another smaller town known as Abcoude.  Here we had to make a short stop to look for gas and for a toilet to take a leak.  Fortunately we found a BP petrol station not far away from the town center and so we were able to proceed to Akersloot.  In Akersloot we stayed over for lunch before proceeding to Amsterdam.

 

We reached Amsterdam at around 2pm and we had trouble of getting a place to park that we mistakenly got out of the city instead of finding a U-turn.  Well anyways, we were able to park near the Central Station along Prins Hendrikkade avenue.  From our parking we took a short walk passing through a street lined up by parked bicycles.  Actually there were a lot of bikes throughout the city.

Then we proceeded on walking going to the front of the Amsterdam Central Terminal.  We had to cross a short bridge to get to the Central terminal grounds but they had construction works around and it was a bit crowded.  So, we just entered one of the water taxi stations there to ask for a free map and proceeded on walking to the city proper.  We once more cross a short bridge and walked through another crowded street.

 

On this street, hundreds of tourists and locals crowd this street that lead to Dam Square.  On this street, the first thing that we have passed that stroke our attention was the Sex Museum.  Entrance to the museum is at EUR4.00 as it is posted.  By its door stand a marble statue of a nude female.  We no longer entered the museum, instead proceeded on walking along this street.  The Sex Museum is just one of the adult museums in the city where the others are the Torture Museum, Erotic Museum, and the Hash Museum.

Next we stopped by this stall where a number of people line up to buy some Holland Fries.  While buying, you'd see tons of potatoes are fried into these fries and they serve them in paper rolled up into cones to contain the fries.  They also ask if you want them with catsup or mustard or both.

About a kilometer from the Central station, we reach the Dam Square.  That day, there was a fair happening in the square where they had games and some rides on the site.  There was a Ferris wheel and a this high rising turning ride where people are on a swing that twirls around while the whole thing goes high about 10-storeys high.  Anyways like other areas in the city, there were also a lot of bicycles on this square itself which is marked by an obelisk. Oh one thing that has somehow caught our attention is that some people openly smoke marijuana along the streets when it is illegal on most places.

We took some time to take photos within the square before going westward on a corner to find the Anne Frank Museum.  On our way there, we had to cross about four canals which are basically lined by these nice houses and beautiful maple trees that are striking of yellowish autumn leaves.  Anyways, on our way I have noticed that poles along the streets as well as street lights are marked with a triple X.  

I'm not sure of its actual relevance, if it is a Roman numeral or it is related to the city having prostitution legalized. Well, the strangest thing is that the church near the Anne Frank House also had a triple X marked on its bell tower.  In front of this church stood a bronze statue of Anne Frank.

 

Well, Anne Frank was a Jewish girl known for the journal she wrote about her experience during the war when Jews are being persecuted.  She detailed her experience while they locked themselves in their home.  Her home is located along one of the canals of the city that is as usual lined with trees that scout yellow autumn leaves.  There was a very long line there that we no longer decided to enter the house and so we simply took pictures in front of it.

After that, we took a long walk along the canal in front, about 4 kilometers maybe to go to the Rijksmuseum.  Along the path we took, we passed by the boat house museum and different canals and through a shopping district where trams pass through.  Arriving at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, we find out that the museum is closed for renovation.  Anyways, the facade of the museum is impressive with its simple yet beautiful architecture.  Well, actually the main reason we walked all this way for the museum was to go it its back side where they have set up this huge word that says 'IAmsterdam'.  Iamsterdam is basically a tourism slogan that the city is using and it is a good place for some photos.  In front of it is a reflecting pool while a few distance to the other side stood the Van Gogh Museum.

 

Afterwards, we decided to end this short trip of Amsterdam and so we headed back to our car.  So we headed northward through the narrow streets and canals of the city.  We made a short stop at the flower market where they sold the country's most famous landmark which are tulips. In this market they sold tulip seeds, cheese, and different souvenir items. Also we passed through one of its famous destination which is the red light district.  It was still a bit early when we passed by and it was still starting to get dark.  Most of the place were still closed with just a few starting to open their windows.  Photos were not permitted on this place but it was strange to see that young tourists are still walking around this manly place.  This place has become famous because of its uniqueness where girls open the windows and dance erotically in their skimpy lingerie. Some with neon lights, some young, some fatties, and some old ladies still dancing.

And so from there on we continued heading back to our car to make our three hour drive back to Brussels.  Overall, I couldn't say that I was impressed with Amsterdam.  Maybe its because its architecture is not as impressive as the old towns in Belgium that I have been to, or it is also because of it being too crowded with many people on bicycles, or maybe due to it being a sin city in my opinion for its openness to sex and prostitution and in drugs.