Amsterdam May Long Weekend - 3rd to 5th

Statues depicting The nightwatch, a famous painting by Rembrandt

(I think)

Got to get out of London for the Bank Holiday weekend. We booked this trip ages ago, and had been hanging out to get away.

Suzie and Arthur (but not Arthur, thats another story), Brian, Richard, Lois and I were all heading to Amsterdam. I had been before with Trish, just for an overnight stop. Amsterdam is just a gorgeous city, so clean, and feelse spacious and lovely compared to London. There's something about the Dutch attitude to life too that is very refreshing. Very open and tolerant. People cycle everywhere. People are friendly and smiling, and its OK to strike up a conversation with random people - you do that in London and everyone thinks you are weird!

Bike.

We flew in on the Saturday morning, Arthur dropped us at the airport as his passport did not get back from the British Home Office in time for him to come. So he was stuck at home.

We landed, at found Lois, who came in on a different flight. Bought tickets for the train, and straight away you feel the difference between the countries. The guy who sold us the tickets was chatty and friendly telling us abou this and that that wold be on over the long weekend, and wishing us a happy stay.

So we headed for Centraal station, sitting ourselves in first class on the train as there were no other seats! No one came by to check out tickets anyway.

The weather was gorgeous every day, about 20 degrees, clear blue skies and sunny. Perfect Spring weather.

Canal Scenes

The hotel we had booked was waaaaay over the other side of the city centre, in the Leidseplein district, but seeing as it was barely 12 and we could no check in until 2, we walked, taking in the sights along the way.

Checked into the Backstage Hotel, and WOW, what a bargain for amsterdam! Funky furniture, great beds, and helpful staff. In a nice area overlooking a nice little canal too. Getting our bearings we went down to the Leidse square for a heinekin and a breather.

All the cafes line the squares, and they have loads of tables and chairs out the front, all facing the square so you can sit and people watch. Yes, it is entirely touristy, and based on the premise that there are so many tourists bustling through every day, they are not competing for your repeat custom, so the service, and food, can be questionable. The waiter was perhaps the worst I have seen, dropping a coffee cup and wine glass at the same time, and then not even bothering to clean it up at all!! So we say there and watched the world go buy, and the buskers, including the capoeira fellows in the picture.

Now let me clarify, about the types of establishments there are in the 'Dam. A coffee shop may or may not serve coffee, its primary business is smoking pot - by whatever means. A cafe, is a drinking establishment - ie beer.

Next was a wander further around town, after buying our tickets for the evening canal cruise. Through the flower market, touristy again but a necessary sight nonetheless.


Rushing home to get changed and showered and on to dinner at a thai restaurant before the canal cruise. The traditional Dutch cuisine is not much chop, they tend to focus on international food a lot. Lots of Indonesian, Argentinian and Uruguayan steakhouses, Italian, and wok in a box type places. A few gourmet delicatessons too.

The canal cruise was lovely, still light when we set out, then twilighty, and finally twinkly night, sitting out on the back deck of the boat, glass of wine in hand, with the cool evening passing us by on the banks. We went past the mayors house, and the poezenboot - a canal boat that is a cat refuge, which we later visited - past a reconstructed tall ship, through tiny little canals and big wide ones, past floating hotels and the Centraal station, and sticky beaking in the windows of the people who live in the canal boats and never close the curtains. The Dutch are not a prude lot, that is for sure.

I love this picture of Brian and Suzie, sitting out on theback deck of the boat.

We were knackered after our big day, so being pathetic, and not being the typical amsterdam long weekend party hard brits, we all slunk back to the hotel and crashed into beds.

The next day, the plan was to head to Keukenhoff. It took us from 10 am to about 3 pm to get there - wandering the shops, breakfasting in a little cafe in the flower market, and trying to figure out how to get tickets and get to the thing!
Flower Market


Keukenhoff was amazing. Entirely tulipped out, back into town, and Richard and Brian went out for a Steak dinner while us gals stayed in the hotel, you know, sitting around, gossipping and being girly.


It was hot!

And the final morning. Checked out of the hotel just in time, then wandered through another part of the city, having a gorgeous bruch (mine was carpaccio of beef, with avocado, rocket, and other yummy things, on the typical dutch dark brown and malty bread - it is delicious) More wandering around and being tourists, then we clocked up a few hours of shopping. The shopping in Amsterdam is truly excellent, I bought shoes, a dress, a skirt, and another bag to put it all in!!
Kitty at the poezenboot - cat home. He's seen better days. The luckiest cats are rescued from a street life and brought here, then people come and adopt them if they are lucky.



Canal. Bikes. Quite typical.


Then we stopped in the square for one last beer, and off to the aiport.

Back to the nitty and the gritty of the grotty dirty city that is London. *sigh*







Ahh we'll be back. We have to take Arth!!




Fish Eye lens sillyness




Pixies on lilly pads.

Keukenhoff Spring Flower display, the Netherlands

Amsterdam, Sunday 2nd of May

Brian forcibly dragged us out of the city and on to Keukenhoff Spring Flower display thingy.
I have memories of looking at pictures of tulips and windmills in books from when I was a little girl, and thinking that I wanted to see that one day.
Even as we were buying the tickets, and even though I had looked it all up on the net before we went, I never connected that Keukenhoff was THE tulip disply I had wanted to see. The realisation came within 5 seconds of walking in the gate of the gardens, it was over-awing to see. Just tulips, tulips, tulips, and a few hyacinths and other things, as far as the eye can see. Oh and buckets of people too, but fortunately the place was big enough at 80 acres, to absorb the cast of thousands that thronged around like bees over the flowers, with the click click whirr of shutters non stop in every direction.
There were just amazing, beautiful tulips, so many varieties and colours I never knew existed, all set in immaculate gardens, with different designers, and themes throughout. Here are a selection of some of the several hundred photos I took that day, with Brian's beautiful new Canon 40 D and 17-85mm Lens. (I have severe lens envy).

Meadowy

Garden Path

Burning

Pretty pink

I love that series of three pics




YELLow

Hanging around in the wrong part of town

Funny turtles

Resting

Not tulips. I never knew hyacinths smelled so strong. But they do.

Thats just afew of millions - there are so many photos my eyes are burning from sorting through them. As I went to sleep that night, the pictures in my head were made entirely from tulips. Sounds were heard as tulips, and smells were in tulip colours too.

Tulip overload!! But I love them!!