Amsterdam!
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Amsterdam is what you expect in beauty but certainly to me much bigger in scale than I thought. I think I was expecting more of a cosy intimate canal filled quadrant with tram-packed squares and lots of bikes hurtling around. You get this but on a much bigger and more majestic level. This hits you when you get to the Museumplein when arriving on the bus from Uthoorn as I did. You are suddenly confronted with this vast recreational space surrounded by splendid architecture, but particularly the huge, decorative and monumental Rijsmuseum towering at the North East corner. Beyond this you enter the old city centrum with concentric rings of canals radiating further and further out from the central station, each canal crowned with innumerable bridges and lined with trees and spotlessly clean old apartment buildings.
You could be forgiven just going to Amsterdam to see the Central Station as it is an impressive piece of architecture in its own right, with a long clean frontage looking out onto a large plaza and then the canals beyond. It is reminiscent of Venice where you arrive at the main station and almost fall into the first canal. You can leave your baggage at the station for the day, 7 euro for a smaller bag which I had, and also buy tram, bus and train tickets at the machines. The locals use a card onto which they load credit for buses and trams. The lady I stayed with lent me her card for three days which cuts the costs compared with individual bus tickets for each journey. You can also catch a train from Central Station to the airport for seven euro, a quick fifteen minute journey to catch your flight home. Incidentally, Schipol is a useful hub airport and it may be worth considering as a stopover for longer flights as you might get a cheaper deal than flying direct from the UK.
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| Central station |
As you leave the main rail station just to the left in front of you is a cafe/restaurant with adjoining comprehensive and well staffed tourist office. Here there is lots of information and leaflets/guides to take away. The Amsterdam card is well advertised, a one (€49), two (€59) or three (€69) day pass for public transport with free entrance to many museums and discounts on other attractions and food and drink. It does not include the Anne Frank Huis but this is not particularly expensive at about nine euro.
On the first day, a Sunday for me, I proceeded from the main rail station down the main drag, Damrak, in a south westerly direction, admiring the Beur van Berlage, an impressive and huge classical building built as a commodity exchange. It's not long before you get to Dam, a large square and the hub of the old city where lots of people congregate to chill and a temporary beach volleyball arena has been set up. Unfortunately you had to pay to get in and it was sold out for the day, you got no more than a glimpse of the players through the odd chink in the stands.
I made the regular trip Uthoorn into Amsterdam by bus which took about 50 minutes. This is fine on a four day trip as I was doing but if you are rushed you might need to stay nearer the centre. For me I was way out to the south west in the environs of Amsterdam but I could walk to the local shopping centre, have breakfast at a cafe and then leap on the bus. The buses have a good wifi connection as well. It's a straightforward run in, first through peaceful fairly modern residential areas interspersed with stretches of farmland, then you get into the real edges of the main city. Here you stumble onto large modern industrial buildings/offices, then you hit the Olympic stadium on the left hand side. After this the urban scenery becomes a lot more interesting with shaded avenues of city apartments until you get to the museumplein and then you know you've hit the centre.
The architecture in central Amsterdam is of course pricelessly ancient and attractive, but made curiously up to date by the obvious level of maintenance and cleanliness, amplified by the tiny bricks they use in Holland which seem to be everywhere, from the Olympic stadium built in 1928 to the medieval centre. It does not seem to matter that the chaps who built those older canal side houses must have been on the beer and forgotten to use the plumbline, as so many walls seem to ascend askew as if straight out of a Hansel and Gretal fairy tale. Lots of tall narrow looking houses gabled or otherwise, flower boxes bursting out of their midriffs, and all different in style from their neighbour. All adds to the charm!
You could wander happily around the central areas of Amsterdam for days and still find a new canal or riverside walk, such is the length and choice of waterway to discover. Of course the option of a drug fuelled bender is always there, I innocently walked into a cafe for a cup of coffee and was slightly taken aback by the dodgy substance menu. They must have thought I was another mad Englishman when I didn't go for a peace pipe or reefer!
Rent a bike is the way to go, such a cliche but Holland in my experience is the land of bikes. I rented a bike from Amstel Bike for 26 euro for 48 hours and they did not mind me locking it up in the city overnight while I retired to my accommodation in the suburbs. A group of five gets one bike rental free. I have never seen so many bikes in my life whether chained to railings or flying along the comprehensive network of dedicated bike lanes which cover every square of the city. Then there is the variety, from every type of standard metal steed to tandems, ones with boxes big or small to put all manner of stuff in including small children, and two wheeled low slung affairs where the person almost sits on the ground with his legs thrown out before him. Something you don't see in England is two people on a one man bike with partners sitting on the back, and in one case a young beauty being pedalled along by an ageing relative! Now that's what I call equality!
There are white cycling signs with red writing everywhere giving directions to your destination, although sometimes the destination seems to 'disappear' for a while which happened to me cycling back into Amsterdam from the south east, and I found myself in a predominantly black area in the Amsterdam suburbs sailing through Nelson Mandela park (you get the vibe) with the only signs to Amsterdam port. Where was the sign to Amsterdam city? Eventually I hit the trail again.
On the second day I took a trip by bike out to the south east of Amsterdam to canal and windmill land. This is a welcome change from the city and great exercise as well. Starting from the centre take the route out towards Muiden following the white and red signs. You have to take a right turn off the main route later in the vicinity of Weesp, and this may necessitate taking a detailed cycling map, so make sure you pick one up from the shop when you start, although they didn't provide one for me. Despite not having a detailed map I did have a leaflet from the tourist office with a basic map, and managed to strike south off the main road to hit the rural heartlands.
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| Lunchtime idyll! |
I knew I had passed from city business to rural bliss when I discovered a small hamlet on a canal where I found a waterside cafe/bar with a blazing sun overhead. Here I asked for a small beer and the waitress produced literally the smallest beer glass I have ever been offered. I like that Dutch sense of humour. The waitress suggested I order the kroket, a Dutch dish consisting of potato croquettes filled with pieces of meat, accompanied by bread and garnished with salad. Pretty delicious. When I enquired as to my route, the waitress sent over a mature gentleman who advised me to catch the little ferry just a few yards down the road to enter proper countryside. Far better than keeping to the main road. He should know. He told me he was brought up here and cycled miles from where he lived to places like Utrecht for school, and I do mean miles. Imagine that in the winter with the wind against you on these washboard flat wetlands. He was so helpful I offered him a drink, but he already had a glass of wine and a schedule.
So over I went with a little posse of cyclists and struck out for Loenen an de Vecht on this wonderful made for cyclist countryside, tracking the canals, passing the lazing cattle, and admiring the old mansions of the wealthy who built their bolt holes out of town on the canal side. In the brochure its described as the Historical River Estates area. It's almost as if God said to himself, I know, I'll make Holland really flat and then a particular way the Dutch will enjoy my creation will be to invent these two wheel thingies and cycle all over.
Eventually I ended up in Breukelen, well on the way to Utrecht but a quaint little riverside town, to enjoy a coffee and apple pie and cream. What other reward after all that pedalling? I left it a little late to begin my return. It took a couple of hours to return to the city, which meant a hurried McDonald's before getting the bus back. I missed one bus because the driver would not allow me to take food on board. Take note!
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| Rich house! |
Do take care on your bike. In Amsterdam you need constant alertness due to huge numbers of bikes and mopeds as well as cars and vans crossing your path continually, as well as getting used to the system of bike lanes. Keep an eye on the traffic lights for bikes with a picture of the bike illuminated in red. I cut a corner in
The third day I ventured to Haarlem just 12 miles west of Amsterdam towards the sea. This took me about an hour and 10 minutes, an easy run as it tracks the main motorway and rail straight as an arrow. Haarlem is well worth a visit as it is like a mini Amsterdam with a lovely old town surrounded by the usual canals and centred on a super main square, dominated by a large cathedral church. It was a bit of a relief actually to get out of Amsterdam simply because there's far
less people per square metre in Haarlem and thus less to bump into.
But what I really came to see in Haarlem was the Corrie Ten Boom Huis and museum in the town centre. CorrieTen Boom was a survivor of the nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck. Her family were clockmakers whose shop adjoined the house opened out onto a main street off the town square. 100 years previously the Ten Boom family committed themselves as Christians to praying for the Jewish people. They were fully involved in the local community, running clubs and societies, being hospitable and generally helping people. During the German occupation of Holland they resolved to help the Jewish people by hiding them from the Nazis and aiding them to travel on to safe houses. They had a 'hiding place' built in Corrie's bedroom by building a second inner wall of brick to conceal a space for people to hide from the authorities. They smuggled the bricks in by putting them in grandfather clocks coming in and out of the building. Can you believe it? Eventually they were betrayed and captured by the nazis, although the six people who were in the hiding place at the time all managed to get away. The guide said no records were kept of how many Jews passed through to safe houses, but it could have been up to the hundreds.
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| False wall |
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| Corrie Ten Boom Huis |
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| Haarlem centre |
I did pop into the tourist office in Haarlem and was told that you can get the train quite easily to the beach at Zandvoort, the you can go back the other way to Amsterdam. It's only ten minutes from Haarlem or thirty minutes from Amsterdam!
In the evening I found a great Thai restaurant for a delicious spicy feast to offset the McDonald's experience of the previous night. It's not far down Haarlemerrstraat, just a few hundred yards from the rail station on the right hand side as you're heading west. Actually there are good few eateries to choose from on this street. If I return to Amsterdam I will go back here.
On the last day I said goodbye to my host, packed my bag and headed into the city. I left my gear at baggage in the main rail station, returned my bike and headed for the Rijsmuseum, that monster on the edge of the city centre that is a top ten attraction for Amsterdam. A ticket is €17.50, quite expensive, but you can wander to your hearts content until 5pm. You can also leave the building if you want and return later, a timely idea for me as there was some sort of carnival going on outside with outdoor swimming, kids activities, lots of food and drink stalls and suchlike. And there is a great app you can download straight onto your iPad where you just plug in your earphones and let the audio guide take you round. If you don't like reading millions of words that you'll forget in half an hour it's the way to go. Well worth it although avoid the restaurant as its a lethal tourist trap. Admittedly a very nice setting on a suspended floor in the very impressive museum atrium, but the prices will blow a hole in your bank account. I walked out, went outside and and bought a hot dog. Shame as I had to queue up to be ushered to a seat by an attractive young Dutch waitress.
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| Riksmuseum snaps |
There are lots of galleries of rich, clear and literal painting, large and small, many of an historical nature. I spent some time perusing the paintings of battles involving the Dutch fleet, some against the English of course, when Holland was a world power to be reckoned with. Incredible that these two tiny countries had such an influence on world history. There is a quite magnificent galleon in one of the galleries, of huge size and with incredible detail. Ideally the Riksmuseum needs a day, although I spent a comfortable afternoon there.
Schipol airport tip - make sure you pack carefully before you get to the airport. Unlike Gatwick for instance, and maybe other UK airports they do not provide an 'interface' area where you can pack your liquids into plastic bags. You go into departure and straight into the security line so need to have all your liquids prepackaged as it were. I was caught out and had to do all this on the spot at the conveyor belt, a bit of a pain.
Schipol it's very conveniently situated to the west of the city and pretty close to the city centre. Must have been easy to plan as in Holland presumably you can build an airport virtually anywhere as long as you guard against waterlogged foundations.
