Amsterdam: Holland (The Netherlands)

When the guide on Busabout mentioned on the drive into Amsterdam that it rains approximately 270 days each year, we didn’t really give it a second thought.  There was a bit of drizzle on the way in, but it will clear, right?  Nup, no such thing. 

Our short stay in Amsterdam was not without hiccups.  The accommodation that we had pre-booked was offensive to say the least, so we checked out after one night and found the only place to stay within our budget was in a place called Osdorp, about 5-6kms from the city centre.  Fortunately it turned out to be lovely.  Considering it was blowing a gale outside were pleased to find comfortable and warm accommodation.  No water restrictions meant lovely long hot showers.  Because of the accommodation muck-up, it really only gave us one full day to spend out and about.  Amsterdam has some lovely buildings and great eateries (at Rembrandt Corner we ate possibly the best hamburgers of our lives) but also a really seedy and gritty feel about it.  A lot of the younger passengers on our bus loved it because they could smoke all the drugs they could find, but it wasn’t really our cup of tea.  We visited the Rijksmuseum and tried to get into Van Gogh Museum but it was closed on the one afternoon we turned up.  We spent a few hours at NEMO which is similar to Scienceworks, and kept dry. 

Amsterdam is littered with bikes.  People just tie them up to canalway railings and leave them there to rust.  It’s scrap metal heaven.  A few pics.

Smorgys (Amsterdam style)

Dam Square

Bikes, bikes, bikes...

 

We did the mandatory tourist walk through the red light district but didn’t really see much of interest there.  Just chicks in windows.  The bus guide did mention that the Amsterdam council was trying to close down a lot of the red light district due to one guy named ‘Fat Tony’ who has apparently been using his girls to launder money about the place.  JB and I did share a grin at the mention of ‘Fat Tony’…