The Netherlands is working Rotterdam, ruling The Hague and walking Amsterdam! (continuation)
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Amsterdam - the most fun and free capital of Europe, a magical city of canals, bridges, coffee shops and stunning architecture of the Dutch Golden Age!
To fully experience the flavor of Amsterdam standing on the water, you need to stay at the Amstel Botel 3* at NDSM –Pier3. This is a real ship, standing in the most fashionable quarter of Amsterdam - Nord, on the main embankment of Amsterdam, next to the central station.
The hotel is very unusual, it stands right on the water, and you have the opportunity to live in real cabins, and in the morning you will be awakened by seagulls that look right into your window.
In addition to being quirky, the hotel has an ideal location for sightseeing, and there is also a free ferry service from the hotel that takes you directly to the city center and back.
Getting to the hotel from Schiphol Airport is very easy. Take the train that leaves directly from the airport and get off at Amsterdam Central station, only 14 km away, and 2 minutes walk from the central station to the hotel.
It is commonly believed that Amsterdam is a city of debauchery, but the Dutch believe that Amsterdam is a city of freedom. Although, with our mentality, it is a little difficult to accept all this. The authorities of the Netherlands, tired of fighting drug addiction and prostitution, decided to simply legalize all this. And here are solid coffee shops that have nothing to do with coffee, red lights and the aroma of cannabis sativa hovering in the air. To be honest, all this did not cause delight, as well as much curiosity. Well, coffee shop, just a regular diner with stoned types.
Red Light District. The official name is De Wallen. There are live goods in the windows here. The buyer chooses a girl, enters, pays money, and the curtains close. Moreover, the more skillful the priestess, the lower her floor.
There is also a Moulin Rouge here.
The girls in the windows in the Red Light District looked far from the first freshness and were not attractive either in shape or appearance, even on the ground floor, not to mention the floors above. It was a little jarring that there was a kindergarten nearby and the teacher led the children's group past all these windows with prostitutes. I understand that the Dutch people are familiar, but my nature refused to accept it.
Or sex shop "Caligula", so there was no desire to even go inside. Well, sex is a pleasant occupation, why spoil it with execution?
We think, okay, let's go to the sex museum, maybe we'll see something more interesting there, I mean aesthetically beautiful. A ticket to the museum costs 7 euros. Well, what can I say, yes, divorce is everything, for suckers - tourists like us. Some figurines, pictures, everything is very simple. Well, here's one more, less decent photo as a joke, I can attach.
A large number of people of non-traditional orientation are also very striking. It turns out that the Netherlands was the first to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001, and in the city almost half of the inhabitants have same-sex couples, it bothered me. Maybe I'm a hypocrite, I don't know, I don't have European tolerance for such things.
At first, my husband signed me to go to Casa Rosa, but after looking at the girls in the red light district and going to the sex museum, he changed his mind, saying that if there is the same scam for visitors, then well, it’s in fig. I don’t understand at all what is there to watch how people on stage have sex? The stage is an art, I don't think the sex is perfected there. Ordinary peepers at orgies. Well, this is my personal subjective opinion. Although, our friends ventured to make a trip to this haunted place, which they regretted, saying that after some kind of monkey jumped out and also settled down, of course, where, except for disgust, there was no other feeling. I myself did not see this, I only say what I heard and I repeat once again that I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
As for museums, I would recommend only three of them, which are really of artistic value. These are Reichs Museum, Van Gogh Museumand Nemo Museum, more of course similar to a museum of science and technology, but at least interesting.
(this is a green ship - the Nemo Museum), and on the left in the form of a pagoda is a Chinese restaurant)
They say that the Chinese built a restaurant with 1000 seats, but the Chinese fit 1000 people here, and the Dutch are a little larger, so only 600 fit.
In general, Amsterdam is an unusual city in terms of architecture and location. The whole city is crossed by bridges and canals, it is literally dotted with them. In total, the city has about 150 canals and more than 1000 bridges, as well as about 90 islands.
All the buildings of historic Amsterdam stand on wooden piles, many of the houses are already "dancing", that is, they lean and have to be supported by strengthening the supports. Since, if at least one leaning house is left unattended, the “house of cards” effect will work and all the buildings will collapse. That is why the whole world is fighting the floods here, as they say, everyone rises from the president to the child.
First of all, of course, you need to take a boat trip through the many channels. From the water you can see and view the whole city from a completely unusual and interesting angle.
We buy a ticket for 18 euros and set sail with the captain.
We came across the captain with a very good sense of humor, and, sometimes, turning off the headphones with translation, he joked about the life of the townspeople (all the Dutch speak English fluently, as this is their second language).
In general, a boat trip turned out to be my most vivid feeling about the city and brought a lot of pleasant impressions from exploring the streets and colorful houses.
In Amsterdam, there are a lot of houses on the water in which people live. This allows them not to pay land tax, but it interferes with watercraft a little, it always seemed to me that now we would crash into one of these houses.
Saving drawbridges.
Please note that all houses have very large windows, this is due to the fact that the flights of stairs are very narrow, and some cargo and furniture need to be brought into the house, for this purpose a hook hangs from above and everything is delivered inside through the windows.
Another attraction of Amsterdam is bicycles. Almost all residents of the city ride bicycles. It's healthy, environmentally and financially beneficial, and I think it's great!
Just be careful, because all the rights are on the side of the cyclists, and if you gape and fall under their wheels, then not only will you remain crippled, you will also pay a fine, and no one will consider you injured.
You can also join the cyclists by renting an iron horse for 15 - 20 euros per day, and you won’t kill your legs, and see the city more.
There is a rental with white bikes, where the rent for the first hour is free, then you need to put the bike and take another of the same kind, and so you can ride for free all day, the main thing is not to exceed the limit of 60 minutes.
Be sure to take pictures near the largest bicycle parking near the central station. I don’t know how among so many vehicles you can find your own?
Lisapet my lisapet. . .
As for other transport, of course, it is better to walk around Amsterdam on foot. The center is not that big, and we walked around it in just one day. The most significant places: Dam Square, the Royal Palace, the New Church, Damrak Street, the Berlage Stock Exchange and, perhaps, the Beguinage.
The main attraction of Amsterdam is Dam Square.
It has nothing to do with ladies, and got its name because of its location on the dam. Back in the 13th century, a dam was built on the Amstel River in this place. Then for a long time this area was the central market of Amsterdam. But the square also has its own sad history: at the end of World War II, civilians were shot here by German soldiers. Now it is the central square of Amsterdam, where famous buildings are located and various events, concerts and holidays are held.
The main building on the square is the Royal Palace. At first, the building was the city hall, but then Napoleon Bonaparte turned it into a Palace. The Royal Palace is open for visits almost always. Inside the palace, you can see paintings, sculptures, a beautiful marble floor and visit an exhibition.
Another architectural monument is the New Church. It was built in the Gothic style, but looks Protestantly strict and ascetic. Services in the church are currently not held.
You can go to Madame Tussauds. But the museum is very much inferior to its main museum in London, and the price is not attractive, like 20 euros, I forgot, because we ignored it.
Damrak Street is considered the central street of Amsterdam, and you definitely won’t pass it by, since it starts from the central station and ends at Dam Square. An ordinary street, there is nothing special in it, except for a huge crowd of tourists.
Be sure to check out the Beguinage. It is said to have the largest green lawn in Europe.
To be honest, if the supporters of Amsterdam will forgive me, by the end of the second day I was already bored with the city, the boat trip and the sunset on the upper deck of the hotel under the whiskey were a bright ray. (although I already came with mineral water, but the friend said, stop this nonsense, and took out a bottle again).
As for food in Amsterdam, everything is quite expensive, especially dining in cafes and restaurants. Therefore, we found a Chinese wok and dined in it. A portion of french fries with seafood in a light box costs 8.50 euros and a beer 2 euros, as a result, 21 euros for two, my husband and I paid for lunch. And dinner was built at the hotel from what was bought in the supermarket. Prices are slightly higher than in Europe as a whole, especially I did not like the price for apples of 6 euros per kg. I also periodically went to cheese shops and enjoyed various delicious cheeses, and sometimes I bought them. But in general, if you don’t want to buy cheese, then it’s okay, just taste it, I think that all this is already included in the price. I really liked the famous Amsterdam waffles, they look like small gray unremarkable pancakes, but they have a rich caramel taste, the only thing is that they are a little sugary and should be eaten with tea or coffee.
Souvenirs. I don't even know what to suggest. We bought cheese for gifts, Amsterdam waffles and fridge magnets. Otherwise, everything is very expensive, probably the Netherlands is not a country for shopping. The beer there is not bad, but after the Belgian, it is not impressive.
Summary: The Netherlands is certainly worth seeing, and I'm glad that we saw all parts of the country in an overview. Amsterdam is the history of the Golden Age of Holland, Rotterdam is the history of the present and the city of the future, Delft is an open-air museum, The Hague is the arbiter of destinies, and indeed most of the sights of this country are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
