Tulip or not tulip….the answer is to always tulip! Visiting Amsterdam during tulip season seems like a MUST. The best time to see tulips in Amsterdam is from March - May, especially mid April, according to their tourism websites.
Amsterdam: Rembrandt's House
If you were a fine art student like I was, you would have dreamt of the day you got to visit Rembrandt's house. Now, years later, even with much of my Rembrandt knowledge residing only in the far recesses of my memory, I was still pumped to check out his digs.
I'll spare you all of the history, which you can read here, but will tell you that Rembrandt bought this house in 1639 and lived there until he went bankrupt. All of his belongings were auctioned off - of course they were - but since then, it's been turned into a museum. The new wing was created for exhibition purposes and the old house restored and set up as it would have appeared in the 17th century.
Come see!
Amsterdam: Land of Bicycles
It's no secret that Amsterdam's #1 mode of transport is the bicycle.
Here, some shots of them without their riders.
Amsterdam: Market
Spent an afternoon walking around the Albert Cuyp Market, chock-full of vendors selling cheeses, seafood, shoes, clothing, and everything in between. I also love that they call it "maise", it's what I grew up calling "corn" in Africa.
More:
Amsterdam: Edam
Have you heard of Edam Cheese? The one with the happy red coating?
It's named after the town of Edam (AY-dum), in the Netherlands. A picturesque village if I ever did see one. Absolutely charming canal houses and teahouses lined up against perfectly still water.
Our stop? The Cheese Weigh House, built in 1778, where a giant cheese market is held every summer. Here, Edam is coated in yellow wax as the red coating is only for export.
And as far as Edam, that was all there was to see but I was camera happy, all the same.
Throwback Monday: Amsterdam: Zaanse Schans Part II
Today's Throwback Monday post takes us back to Zaanse Schans for Part II.
Cute little shops with clogs galore! Remember the clog trend?
Amsterdam: Zaanse Schans Part I
Zaanse Schans was a day-trip for us whilst in Amsterdam.
The 17th-century town is a short bus ride away from Amsterdam and located along the River Zaan. Described in one word, Zaanse Schans is: Touristy with a capital T, but as we were, in fact, tourists, it was rather interesting to visit.
The highlight was the working windmills. We chose one to go up into, however in the midst of purchasing tour tickets we found out that that particular windmill was NOT actually one of the originals but a replica of the original. Did I say it was tourist trap?
Regardless, Zaanse Schans is beautifully scenic and wonderful to walk around in. This is part I. Oh and as it was touristy, there are a couple of photos of us (and fellow tourists) thrown in for good measure.
And for more Amsterdam, check out my Travel album, here.
Amsterdam: B + W
As seen along the streets of Amsterdam. This reminds me of an archway one would see in India. In terms of the number of cycles, Amsterdam is very similar to India, except Amsterdam has a discipline for riding whereas riding in India is more of an organized chaos.
What's funny to note here is the "India Tourism" sign hanging in the middle of the shot.
I Amsterdam
One of my favourite outdoor sites in Amsterdam was the "I Amsterdam" sign in Museumplein, behind the Rijksmuseum and near the Van Gogh Museum. The Van Gogh Museum, btw, was by far the best museum I went to. The Anne Frank House was incredibly moving as well, but more on that later.
Amsterdam: Sheep + Bicycle
One thing you see plenty of in Amsterdam is bicycles. I was expecting them, sure, but not this many.
And beware of crossing the path of a cyclist. They get very angry. You have to look both ways before getting from one side of the street to the next. The cyclist path is given more importance than the pedestrian sidewalk.
Amsterdam: The Hilton Hotel
It was raining pretty hard as soon as we arrived in Amsterdam, and it remained fairly wet and quite chilly throughout the trip. As soon as we got to The Amsterdam Hilton, made famous for John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "Bed-In-For-Peace", all we wanted to do was have a quick bite to eat and some tea. So, while we waited for our room (not the John Lennon/Yoko Ono presidential suite, alas), we dined at one of the hotel's resturants, the Half Moon Lounge. We ordered some teas and a falafel sandwich with a side of fries. How amazing was this sandwich? And the service was wonderful and unintrusive while we relaxed by the huge canal side windows. Highly recommend this hotel, which has beautiful rooms and bathrooms with gorgeous canal views and a spectacular breakfast buffet, which may make an appearance on Foodhogger, later.
Amsterdam: Cine, Cheese & Chums
As seen in and around the Red Light District in Amsterdam. Love the burger vending machines! Oh, and the boat full of dapper gentlemen is just some random eye-candy for you.
Amsterdam: Alan & Ginnie
Alan and Ginnie are our good friends from Toronto and we were so happy to see them again in Amsterdam in September.
I've introduced you to Alan before, in Stirling, Scotland, where we were hosted by Alan's parents at a glorious garden party.
In Amsterdam we, once again, enjoyed a few pints and saw some sights. Ginnie and I also visited some museums together and had many cups of tea.
Amsterdam: Flower Market
Remember when we went to
in September? I've been so back-logged in getting these photos up!
Here's a few from the gorgeous Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam's famous flower market. The flower stalls are actually on barges, floating in the Singel canal. Traditionally the flowers were brought in via barges into the canal, hence the floating flower market (held first back in 1862).
Some of these flowers I'd never even seen before. The tulips in the cans are actually WOODEN tulips, aren't they gorgeous? As we couldn't bring back real tulip bulbs, I brought back mini wooden ones.
What is your favourite flower?
