D
Darkstar416
Guest
As a few of you know, simply Dan and myself are freshly back from three weeks in Europe. We hit Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Paris and London. In the process I've amassed over 700 pictures that I'm currently in the process of putting-up onto PhotoBucket (and selecting the "urban ones" for the forum). With such volume, my plan is to release one city per week.
Here's the schedule...
Amsterdam I
Amsterdam II
Rotterdam I
Rotterdam II
Paris I
Paris II
Paris III
London I
London II
Starting with Amsterdam...
Dan and I were very impressed with the city. It's humanly-scaled, picturesque and refreshingly liberal. It's a metropolis, but not a unwieldy one. The biking infrastructure is top-notch as is their tram network. Moreover, the central city is compact enough that your feet can get you most places anyway.
If we had any issues with Amsterdam it was probably that it felt more like a playground for the rest of Europe and not very Dutch. Europe's "whore" if you will. English was everywhere and is the first language most people will greet you in. Dutch food was hard to find. Heck, even Dutch people were hard to find! It's such an international city, that it seems to have maybe lost a bit of its soul in the process. In fact, we had a hard time finding any soul. I kept thinking that if we walked down the right canal and turned left at the right alley, we'd probably find "the real Amsterdam," but that never really happened.
Still, the city offers a perfect and relaxed urban European get-away. It's very unique and unquestionably beautiful. In other words, we'd still highly recommend the place!
Here is Amsterdam...
Bird watching Amsterdam style.
A morning walk along one of the canals. Note the tilt of that one home!
One of the main canals.
That's NEMO on the right (National Centre for Science & Technology).
The East Indiaman Amsterdam is a replica of the Dutch East India Company ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1749.
This is ARCAM (the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture).
Unfortunately, ARCAM was closed on Sundays.
An old car by one of the canals.
A boat on the Amstel River.
Another of many canal shots.
Off the canals, much of central Amsterdam looks something like this...
This is the Rijksmuseum (which houses the largest collection of art and history in The Netherlands).
An "I AMsterdam" display inbetween the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
More info at: www.iamsterdam.com
The Van Gogh Museum (which houses the largest collection of Van Gogh works in the world).
"The Grachtengordel" (Amsterdam's central canal system) was designed so that basically the more central you are, the more stately the homes. We were pretty central here.
The tourist trap district around Rembrandtplein.
A boat on one of the canals (just don't ask me which one!).
Some things in Amsterdam you don't even bother trying to figure out.
As I said...
We had a few pints (more correctly 50cl's) at a bar along the Egelantiersgracht.
Egelantiersgracht (cont.)
Egelantiersgracht (cont.)
Be careful which menu you ask for.
We took a canal boat tour. What follows are some pics from the tour.
Canal boat tour (cont.)
Canal boat tour (cont.)
Canal boat tour (cont.)
Centraal Station from the canal tour. It basically sits on an island to itself.
A cool neo-gothic theatre in the Rembrandtplein area.
The theatre (cont.)
Rembrandt's statue in the centre of Rembrandtplein.
Yet another canal shot.
Bike density.
If you don't love bikes, Amsterdam is probably not your city.
The Dutch flag.
Amsterdam's flag.
Amsterdam's Opera House. Personally, I'll take Toronto's any day.
The Red Light District by day.
Perhaps Amsterdam's best known gay bar. It doesn't leave much to the imagination.
The "XXX" insignia is quite ubiquitous.
Dam Square features the Nationaal Monument (which is dedicated to WWII Dutch soldiers) and the Royal Palace. It is considered the historical heart of the city.
This is the Homomonument which was designed by Karin Daan. It consists of three equilateral triangles made of pink granite.
And that's Amsterdam I, find Amsterdam II here.
Here's the schedule...
Amsterdam I
Amsterdam II
Rotterdam I
Rotterdam II
Paris I
Paris II
Paris III
London I
London II
Starting with Amsterdam...
Dan and I were very impressed with the city. It's humanly-scaled, picturesque and refreshingly liberal. It's a metropolis, but not a unwieldy one. The biking infrastructure is top-notch as is their tram network. Moreover, the central city is compact enough that your feet can get you most places anyway.
If we had any issues with Amsterdam it was probably that it felt more like a playground for the rest of Europe and not very Dutch. Europe's "whore" if you will. English was everywhere and is the first language most people will greet you in. Dutch food was hard to find. Heck, even Dutch people were hard to find! It's such an international city, that it seems to have maybe lost a bit of its soul in the process. In fact, we had a hard time finding any soul. I kept thinking that if we walked down the right canal and turned left at the right alley, we'd probably find "the real Amsterdam," but that never really happened.
Still, the city offers a perfect and relaxed urban European get-away. It's very unique and unquestionably beautiful. In other words, we'd still highly recommend the place!
Here is Amsterdam...
Bird watching Amsterdam style.
A morning walk along one of the canals. Note the tilt of that one home!
One of the main canals.
That's NEMO on the right (National Centre for Science & Technology).
The East Indiaman Amsterdam is a replica of the Dutch East India Company ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1749.
This is ARCAM (the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture).
Unfortunately, ARCAM was closed on Sundays.
An old car by one of the canals.
A boat on the Amstel River.
Another of many canal shots.
Off the canals, much of central Amsterdam looks something like this...
This is the Rijksmuseum (which houses the largest collection of art and history in The Netherlands).
An "I AMsterdam" display inbetween the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.
More info at: www.iamsterdam.com
The Van Gogh Museum (which houses the largest collection of Van Gogh works in the world).
"The Grachtengordel" (Amsterdam's central canal system) was designed so that basically the more central you are, the more stately the homes. We were pretty central here.
The tourist trap district around Rembrandtplein.
A boat on one of the canals (just don't ask me which one!).
Some things in Amsterdam you don't even bother trying to figure out.
As I said...
We had a few pints (more correctly 50cl's) at a bar along the Egelantiersgracht.
Egelantiersgracht (cont.)
Egelantiersgracht (cont.)
Be careful which menu you ask for.
We took a canal boat tour. What follows are some pics from the tour.
Canal boat tour (cont.)
Canal boat tour (cont.)
Canal boat tour (cont.)
Centraal Station from the canal tour. It basically sits on an island to itself.
A cool neo-gothic theatre in the Rembrandtplein area.
The theatre (cont.)
Rembrandt's statue in the centre of Rembrandtplein.
Yet another canal shot.
Bike density.
If you don't love bikes, Amsterdam is probably not your city.
The Dutch flag.
Amsterdam's flag.
Amsterdam's Opera House. Personally, I'll take Toronto's any day.
The Red Light District by day.
Perhaps Amsterdam's best known gay bar. It doesn't leave much to the imagination.
The "XXX" insignia is quite ubiquitous.
Dam Square features the Nationaal Monument (which is dedicated to WWII Dutch soldiers) and the Royal Palace. It is considered the historical heart of the city.
This is the Homomonument which was designed by Karin Daan. It consists of three equilateral triangles made of pink granite.
And that's Amsterdam I, find Amsterdam II here.