Day 0 - Just landed ....at Schiphol Airport [not from this plane, of course ;) ]
What are Boeing tyres doing in the middle of the terminal ?
The Amsterdam Zuid station....on our way home from Schiphol
Amsterdam Zuid (south) houses most of the IT offices in Amsterdam....Esha'chy's office is near here too
Sanjuetten and I ....at the Almere Buiten station
With Eshachy
Day 1 - This was the only day we left home early and on time !
Waiting for the train to Amsterdam at Almere Oostvaarders station
Amsterdam Central Station !
The station - opened in 1889, was built on 3 man-made islands
Amsterdam is a city of canals ...and it was evident from the moment we got out of the train !
We took a free guided walking-tour from the Dam Square...in the centre is John - our tour guide !
The guide makes a point
Quintessential Amsterdam !!!
The bridge in the background is the highest point in Amsterdam ! [most of the city lies below sea-level !]
Originally a city gate, this had been converted to a guild house during the middle ages. It held an amphitheatre, were surgeons would dissect corpses of recently executed criminals for medical experiments, and the public would pay to watch it....Thus the origin of the name "Operation Theatre
The Jewish Quarter of the city ...This area had been rebuilt after being completely devastated during WW2
Listening intensely to the guide
The Headquarters of the Dutch East India Company ...established in the early 1600's, this was the first MNC in the world, and the first to issue stocks to the public ! It was from here that they coordinated the colonization of places in Asia.... including Fort Kochi
You know u're in Amsterdam, when u find Museums dedicated to Marijuana !!! :O
The church of St.Nicholas - one of the few prominent Roman Catholic churches in the city
Nice try ....but not sure, how many fall for it :)
The Canal-sides
All 3 of us !
House-boats
The small railings along the canal-sides are to prevent cars from rolling off into the water ...This seemed to have been quite a problem hitherto
No, u're not drunk ...the building is actually tilted !
The streets were deserted only 'cos it was Xmas day !
No comments :)
More posing ....
Alternate modes of transport
The ferries in Amsterdam are short and narrow....
..the reason being that they have to negotiate these tiny gaps under the bridges !
The red house in the centre is one of the narrowest houses in Amsterdam...Back in the olden times, houses were taxed based on their widths, leading the parsimonious Dutch to make them narrow and tall !
Modern trams
Dam Square - Back in 1270, a dam was built over the Amstel river at this spot...thus the name. The name of the city - Amsterdam, also refers to this !
The National Monument in the background
Beware Joker, Batman is here !
The Magna Plaza - a 19th century shopping mall !
Deserted Xmas-day streets of Amsterdam
Statue of Rembrandt at Rembrandtplein
The house of Anne Frank ! It was somewhere behind these walls that she hid from the Nazi's and wrote her famous diary, until she was captured and sent to a concentration camp !
Some of the narrower sections of the canals
Near the Van Gogh museum
In the background is the Rijks Museum - that houses some of the most important paintings from the Dutch Golden age
An open-air skating rink near the museum
'I amsterdam' is the branding initiative of the city and the official logo of the Amsterdam area !
We took a guided canal cruise in the evening
Being Xmas day, most of the boats were parked too !
Day 2 - Enroute to Rotterdam
It was an approx. 2 hour train ride from home, with a change at Schiphol
The Dutch countryside is flatter than a pool table !
Rotterdam Central station !
The famous Engels (English) restaurant !
Completely bombed-out by the Nazis during WW2, the Rotterdam City Centre was renovated after the war and now houses modern high-rises !
The Schouwburgplein square
Dancing lamp-posts at Schouwburgplein ! Modern art, yet again ;)
Some of the older buildings that survived the bombing during WW2
The Erasmus bridge at Rotterdam
Below the Erasmus bridge
Sanju'etten tries on my sun-glasses :)
We took the Spido Harbour Cruise from here ...right below the Erasmus bridge !
Inside the Spido cruise !
A huge passenger ship
Containers waiting to be shipped at the port
The large cranes that do the job
A fully-loaded German vessel
Rotterdam was the world's largest and busiest port until 2004, when it was over-taken by Shangai !
Being Holland, wind-mills are unavoidable !
Euromast - 186 meters tall and houses a revolving restaurant !
Its always good to try the local produce while travelling :)
Cheers !
The Rotterdam skyline
Gulls in the back-drop of the Erasmus bridge
Chilling out whilst enjoying the harbour sights !
A huge passenger cruise
At the Leuvehaven metro station
We were waiting to take a metro to Delfshaven
Inside the Rotterdam metro
The Rotterdam metro network consists of just 2 lines - the Erasmus line and the Caland line
The river-front at Rotterdam
Delfshaven - the ancient borough on the outskirts of Amsterdam, that was untouched during WW2 !
An 18th century windmill at Delfshaven
Not much has changed here since centuries !
The canals around here are quite reminiscent of Venice
Sis-in-law tries to play a prank !
Netherlands today is dotted with more modern, sleek and efficient windmills, but the old, pretty ones are still preserved !
Dusk at Rotterdam !
In front of the Euromast ...we couldn't go up as it was closed that day !
The Chinkies are everywhere !
Impressive lighting on the sky-scrapers at night !
Day 3 - At The Hague !
Modern high-rises juxtaposed against the traditional architecture !
Talk about timing !!!
The Hague houses most of the Govt. buildings, Parliament and Royal Residences of Netherlands, yet it is not the Capital of the country
The arches leading to the Binnenhof
The Binnenhof - since 13th century, this has been the seat of the Dutch government !
Inside the courtyards of the Binnenhof !
Every year, during the opening of the new session of the Dutch Parliament, the Queen rides into the Binnenhof in a golden coach in a grand ceremony !
Studying the maps to the next destination
The eastern gateways to the Binnenhof
The moat around the Binnenhof
The Hofvijver - a lake in front of the parliamentary buildings
The Noordeinde Palace - Queen Beatrix uses this as her office, and is not open to the public
More government buildings .....
Inside the century-old 'De Passage' mall ...[the Queen and Royals generally shop here]
The Hague, unlike Amsterdam, is characterized by wide open spaces...and is said to be the greenest city in Europe !
The wide open streets of The Hague
More canals .....
The back gates to the Noordeinde palace
The Noordeinde palace
The 'Vredespaleis' or 'Peace Palace', that houses the International Court of Justice
The 'World Peace Flame' containing stones representing each country in the world [The oval stone right under the flame, in the centre of the facade has been donated by India]
The 15th Century 'Grote Kerk' or Big Church !
You know u're in the Netherlands when you have a pub attached to the biggest church in the city ! :)
The Grote Markt...at The Hague
Out on the High streets of The Hague
On our way back, we made a stop-over at Utrecht ..in the background is the Dom church !
The 112 meter tall spire (known as 'Domtoren') is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands
At a traditional Dutch pub in Almere
Traditional Dutch pubs seem to be not too different from traditional English pubs !
Family potrait :)
Day 4 - It was so cold in the morning that most of the grass was covered in thick frost !
Buying tickets to Amsterdam Central
Check out the building in the background ...that's Dutch architecture :)
The inland sea ....enroute to Amsterdam !
Amsterdam in daylight
We visited a small fishing villaged called Volendam - about half an hour away from Amsterdam
The harbour of Volendam
There were more tourists than fishermen in the village !
The sea-front
The locals seem to be very friendly around here ;)
In traditional Dutch attire !
The trousers were kinda loose ;)
It took a while to get into these costumes ...but was worth the effort
The official photograph !
Going Dutch !
Back in our winter-wear !
Amsterdam Central station
On the viewing deck at Schiphol airport !
Sanju'etten and Esha'chy
Goodbye Amsterdam !
