Amsterdam, Holland
Catching the train to Amsterdam in the afternoon at 12.45pm and arrived at 3.15pm...and as soon as we arrived we thought, yes we're in Holland! It had a really nice feel about it..i'd heard so much about this place from Annie and all about the years that she lived here so it just confirmed, that yes, it was all that she said. A creative, alternative country.
And the smells confirmed it too.....at the tram stop we could smell marijuana haha! And thereafter, wafts of it hung in the air.......
Once again, we checked in at the tourist office for accomodation and they said a conference was on...so prices were high at the moment! (Is this just an excuse to put all the prices up???? It's such a familiar comment, everywhere we go!)
We ended up finding a place called the KAP for a night and we decided we'd just search for something else later on. We were planning on staying 3 days which didn't really seem enough time at all! (And wasn't!)
The stairs at the KAP were so STEEP! I counted them in the end......there were 51 winding steep stairs that we decided was really a ladder! NO joke...steep alright. And when you're carrying a front pack AND a backpack it's not funny!
The next place we stayed, which was a place we found just down the street, called The Hotel Asterisk, was the same!!! We questioned reception about this and they said it was pretty typcial and the stairs saved space when they were building in the old days......i'd say that's why they're pretty fit looking as well....(altho dazed..hehe)
Amsterdam is such a cultural centre. We really loved it. Especially the museums....to see the famous Dutch Painters.
The Rembrandt Museum was just down the road..as was the Van Gough museum....We felt spoilt..fancy seeing the works of both of these incredible artists. Vincent Van Gough is a personal favourite of both of ours.
We spent a whole day looking at their work! We learned so much about both of the artists...and a lot about Vincent Van Gough as he kept quite a comprehensive diary and wrote a lot of letters to his brother Theo (who was his art dealer). He was only 37 when he died and only spent 5 years truly building and developing his work. He was depressive and ended up shooting himself. We saw the last painting he ever painted and i cried. The story on the audio was so sad.
Another thing we learned was Van Gough cut off his ear after a tempestous argument with Gaugauin, an artist that Van Gough loved and admired and whom he wanted to start an art haven with...!!!
There was a whole intersting story to that.....
The things you learn......
Went to the Dentist here in Amsterdam....crikey, horrible experience..and still have a loose tooth...long story.....
We also went to Anne Franks House as well which was a revelation. I read the book when i was a teenager and always wanted to see the Annexe where she lived for that two years as a captive jew under the Nazi regime..and it was so depressing...yet so uplifting. SHe had over 300 pages of writing plus 3 diaries..so much more than i realised .. and i was so tempted to buy the critical version of ALL Her work..just to get the whole story as the original diary was very much edited when her father (the only survivor of 8 that were in hiding) published it after the war ended in 1947...
Such a story. So sad...yet as a quote by Mandella said when he read her book while in Robben Island prison...she was one voice that truly made a difference.
This is the Otto Ware house. And the annexe where Anne Frank and her family were in hiding for 2 years. It's just over the road from the canal and she was in hiding in the annexe out the back (it's the one that has the blue frontage, next door to the house where the steps are)
OK. Onto other Dutch things...
While in HOlland...do what the Dutch do....
So we decided to go one level down from actually trying...and visited the Hashish and Marijuana museum! haha......
Here it is!
And it was so interesting. I took heaps of photos for you mum.....some incredible hemp products there to be seen. Especially the home spun rugs!!!!
We went to the RED LIGHT DISTRICT..........and i tell ya.....the are so many girls trying to accost the boys.......all in doorways, illuminated..begging for business. And yet, somehow, it didn't look as seedy as i thought it would. Just girls going about their business. And very beautiful girls at that. At one stage, while we were looking over the road at these girls (well i was, Greg has lost his lens to his glasses so he couldn't see!!! hahaha) were yelling at a couple of guys in front of us telling them to stop taking photos. Drats. Cos we wanted to take some of the street and didn't...so lit up. And SO many girls. I wonder how they sustain their business to be honest............
The canals were amazing in Amsterdam...the people were friendly..the whole place was creative and wonderful....
Like i said, we needed more time...
But we found a day for The Hague and Gouda....
