We had read about the Hermitage museum in Australia and made this our first point of call. It is from the museum of the same name in St Petersburg. The amazing display of Russia’s history included gowns and uniforms of the 200 year period prior to Stalin.
Amsterdam is fascinating with interest around every corner. This was in the entry foyer of the car park building.
On our way back to the site we had noticed some riot police. We were crossing a canal when our way was barred by the police who leapt out of their vans in riot gear. We had nowhere to go. Next a van pulled up on our outside and more police jumped out this time with dogs straining at the leash really revved up and high on Adrenilin. Helen was clearly glad to be in the Nissan Pathfinder with the windows up. Next I looked in the rear view mirror and saw police on horseback at a quick trot coming towards us. Even the horses were up for it with mouths foaming and salivating. What had we done? Fortunately they all moved down the side of the canal and turned around some 100 hooligans who apppeared round the corner running and chanting. We realized that England were playing Holland in a soccer “friendly”. As the match had been underway for half an hour these hooligans could not have had tickets and were solely their for their idea of fun. (Photo courtesy of Helen publications.)
The following day we made a second trip into the city and took to the water. The maritime museum includes a copy of a three master used for training.
Nearby there is a floating Chinese restaurant which is a (smaller) copy of the famous one in Hong Kong. Jo and I had had a meal in the HK version in October 2008 during our Blediscoe cup trip (Helen was not with us due to a sinus headache).
The views from the canal trip constantly changed with a mixture of bridges, churches, residential, commercial and museums.
The architecture is varied but within clear planning constraints which ensures that whatever the age of the buildings they work together. (Shame about the b...y signs though!)
There are a range of gable ends from including “stepped” and “bell”. Each building has a hook at the top of the gable to enable furniture to be moved into the building via the windows as the stair cases are too narrow.
This is one of the famous views looking through a series of nine bridges which also align with cross canals.
Some of the facades are highly decorated.
We enjoyed Amsterdam notwithstanding that some parts were quite seedy. We did find ourselves wondering through the red light district where Helen noted drug exchanges, windows where lingerie was modeled live (not apparently selling clothing) and some areas which were catering to visitors who were purely interested in cheap food and drink with absolutely no interest in the history of the city. It was noteworthy that there were very few Dutch in these areas but many Brits. Now about these two likely lasses...
Many of the shops in this central location had pretty tacky goods for sale however there were some with some interesting goods. The ceiling to this shop was lined with clogs for sale.
Bikes were also everywhere. It was often challenging crossing a road that handled pedestrians, cyclists, trams and cars (all with their own designated pathways). This was the first multi story cycle park we had seen.
Amsterdam and Holland were definitely worth the visit and will be put on the list where further exploration is warranted.
Amsterdam is fascinating with interest around every corner. This was in the entry foyer of the car park building.
On our way back to the site we had noticed some riot police. We were crossing a canal when our way was barred by the police who leapt out of their vans in riot gear. We had nowhere to go. Next a van pulled up on our outside and more police jumped out this time with dogs straining at the leash really revved up and high on Adrenilin. Helen was clearly glad to be in the Nissan Pathfinder with the windows up. Next I looked in the rear view mirror and saw police on horseback at a quick trot coming towards us. Even the horses were up for it with mouths foaming and salivating. What had we done? Fortunately they all moved down the side of the canal and turned around some 100 hooligans who apppeared round the corner running and chanting. We realized that England were playing Holland in a soccer “friendly”. As the match had been underway for half an hour these hooligans could not have had tickets and were solely their for their idea of fun. (Photo courtesy of Helen publications.)
The following day we made a second trip into the city and took to the water. The maritime museum includes a copy of a three master used for training.
Nearby there is a floating Chinese restaurant which is a (smaller) copy of the famous one in Hong Kong. Jo and I had had a meal in the HK version in October 2008 during our Blediscoe cup trip (Helen was not with us due to a sinus headache).
The views from the canal trip constantly changed with a mixture of bridges, churches, residential, commercial and museums.
The architecture is varied but within clear planning constraints which ensures that whatever the age of the buildings they work together. (Shame about the b...y signs though!)
There are a range of gable ends from including “stepped” and “bell”. Each building has a hook at the top of the gable to enable furniture to be moved into the building via the windows as the stair cases are too narrow.
This is one of the famous views looking through a series of nine bridges which also align with cross canals.
Some of the facades are highly decorated.
We enjoyed Amsterdam notwithstanding that some parts were quite seedy. We did find ourselves wondering through the red light district where Helen noted drug exchanges, windows where lingerie was modeled live (not apparently selling clothing) and some areas which were catering to visitors who were purely interested in cheap food and drink with absolutely no interest in the history of the city. It was noteworthy that there were very few Dutch in these areas but many Brits. Now about these two likely lasses...
Many of the shops in this central location had pretty tacky goods for sale however there were some with some interesting goods. The ceiling to this shop was lined with clogs for sale.
Bikes were also everywhere. It was often challenging crossing a road that handled pedestrians, cyclists, trams and cars (all with their own designated pathways). This was the first multi story cycle park we had seen.
Amsterdam and Holland were definitely worth the visit and will be put on the list where further exploration is warranted.
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