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| The Canals of Amsterdam |
Date : 11-13 Septermber, 2013
A break from my normal travel adventure, this time I am not boarding the plane or riding the train alone. I will be exploring Western Europe with my good friend and college “barkada” E. Long before the plan of having this trip, E already told me that he wanted to join me in my next travel to Europe. And so, the moment I decided that I will be spending my first summer vacation in WEstern Europe, I informed him of the exact dates so he can free his schedule and make the necessary arrangements for the visa application.
As I have the freedom to plan the whole itinerary, I had it may way. But of course it was with E’s consent since we were together in this trip. For 13days we explored 3 countries and visited 8 cities. Since my arrival in Netherlands last May, 2013, I never had the chance to explore the city capital. It was an easy decision to kick-off our trip in the City of Canals and one of the bike friendly cities in the world, Amsterdam.
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| De Wallen (Red District) |
After I left Rotterdam on the night before E’s scheduled arrival , I went straight to our hotel. I had nothing specific planned in this city tour but the two places I had in my mind was to go to the De Wallen (or the Red District) and Van Gogh Museum. I was very curious to see the famous Red District of Amsterdam. And indeed, the place is literally glowing red with every shops illuminated by different shades of red neon lights, typical of a red district of course. The De Wallen is the officially designated by authorities for legal and regulated prostitution in Amsterdam. Some may not know that Netherlands is probably be one of the most tolerant countries in the world about prostitution, smoking weed and homosexuality. Though being tolerant, it is very surprising to know that the crime rate is also low. I always have this theory in my mind that, the less controlling the government is, the less crime related issues are. However, this may be only true for the first world countries. No mistake that though Amsterdam is famous for its Red District, the city has much more to offer. It is after all home to some of the most famous painters like Van Gogh & Rembrandt and the writer of the famous novel, The Interview with the Vampire, Anne Frank.
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| Inside Schipol International Airport |
Early morning the next day, I headed to the Schipol International Airport to meet E arriving from Doha. The morning chill was evident of the autumn season. Taking the train from Schipol to Amsterdam, we went straight to our hotel, drop off his luggages, rested for an hour and started our tour.
Amsterdam actually means a dam of the river Amstel, a small fishing village in the late 12th century and later became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age on the 17th century. Moving around Amsterdam city center is very convenient by walking or taking the train or tram. The train stops are just feet away from the Central Station. Buying the ticket or reloadable train card are available inside the station however, be sure to have enough coins as the machines only accept coins or chip cards (both debit or credit card). The magnetic swipe cards won’t work!
Canal houses are some of the fascinating architectures that are unique to Amsterdam and are famously know for being narrow. The reason for such was mainly for taxation. Back then, houses are taxed on the frontage of the house thus inspiring the people to build a long and narrow houses. Further examining the houses, I can’t help but notice, each house has this overhanging beam atop the head of the building with a hook attach to it. I learned that these cantilevered beam were used to lift bulky goods by hoisting to each floor and pulling-in to the house via the removable window. With the narrow structure of the house hence the stairs, bringing goods up the stairs will be impossible (genius indeed!) Another structural issue I found intriguing was the very obvious leaning towards the canal. I thought it was the end result of the constant hoisting activities. But actually, it was done on purpose to create an angle hence avoiding the goods colliding the house facade. We saw alot of these narrow houses and countless canals as we explore the city.  |
| The Starry NIght by Vincent Van Gogh (Photo taken during my visit at MoMa, NYC) |
Our next destination was the visit to the biggest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world. Honestly, I was a little disappointed because the well known paintings of Van Gogh were nowhere to be found due to the fact that they are displayed in different museums around the world (I've seen some in MoMa, New York and D'Orsay in Paris). Nonetheless, it was really an interesting art collection providing a glimpse of the artist's life and humble beginnings. Van Gogh art works are unique with the use of impasto technique. Impasto technique is the use of thickly textured, undiluted paint that appears almost three-dimensional on the canvas thus leaving a visible brush strokes on the finished painting, a unique signature of Van Gogh paintings like the Starry Night (currently displayed in MoMa, New York City). Van Gogh is said to have pioneered this technique.
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| At the back is the Rijksmuseum |
The Van Gogh Museum is located at the Museum Square which is a walking distance to some of the well known museums such as the Stedelijk (a modern art and contemporary art museum) and the newly renovated Rijksmuseum which houses some of the art works by Rembrandt. After our visit to Van Gogh Museum, we went straight to Rijksmuseum grounds and took some photos. One of the famous photo spots is the “Iamsterdam” lettered concrete structure. We decided not to go inside Rijks, instead we just relaxed and had our quick lunch on the nearby sausage shop around the Museum Square.
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| View of the Amsterdam Central Station during our canal cruise |
We just enjoyed our time around the square before we headed back to the central station for our final activity for the day, the Canal Cruise. Exploring and navigating the canals at the same time appreciating and learning the history of Amsterdam while sitting comfortably after a very long day of walking was the best part of our tour.
2 o’clock in the afternoon the next day was our train departure for Paris. The whole morning was just a free time to relax, enjoy the city and shopping time for E.
Next in my European Tour Series is the city of Paris, France.
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| Inside the Van Gogh Museum |
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| The Garden outside of the Rijksmuseum |
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It is believed that that are more bikes than in
their current population
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