Amsterdam, the City of Sin, cannabis sold openly in coffee shops and prostitution advertised in windows for customers and gawking tourists but is this really all there is to this old town. Like a g-string sticking out of a beautiful woman’s jeans, sex and drugs grab your attention but it is old city, its art and history that keep you interested.
Food
Friet met Ketchup – Flemish Fries and deli food filled our hunger, frsh sandwiches or rolls, fruit and yogurt shakes for the health conscious but fries for the indulgence.
Pancakes, thin crepe like batter, spread with your topping choice are a local favourite. Choose savoury or sweet to suit your tastes or mood, perhaps share one of each with a friend.
Sights and Museums
Van Gogh’s troubled genius stared out at us his self-portraits amongst the 200 originals in Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum. The linear arrangement shows his progression as an artist and I realised that he never created a style because he experimented with a new technique or colour palate in every painting.
Dark brooding backgrounds and carefully illuminated features mark the portraitist genius of Rembrandt, and the Rijksmuseum houses a large collection of his masterpieces.
No trip to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to Anne Frank’s House, and image your life contained within these small rooms for two years.
Traveller Hint: Visit the ten Boom House in Haarlem to hear about the people who hid Jewish people from the Nazis.
Transportation
Inclement weather drove us on to the trams and buses of Amsterdam’s efficient public transport, easy to use with stops near most attractions. Hiring a bike for your stay is a great alternative in this easy to navigate city.
Traveller Hint: Lock your bike up as directed or it will be stolen.
Accommodation
Hotel Carillon provided a claustrophobic room for our quartet but you cannot beat the view out the window or the scrumptious breakfast each morning. Rick Steves warns light sleepers to avoid the front rooms because of the street noise and the streets were bustling late into the night.