Our Silver Lining Tour: A German Journey & Queen's Day Too
Apr 22nd, 2014, 03:48 AM
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<b>DAY SEVENTEEN (Fri 3 May) AMSTERDAM</b>
We awoke to a beautiful, sun shiny day in <b>Amsterdam</b> - the last day of our vacation. After our modest breakfast at the <b>Hotel Nadia</b>, we took tram #14 to the Kaisergracht, and visited the <b>Foam Photography Museum</b> (Museumkaart). Located in a renovated canal house, each floor features a constantly changing photographic exhibition, so you never know what you might see. Today we really enjoyed the Breukel & Villevoye photos of Ti; the second exhibition was okay, but the one on the third floor wasn't worth the climb up the steps.
Just down the Kaisergracht from the Foam, is the entrance to the <b>Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis</b> (Museumkaart), another period canal house. There was an interesting temporary exhibition on the Netherlands' role in the slave trade on display at the entrance, which is located in the carriage house for the main home, which is actually located on the Herengracht. We crossed the garden between the two buildings, which was blooming with beds of yellow daffodils, red tulips and purple grape hyacinths surrounding a large garden pool, said to be the largest backyard pool in Amsterdam. We did a self guided tour of the house, which had some interesting musical instruments, but quickly found ourselves back in the garden, enjoying the quiet solitude in the middle of this crazy city.
After a quick respite at <b>Mellow Yellow</b>, we visited the <b>Tassenmuseum</b> (Museumkaart), the Museum of Bags and Purses. My husband was a bit reluctant about going to see a bunch of purses, but he ended up enjoying the museum as much as I did, perhaps even more, now that he knows that it was men that began carrying bags way back when. The museum is laid out so you chronologically walk through 500 years of the evolution of this most versatile part of our wardrobe. The purses were beautiful to look at and the signage was very informative and written in Dutch and English. I was actually able to identify the use of a mesh hanging bag handed down from a great-grandmother (never knew how it was worn).
Had it not been for the <b>National Museumkaart</b>, we probably would never have visited any of these three museums today. If you are interested in seeing a variety of museums when visiting Amsterdam (and the Netherlands), then the Museumkaart has got to be one of the best buys. Overall, we used the card at 10 museums, with an entrance value of €89,25 (purchase price €49,90), which didn't include using the card at any of the expensive, popular museums, like the Rijks, van Gogh, Hermitage or Anne Frank House, since we had visited these on previous trips. But more importantly, the card took us into museums that we would normally have ignored - not because we didn't have an interest, but more because of the cost factor.
We ended up on the <b>Rembrandtplein</b>, and found a table and chairs outside of <b>The Old Bell</b> where we ordered up a couple of Wieckse Heffewiezens
and lunch - Eggs on Beef steak for BJ and a Grilled Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwich for me. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the temperature was in the 70's (f), and the Rembrandtplein was crowded, which made for great people watching. Particularly cool was the greater than life-size statuary of Rembrandt's <b>Night Watch</b>, which you can literally immerse yourself into.
We trammed our way back to the <b>Jordaan</b> for a final stroll around the neighborhood, making a stop at the <b>Paradox</b>, where we scored a restaurant recommendation for dinner tonight from the counter dude and a patron; we figured we couldn't go wrong with a local tip. Not ready for dinner yet, we continued our stroll across the <b>Westermarkt</b>, where we bought two pieces of framed 3-D Art from a young woman - The Westertoren and Bike with Tulips.
After stashing our art pieces at the hotel, and taking a much needed respite, we headed back across town, through Dam Square. By now, the scaffolding was gone, the fencing was taken down and the l-o-n-g lines of people snaking in both directions around the Nieuwe Kerk had disappeared. The city was finally back to normal, whatever that may be. We walked down the Damstraat to the <b>OZ Voorburgwal</b>, and found seating at an outdoor bar, where we nursed our overpriced beers while watching our last day in Amsterdam slowly slip into our last night. Afterwards, we meandered back to our hotel, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the city, trying to preserve some sense memories to take back home with us - back to reality.
Why do we always discover the great places to eat when it's time to leave?!? On a recommendation from our friends at the Paradox, we went to <b>de Reiger</b> for dinner - located in the Jordaan, at Nieuwe Leliestraat 34a, and recognizable by their upside-down Amstel Bier sign. I ordered the spareribs (which were recommended by our friends), and BJ ordered the Zeeduivel, which was Monk fish wrapped in bacon. Both meals were EXCELLENT! We look forward to returning to Amsterdam in the future just to eat at this restaurant again. With a pair of Weihenstephans for each of us, our bill came to €53.00.
Still too early to call it an evening, we wandered around the streets and canals and ended up at <b>Amnesia</b>, a nice little coffeeshop not far from our hotel. We had just settled into our table when a taxi pulled up and four British women stumbled in. They were in town for a Hen Party and wanted to dabble in some pot smoking, but had not a clue of what, where or how. It was funny at first, but their obnoxiousness got old real fast. So back to the hotel to finish packing, and trying to eat and drink everything left over in the refrigerator.
http://www.foam.org/
http://www.foam.org/press/2013/koos-...levoye-t%C3%AD
http://geelvinck.nl/english/
http://www.tassenmuseum.nl/en
http://www.museumkaart.nl/
http://www.oldbell.nl/
http://www.3dartcompany.com/amsterdam.htm
http://www.dereigeramsterdam.nl/
Robyn
We awoke to a beautiful, sun shiny day in <b>Amsterdam</b> - the last day of our vacation. After our modest breakfast at the <b>Hotel Nadia</b>, we took tram #14 to the Kaisergracht, and visited the <b>Foam Photography Museum</b> (Museumkaart). Located in a renovated canal house, each floor features a constantly changing photographic exhibition, so you never know what you might see. Today we really enjoyed the Breukel & Villevoye photos of Ti; the second exhibition was okay, but the one on the third floor wasn't worth the climb up the steps.
Just down the Kaisergracht from the Foam, is the entrance to the <b>Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis</b> (Museumkaart), another period canal house. There was an interesting temporary exhibition on the Netherlands' role in the slave trade on display at the entrance, which is located in the carriage house for the main home, which is actually located on the Herengracht. We crossed the garden between the two buildings, which was blooming with beds of yellow daffodils, red tulips and purple grape hyacinths surrounding a large garden pool, said to be the largest backyard pool in Amsterdam. We did a self guided tour of the house, which had some interesting musical instruments, but quickly found ourselves back in the garden, enjoying the quiet solitude in the middle of this crazy city.
After a quick respite at <b>Mellow Yellow</b>, we visited the <b>Tassenmuseum</b> (Museumkaart), the Museum of Bags and Purses. My husband was a bit reluctant about going to see a bunch of purses, but he ended up enjoying the museum as much as I did, perhaps even more, now that he knows that it was men that began carrying bags way back when. The museum is laid out so you chronologically walk through 500 years of the evolution of this most versatile part of our wardrobe. The purses were beautiful to look at and the signage was very informative and written in Dutch and English. I was actually able to identify the use of a mesh hanging bag handed down from a great-grandmother (never knew how it was worn).
Had it not been for the <b>National Museumkaart</b>, we probably would never have visited any of these three museums today. If you are interested in seeing a variety of museums when visiting Amsterdam (and the Netherlands), then the Museumkaart has got to be one of the best buys. Overall, we used the card at 10 museums, with an entrance value of €89,25 (purchase price €49,90), which didn't include using the card at any of the expensive, popular museums, like the Rijks, van Gogh, Hermitage or Anne Frank House, since we had visited these on previous trips. But more importantly, the card took us into museums that we would normally have ignored - not because we didn't have an interest, but more because of the cost factor.
We ended up on the <b>Rembrandtplein</b>, and found a table and chairs outside of <b>The Old Bell</b> where we ordered up a couple of Wieckse Heffewiezens
and lunch - Eggs on Beef steak for BJ and a Grilled Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwich for me. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the temperature was in the 70's (f), and the Rembrandtplein was crowded, which made for great people watching. Particularly cool was the greater than life-size statuary of Rembrandt's <b>Night Watch</b>, which you can literally immerse yourself into. We trammed our way back to the <b>Jordaan</b> for a final stroll around the neighborhood, making a stop at the <b>Paradox</b>, where we scored a restaurant recommendation for dinner tonight from the counter dude and a patron; we figured we couldn't go wrong with a local tip. Not ready for dinner yet, we continued our stroll across the <b>Westermarkt</b>, where we bought two pieces of framed 3-D Art from a young woman - The Westertoren and Bike with Tulips.
After stashing our art pieces at the hotel, and taking a much needed respite, we headed back across town, through Dam Square. By now, the scaffolding was gone, the fencing was taken down and the l-o-n-g lines of people snaking in both directions around the Nieuwe Kerk had disappeared. The city was finally back to normal, whatever that may be. We walked down the Damstraat to the <b>OZ Voorburgwal</b>, and found seating at an outdoor bar, where we nursed our overpriced beers while watching our last day in Amsterdam slowly slip into our last night. Afterwards, we meandered back to our hotel, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the city, trying to preserve some sense memories to take back home with us - back to reality.
Why do we always discover the great places to eat when it's time to leave?!? On a recommendation from our friends at the Paradox, we went to <b>de Reiger</b> for dinner - located in the Jordaan, at Nieuwe Leliestraat 34a, and recognizable by their upside-down Amstel Bier sign. I ordered the spareribs (which were recommended by our friends), and BJ ordered the Zeeduivel, which was Monk fish wrapped in bacon. Both meals were EXCELLENT! We look forward to returning to Amsterdam in the future just to eat at this restaurant again. With a pair of Weihenstephans for each of us, our bill came to €53.00.
Still too early to call it an evening, we wandered around the streets and canals and ended up at <b>Amnesia</b>, a nice little coffeeshop not far from our hotel. We had just settled into our table when a taxi pulled up and four British women stumbled in. They were in town for a Hen Party and wanted to dabble in some pot smoking, but had not a clue of what, where or how. It was funny at first, but their obnoxiousness got old real fast. So back to the hotel to finish packing, and trying to eat and drink everything left over in the refrigerator.
http://www.foam.org/
http://www.foam.org/press/2013/koos-...levoye-t%C3%AD
http://geelvinck.nl/english/
http://www.tassenmuseum.nl/en
http://www.museumkaart.nl/
http://www.oldbell.nl/
http://www.3dartcompany.com/amsterdam.htm
http://www.dereigeramsterdam.nl/
Robyn
May 3rd, 2014, 05:46 AM
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<b>DAY EIGHTEEN (Sat 4 May) TRAVEL DAY</b>
We had the last of our Rene's Pastries for breakfast, having successfully consumed everything else in our mini-fridge the night before, except for a bottle of beer, which we should have just left for the cleaning staff, but BJ was determined to finish it off before we left <b>Amsterdam</b>.
We said our good-byes to the staff of the <b>Hotel Nadia</b>, who have become like family by now. This was our third time staying at their hotel; last time was in 2011 when they took care of BJ and me and our 11 friends travelling with us. There are five reasons that have drawn us to the hotel time and time again; the price, the location, the room, the service and the flowers. Even though they are a budget hotel (€115/night, 6% discount w/ cash, breakfast included) they add the extra touch of fresh flowers in the room. And while the rooms are typical Amsterdam tourist-hotel small, they are clean and equipped with a mini-fridge, coffee/tea maker and room safe. We have always stayed in Room #412, because of the covered balcony which overlooks the Westerkerkplein and the Kaizergracht. Other than the size, the only other drawback to Room #412 is the 78-step climb, but there are rooms on the second floor with an uncovered balcony that we might have to concede to on our next visit, as we get older.
The location of the Nadia on the corner of the Raadhuisstraat and the Kaizergracht can't be beat; the Westermarkt tram stop is an easy walk over the canal, directly across from the Albert Hein grocery store. The Anne Frank House is right around the corner, and when you cross the next canal you are in the Jordaan neighborhood, filled with eclectic shops and restaurants. And we have always been pleased with the service from the hotel staff who were friendly and accommodating, often offering us a free beverage (water, juice, soda, tea, coffee) as we came and went from our daily outings. They would obligingly offer to carry our luggage up and down the many stairs, or call for a taxi, or let us use their computer to print out our boarding passes. On our 2011 trip they even gave our group a tour of the hotel including their "secret garden", the Egyptian Art room, and a bird's eye view of the city from the roof (we did stay in the hotel for 8 nights). We do hope to return home to the Nadia in the future.
By 9:15 we were on the tram to Centraal Station, then boarding a train to <b>Schiphol</b>. BJ had hoped to drink his beer on the train, but it was too crowded with the morning rush, and we ended up standing most of the way. Within 20 minutes we were at the airport with this damn bottle of beer that we can't take through security, so we found a deserted little corner in the huge lobby and BJ pops open the top, thinking that he can swig it down quick without anyone noticing. Out of nowhere a cop appears. Now, if this was the US, he would be face down on the floor in handcuffs, but here in Amsterdam the kindly-kop politely told BJ he could take the beer outside and drink it, but he couldn't drink it inside. So off BJ went, to finally finish his beer.
We boarded a full plane, which took off on time and had a good tail wind, so we landed in <b>Newark</b> 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Then we got stalled at Passport Control, that huge room where you feel like cattle being led to slaughter. I counted 24 stations, but only 4 were open, having to process at least 4 international flights landing within the last hour! It was ridiculous!! It took over an hour to inch our way through the cattle line, while they sent the beagles up and down the rows sniffing everyone's bags (they did confiscate some lady's tulip bulbs). After another 20 minutes going through customs, then we were met by Rocky, our trusted friend and animal-sitter, who safely drove us home to reality.
https://www.nadia.nl/
Robyn
We had the last of our Rene's Pastries for breakfast, having successfully consumed everything else in our mini-fridge the night before, except for a bottle of beer, which we should have just left for the cleaning staff, but BJ was determined to finish it off before we left <b>Amsterdam</b>.
We said our good-byes to the staff of the <b>Hotel Nadia</b>, who have become like family by now. This was our third time staying at their hotel; last time was in 2011 when they took care of BJ and me and our 11 friends travelling with us. There are five reasons that have drawn us to the hotel time and time again; the price, the location, the room, the service and the flowers. Even though they are a budget hotel (€115/night, 6% discount w/ cash, breakfast included) they add the extra touch of fresh flowers in the room. And while the rooms are typical Amsterdam tourist-hotel small, they are clean and equipped with a mini-fridge, coffee/tea maker and room safe. We have always stayed in Room #412, because of the covered balcony which overlooks the Westerkerkplein and the Kaizergracht. Other than the size, the only other drawback to Room #412 is the 78-step climb, but there are rooms on the second floor with an uncovered balcony that we might have to concede to on our next visit, as we get older.
The location of the Nadia on the corner of the Raadhuisstraat and the Kaizergracht can't be beat; the Westermarkt tram stop is an easy walk over the canal, directly across from the Albert Hein grocery store. The Anne Frank House is right around the corner, and when you cross the next canal you are in the Jordaan neighborhood, filled with eclectic shops and restaurants. And we have always been pleased with the service from the hotel staff who were friendly and accommodating, often offering us a free beverage (water, juice, soda, tea, coffee) as we came and went from our daily outings. They would obligingly offer to carry our luggage up and down the many stairs, or call for a taxi, or let us use their computer to print out our boarding passes. On our 2011 trip they even gave our group a tour of the hotel including their "secret garden", the Egyptian Art room, and a bird's eye view of the city from the roof (we did stay in the hotel for 8 nights). We do hope to return home to the Nadia in the future.
By 9:15 we were on the tram to Centraal Station, then boarding a train to <b>Schiphol</b>. BJ had hoped to drink his beer on the train, but it was too crowded with the morning rush, and we ended up standing most of the way. Within 20 minutes we were at the airport with this damn bottle of beer that we can't take through security, so we found a deserted little corner in the huge lobby and BJ pops open the top, thinking that he can swig it down quick without anyone noticing. Out of nowhere a cop appears. Now, if this was the US, he would be face down on the floor in handcuffs, but here in Amsterdam the kindly-kop politely told BJ he could take the beer outside and drink it, but he couldn't drink it inside. So off BJ went, to finally finish his beer.
We boarded a full plane, which took off on time and had a good tail wind, so we landed in <b>Newark</b> 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Then we got stalled at Passport Control, that huge room where you feel like cattle being led to slaughter. I counted 24 stations, but only 4 were open, having to process at least 4 international flights landing within the last hour! It was ridiculous!! It took over an hour to inch our way through the cattle line, while they sent the beagles up and down the rows sniffing everyone's bags (they did confiscate some lady's tulip bulbs). After another 20 minutes going through customs, then we were met by Rocky, our trusted friend and animal-sitter, who safely drove us home to reality.
https://www.nadia.nl/
Robyn
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