Ami at A'dam. Review on Amsterdam

We were both getting a little tired and bored of work and Brussels. Coming from India, which is rather large and densely populated, this is understandable. Also, we were running out of things to do in Brussels and were stuffing ourselves owing to the amazing treats everywhere! To add to that, the fact that all of EU is so well connected, and that there were so many lovely places just an hour or so away, and, …. Shhhh…. No more excuses!

One really doesn’t need any of my silly excuses to travel to the beautiful city of Amsterdam, the home of the Amstel Dam. You will understand what I mean as soon as you step on the land. The vibe the city emanates is so friendly, and welcome, that you would want to go there again and again and again. The locals are tourist friendly, but not overly so, and would be glad to help you if you are lost. And most Dutch folks speak clear English, so communication is never a problem.

The first few things that will catch your attention would be the waterways, the generous smattering of “Coffee Shops”, the brightly lit lanes, and “mushroom” stores [it will bring a smile on your face, I guarantee that]

We stayed at the Park View B&B near the Sarphati park, as recommended by the Lonely Planet. The stairway was like a red carpeted stairway to the heaven – rather dingy and steep, but the room was nice and cozy though the bathroom was dimly lit. There was a tiny kitchen counter where one could make their tea and breakfast with the basics provided.

It was a rather late start in the day after a hearty meal, at around noon. We rented the bikes at the B&B itself and were on our way! A tiny warning for dunces like me, but some cycles here are rather curious – they do not have hand operated brakes! You gotta back pedal to stop. Get me? See, I am used to back pedaling away when in a slope, but that doesn’t work in these bikes. If I do so, the bike will stop dead and I will most likely fall causing a pile up of all the other fast moving bikes behind me and costing us all a few days at the hospital. Haha.

Amsterdam has been well documented everywhere for its beauty – the people, roads, engineering(the dykes are state of art, and if not for them, Holland will be underwater!), the canals, history, just about everything!

Spending a day there, we went to the amazing Van Gogh Museum. All the praises on this Dutch Impressionist fall short. We spend a good two hours with aid from the audio tour through his life, art, madness, Gauguin(pronounced Gogaan), his brother Theo’s support for him, and such. I picked up a few lovely posters at the museum store below.

The next stop was at the Rijks Museum, which was unfortunately closed for renovations. So we hung about at the park, generally soaking up the local life and the weather.

Relaxed, we felt like having a little fun and went in to the Madam Tussauds. It was about 20 Euros and a let down as half the place was closed for preps for some musical show or something. We managed some fun photos there and moved on.

The much read and discussed Anne Frank Huis was next and the last on our agenda. At first, it looks like a normal, old house, but then you start noticing the haunting words from Anne(pronounced Anna) on the walls and they start to make sense – so they used this tiny loo for over 2 years of hiding? Oh! This is where they ate rotten fish for so many months? And she grew this tall from that little height?

You may want to do it a little differently than us, if you are big on museums. There are many places to see and much to do around here with a stop at a "Coffee Shop" from time to time. We walked out a little enriched, a little sad, and a little delighted at being able to experience all this in a day and headed back to return the bikes then to the train station for our train back to Brussels.

Photos uploaded on flickr at https://flickr.com/photos/mons/sets/72157602928038082/

Travel Costs:

Return Train Tickets - Euros approx. 62 per person

Accommodation – Approx Euros 65-70 at a B&B

Food - Approx. Euros 20 a meal

Local commute - On a bike rental at Euros 10 a day!

Misc. Costs - Museum entry fee approx. Euros 10/- each, nominal ferry cost of approx. Euros 2/-

Total Cost - Approx. Euros  200~ Rs. 12, 000 /- per person for a one night stay