Bob's World: Amsterdam, May’08

This is an entry following my earlier posting on ‘The Wild Side’.

If you put the sex and cannabis aside, you may be able to see other beautiful aspect of Amsterdam.

Like all European cities, Amsterdam boasts old European-style architecture. It has a network of canal, all connected by beautiful bridges. There are various ways to explore the city. We could just walk along the clobber stones roads or along the canals to appreciate the architecture designs.

Alternatively, we could go on a bicycle, where it is not unusual to see locals and tourist going along cycling around the city. There is also a ‘bicycle tour’ available where tour guides will take you around the city on a bicycle and describe the history behind the city.

If you just don’t want to walk and can’t move on two wheels, you could always go on a city cruise. The cruise takes about 45 minutes tour and it would take you around the city comfortably while the tour guide provides you the history lesson.

For a small city, Amsterdam has lots of museums. If you are a museum enthusiast, this would be paradise for you. However, if time is what you don’t have, you could just keep your visit to Van Gogh Museum. There you could find large collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawing, his career and other artist’s works.

Here are some of the attractions in Amsterdam –

Take a stroll along the city and relax

Explore the city's architecture

More architecture..

Walk along the canal

Another piece of architecture...

Rain won't stop this guy from going on a bicycle tour..

Bloemenmarkt, the city's floating flower market

Tulip seeds

Moving outside of the city

Roads outside the city...

Zaanse Schans - the Dutch village

Take a trip out of the city to Zaanse Schans – a village-like museum. The area is filled with shops, cottages, windmills and houses, which people live and work. You can take a stroll and visit each building where the local community recreates the traditional Dutch way of life to give us a flavour of their culture.

The windmill is a key feature in The Netherlands. Traditionally, it was used to drain land of lakes and extend the shoreline to create fertile farmland. Of course, there are other uses as well such as grinding corns, crushing seeds to make oil and driving sawmills.

Amongst some of the Dutch ‘things’ you would find in Zaanse Schans –

Cheese storage

Cheese tasting

Guess where all the cheese comes from?

More cheese

Another well-known product of the Netherlands - clogs

Wooden tulips

Another place which is worth visiting is Volendam, a small fishing village with beautiful yachts and boats ‘parked’ around the harbor. When there take your time and stroll along the village and mixed with the locals (who still wear traditional Dutch cloths). Make sure you try some of their local delicacies – seafood.