I have to confess that Amsterdam didn't reach my expectations! Actually, it proved to be far away from them. I know that the most of you will disagree, but wait a minute - this is my blog! I don't know what it went wrong: the weather? my overestimated expectations? the complete absence of tulips? the confusing tram lines? the foot-break? or just the fact that coffee-shops and red lights do not appeal to my personality?
1st day: Thursday 26th, May
Both, me and my boyfriend Aris, were really excited about this trip. We arranged it for the end of May in order to enjoy the sunny Amsterdam, the nice weather conditions, the parks, the canals and -of course- the tulips. I thought that i could return back with some tan and i managed to return with a flu.
We arrived at the Schiphol airport around 11 o'clock and we were pretty lucky for that kind of flight that would allow us to spend 5 full days in Amsterdam. We used Malev airlines and took our connection flight from Budapest (with only a 45-minutes stop!).
Of course, our priority was to reach our Hotel! I have to say only good things about Hotel V at Frederiksplein! Amazing environment, pretty helpful and warm stuff, wonderful decoration and the best breakfast buffet i have ever eaten! Undoubtably, the gold bulldog at the entrance was the major attraction of that place!
2nd day: Friday 27th, May
Amsterdam is a small city, and if you want to visit it as a tourist and not as "gap-year traveller", there are a few quite interesting places to see, without spending much time!
- I will start with Rijkmuseum and its Masterpieces! For all of you that you have saw "The girl with the pearl earring" movie and admire Johannes Vermeer's paintings, you have to visit this particular museum, which gives a impressive picture of the miracle of the Dutch Golden Age. In this point i have to make clear that Vermeer's "The girl with pearl earring" painting is located to another museum in Netherlands and if you want to see it you have to visit Mauritshuis, The Royal Picture Gallery at Hague. Moreover, at Rijkmuseum you can also see Rembrandt's most famous and greatest painting: "The Night Watch" and one of his amazing self-portraits.
Rembrandt's_Night_Watch
- Van Gogh Museum! The words cannot describe the magnificence of his work and his unique style. For me Van Gogh was an indisputable talent, widely known -unfortunately- only after his death. I can remember myself in a very young age, learning about Van Gogh's paintings and the only thing i can say is that i feel pretty satisfied that i managed to see his masterpieces from that close. Along with Van Gogh permanent collection, we visited the temporary exhibition "Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907" - not that interesting if you think that 5 months ago we visited his amazing museum in Barcelona. I do not know why, but among Van Gogh's paintings "Skull with Burning Cigarette" caught my attention in a very particular way. I really didn't know or expected a painting like this one!
Van_Gogh's_Skull_with_Burning_Cigarette
* Close to Riskmuseum and Van Gogh Museum are the often photographed "i amSTERDAM" huge letters and, moreover, Museum Plein area has a lot of nice boutiques, shops and small cafes-restaurants.
- We closed our day with an evening canal-cruise. We started our cruise from Museum Plein, at Stadhouderskade (in front of Casino and Hard-Rock Cafe) and after one hour cruise we where right back, full of pictures, houseboats and fresh air. If you ask for a tip: prefer to take your can cruise with blue-boat company, as it is the only company which has boats with open space at the back side for those ones who do not want a glass between them and the open air!
3rd day: Saturday 28th, May
- Our day started with de Hortus - or the Hortus Botanicus (unfortunately the National Maritime Museum of Amsterdam was under major renovations), one of the oldest botanic gardens in the world. The Hortus is actually a green oasis in the middle of a busy city. We were both pretty amazed by the Linderkas, otherwise known as the Butterfly House. Moreover the three-climate greenhouse was really interesting. This particular greenhouse has a sub-tropical section with plants from South Africa and Australia, a desert section and a tropical section, similar to a jungle, with palms, epiphytes and orchids.
*In this point i have to add that at the Hortus Botanicus we also had the chance to come pretty close with carnivorous plants! My boyfriend wanted to bring one back to Greece, but he regret it in the end.
- The Rembrant House-Museum is actually a step back into Rembrant's time. A traditional Holland canal-house full of paintings (made mainly by Rembrant and his students). The fact that the museum is a house at the same time gives the opportunity to learn quite a lot about Rembrant's past. First of all, did you know that in 1656 Rembrant went bankrupt because he couldn't pay his debts? Moreover, Rembrant's wonderful collection of rare things from all around the world is being displayed in one of the rooms. Wandering the seventeenth-century rooms, you can imagine yourself back in Rembrant's days.
- And of course it would be a shame on me if i went to Amsterdam and didn't pay a visit to Tassen Museum Hendrikje - the Museum of Bags and Purses. To be honest, i didn't know that there was a museum like that in Amsterdam, but i have to confess that its collection was totally completed and interesting not only for the fashion seekers. The Museum of Bags and Purses is the world's largest bag museum, with an exclusive collection of 4,000 bags!
- Of course we had to pay our visit at Madame Tussaud's Museum, actually the first Madame Tussaud ever opened in the world! It was my 5th time visiting a Madame Tussaud's Museum around the world, but eventually the queue wasn't long!
4th day: Sunday 29th, May
The plan was to take the train from Amsterdam's Central Station, go to Haarlem, rent bikes and drive through the tulips until Leiden. Unfortunately the weather allowed us to ride only for 4 kilometers. The air was so powerful that the only thing that i can remember is the resistance of my riding against the air. So we didn't see tulips and we took our way back after one hour.
- De Looier Kunst- & Antiekcentrum proved to be above our expectations! De Looier is an antique market, which takes almost the whole block of houses between Looiersgracht and Elandsgracht – all of them under one roof. This place seems a paradise for all kind of collectors: antique furniture, old paintings, used watches, old jewelry, silverware, toys, curiosa. On Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday private people may rent a small table and trade with their collections.Cozy, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Moderate prices, but not many objects of real value. De Looier is interesting to visit, especially if you are tired of visiting museums. I took a copy of 24th's July 1929 Vogue's magazine cover.
We decided to spent the rest of the day walking around, shopping souvenirs and wandering around the city centre of Amsterdam & the flower market at Bloemenmarkt.
5th day: Monday 30th, May
Our last day! My boyfriend bought a bicycle frame from "2nd hand bikes" and i got a flu!
Aris & his new "fixie" frame!
Me at Schiphol airport, with a flu and after 6 hours waiting!
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