Finally done with my European meetings I had a full day today to explore Amsterdam. I started the morning off with a shuttle to the airport and a train from there to the Central Station in downtown Amsterdam. I didn't really have a plan for when I got there, but across the street from the train station was a place advertising 1 hour canal cruises, so I took one. Amsterdam has a lot of canals so we were able to crisscross through the whole city by boat. It was a good introduction to the city.
When I got off the boat I went to a big map outside the train station to figure out what I wanted to do next. As I was looking a guy came up and asked where I was going. Since I didn't know I hesitated to respond.
"The Red Light District eh?" he assumed.
"No, probably the Rembrandt museum." I replied.
"OK great, follow me."
I followed him, though after a couple blocks when we were still walking I knew what was coming. I've had similar experiences where people become your guide involuntarily and then ask for money at the end. I looked for a place to ditch him, but couldn't find anything that wasn't too obvious. Oh well...he did get me to where I wanted to be pretty quickly (which happened to include a walk through the red light district, lol) so I gave him 1.50 euros. He asked for more. I told him no. He left angry. I should have just told him when I figured out what was going on that I wasn't going to give him anything. Oh well.
The museum was pretty cool. It was where Rembrandt used to live so it was not only a gallery with his work, it was a museum of his life. After I finished with the museum I was pretty hungry so I walked down a street that was packed with people and full of different restaurants. I looked hard for a place that offered dutch food but couldn't find anything so I settled with a place selling Argentine food. Surprisingly there were probably more Argentine restaurants than any other kind. This was my lunch:
After walking around for awhile I went to the other side of the city to visit the Anne Frank house. Today happens to be Yom Kippur, and the museum happens to be closed on Yom Kippur so I wasn't able to go inside but the walk across the city was interesting enough that I didn't feel I had wasted time.
Amsterdam is a pretty neat city. The architecture is incredible. I'm glad I spent the day getting to see it, but I don't feel like I ever need to come back. I was satisfied with walking around it all day and seeing what I did. I will put together the video I took when I get home from the trip.
When I got off the boat I went to a big map outside the train station to figure out what I wanted to do next. As I was looking a guy came up and asked where I was going. Since I didn't know I hesitated to respond.
"The Red Light District eh?" he assumed.
"No, probably the Rembrandt museum." I replied.
"OK great, follow me."
I followed him, though after a couple blocks when we were still walking I knew what was coming. I've had similar experiences where people become your guide involuntarily and then ask for money at the end. I looked for a place to ditch him, but couldn't find anything that wasn't too obvious. Oh well...he did get me to where I wanted to be pretty quickly (which happened to include a walk through the red light district, lol) so I gave him 1.50 euros. He asked for more. I told him no. He left angry. I should have just told him when I figured out what was going on that I wasn't going to give him anything. Oh well.
The museum was pretty cool. It was where Rembrandt used to live so it was not only a gallery with his work, it was a museum of his life. After I finished with the museum I was pretty hungry so I walked down a street that was packed with people and full of different restaurants. I looked hard for a place that offered dutch food but couldn't find anything so I settled with a place selling Argentine food. Surprisingly there were probably more Argentine restaurants than any other kind. This was my lunch:
This is a place that resembled a typical city center...though I'm not sure it was. There were a lot of people.
After walking around for awhile I went to the other side of the city to visit the Anne Frank house. Today happens to be Yom Kippur, and the museum happens to be closed on Yom Kippur so I wasn't able to go inside but the walk across the city was interesting enough that I didn't feel I had wasted time.
Amsterdam is a pretty neat city. The architecture is incredible. I'm glad I spent the day getting to see it, but I don't feel like I ever need to come back. I was satisfied with walking around it all day and seeing what I did. I will put together the video I took when I get home from the trip.
4 comments:
I didn't know you had other photos...I wouldn't have altered the one you gave me.
I thought 28 euros was pricey for a baked potato. Glad to see you got some meat, too.
The Anne Frank Museum is open tomorrow if you wanted to go back. You can buy your ticket online and not have to wait in line. http://www.annefrank.org/en/Museum/Practical-information/Opening-hours-prices-and-location1/
The canal trip looks great. Love the photo.
Looks like a cool place :-)
The canal trip photo was yanked from online. The lunch is my pic though.
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