With an earlier arrival in Amsterdam than expected, we wasted no time in heading ashore and organising our own tour of the canals, supposedly taking in 100 sights in 1 hour. The way the canal boat operators manoeuvred their crafts around the tight docking area and around 90 degree turns into tight tunnels was amazing and very entertaining to watch.
Amsterdam railway station.
This interesting building is the science and technology centre on the inside, but on the roof it is the local beach! Deck chairs, sand and umbrellas line the roof and the locals love it!
Buildings with shutters were originally
warehouses.
One of 16 sea locks. The wooden doors are
replaced every 50 years.
An interesting bridge.
Looking through this bridge you can see 7 bridges lined up together.
There are 2,500 house boats on the 100 km of canals. Each year the boat owners, or tenants, pay approx $2500 AUD docking fee.
A Protestant church.
A multi story bike parking place near the station. Bikes are a way of life and bikes have right of way, so pedestrians beware!
The owner of this windmill paid €1 for it, on the condition that he maintain it. The thatched roof has to be replaced every 25 years.
Rembrandt sketched and painted this windmill, so it's fitting that his statue is next to it.
The harbour from the sun deck of the ship.The day ended with a self guided tour of Amsterdam by night. Being a Saturday, the place was teeming with people...or perhaps it's like that every night. The red light district was, at the same time, amazing, disturbing, confronting and spectacular! We finished with a safe coffee for the ladies and a Heineken for the men at one of the many drinking establishments, avoiding establishments with the magic mushroom symbol on the door and then called it a night.
No comments:
Post a Comment