Euro Trip 2008 - Day 3 - Amsterdam, Netherlands

DAY 3: 29th January 2008 – Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Again, I didn’t get to sleep. That’s two days I’ve gone without sleeping during the night. Who could sleep by sitting down on a typical café chair? I ended up reading a Chicken Soup book to pass the time. Jotting down some stuff in my notebook for future references, the time soon came for us to disembark the ferry. The tour guide said that we would be passing by Germany in order to get to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was then that I began to get fatigued due to lack of sleep, so I pretty much slept the whole way there. After all we were going to be spending the evening at Amsterdam, so I needed the energy to enjoy the tour. I missed the whole commentaries given by the tourguide, but it’s ok, I could always Wiki about them later. Same goes for the interesting sights.

A windmill in Netherlands. Picture credit: siebe


Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, and is within the North-Holland region of the country. Now, many have mistaken Holland as the name of the country, whereas it’s actually just a name of the part of the Netherlands. The mistake however is understandable because even the Dutch made the same mistake.



Dusk in Amsterdam. Picture credit: Jimheid
Originally found as a small fishing village during the 12th century, Amsterdam is an interesting city, with river canals passing through it. The river canals kind of reminded me of Cambridge in the UK, and St Petersburg. Our first stop was one of the landmarks of Amsterdam – the Museumplein. It means the Museum Square, since it is cornered by four museums: the Diamond House Museum (which we were going to be visiting), the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum.


Museumplein


Rijksmuseum


The Diamond House where we were introduced to how diamonds are evaluated and shaped and patterned to become rings, necklaces, etc. The one who entertained us was a Singaporean guy who jokingly reminded us not to speak ill of him in Malay for he would be able to understand us. We were locked inside a room with security rivaling the bank – there’s no way for us to escape should we decide that the diamonds are so shiny they’d do well inside our pockets. :D Of course none of us did such a thing. The girls were then given the opportunity to try out some of the jeweleries, while the guys looked on and snapped photos of our own. All in all I thought that while interesting, it didn’t really grab my attention because I was hoping to see the windmills instead of diamonds. But then again, enjoy what you've got and the tour was made very enjoyable indeed because of the hosts' warm hospitality - even I was happy. :D Then I managed to grab some quick souvenirs before the large group split up.




Some diamond facts and how they are priced. Read 'em and weep.


If only I've had the guts to steal this, I won't have to worry about money ever again.


The lord of the rings jewelry maker-cum-host demonstrated his ring-making skill.


Outside the Diamond House


We were given two choices: boat tour and walking tour. I joined the walking tour for it was free. Besides suggestions were pretty mixed pertaining these river canal tours: some told us to go ahead and take it, while some others told that its okay to miss it – especially when we were on a tight schedule. Besides when I was in Cambridge I had taken the river canal tour, so I joined the walking tour. We were only going to be at Amsterdam for the next four hours so we’d better make the most out of it. Walking tour seemed to be the ideal way to see the city. We were given maps and thus begun our Le Tour de Amsterdam, by ourselves.











Tak stay pun, bergambar pun jadilah! :P


Wilhelmina monument


Amsterdam Riverside


Amsterdam Riverside


Dam Square - the AmsterDAM town SQUARE, see where it gets its name?


Snapping pictures proved to be difficult for the night-modes on our cameras would usually result in blurry pictures. Still we managed a few good shots. Anyway it was still an enjoyable trip and I found out that what people have been saying about Amsterdam is true – the city is so liberal in terms of drugs and porn. Where else could we see weeds, cannabis lollipops and dildos sold along normal souvenirs? Of course we didn’t buy them: there are those from the different group who actually tested the weeds, and funnily enough the next day when he ‘sobered’, he looked through the photos in his camera and thought that some were shots that he didn’t remember taking. Of course it was shots of him, taken by his friends.




Sex education the Amsterdam way.


We're not endorsing the dildos!
I went into the shop with my camera and was kicked out told politely that no photography is allowed in there.


Not sure whether these lollipops are tasty or not


Anyway we made a few stops at the souvenir shops. The souvenirs were abundant and at competitive price as well, it was a shame if we didn’t buy any. There were several souvenirs that were landmarks of Amsterdam/Holland/the Netherlands as a whole.



Ceramics souvenirs. These are sold everywhere. Not sure about the history though.
Picture credit: Prosto


Wooden shoes. Picture credit: Shooby


Wooden tulips. Picture credit: Saz


Amsterdam buildings fridge magnets. Picture credit: Saz


Originally we had the intention to venture along the Red Light District, but we didn’t have the time. This is yet another famous landmark of Amsterdam, but it’s on a different route from the route we took to tour the city. Never mind. By the time we reached the City Railway Station it was almost time for us to head towards our next destination – France. Along the way, the tour guide seemed to want to prepare us for French culture, by putting on two movies that had some relations to France. First movie was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast - a beautiful masterpiece, it’s one of my favorite Disney cartoons when I was younger. The next movie was...yawn...a black and white film called Camille. I and many others slept through the second movie, only to wake up at the film’s finale where the main lady-protagonist…died. Oops, spoiled it. The only one who seemed to watch the entire film was Juvin and she said that it was sad. Haha.

Next stop: Paris!

P/s: Other pictures thanks to Abu, Zol, Imah and Aliyaa.