Covid-19 has changed our world, but is the change permanent?
Read moreAmsterdam
by Richard & Melissa TerrisIt’s the city of football, legalized hash bars, and canals, but that’s not all it has as we discovered….
Our hotel was a short walk from Amsterdam Central Station, and Melissa really outdone herself with this choice; Hotel Van Cleve was a fantastic hotel! Not only was the building old and beautiful, but the rooms were very modern and clean, and there was a great restaurant downstairs which served excellent pancakes. But more about that later….
We checked into our room and then headed out for some food. It was late and we were tired so we found a pub near the hotel and went in for a quick bite. It turned into an even quicker bite as the place soon filled up with hash smokers, and we made a sharp exit!
Next morning we went downstairs and had those fabulous pancakes for breakfast, and a cup of tea (of course!), and then headed out. We strolled around, admiring those old narrow buildings, and streets. First stop was our favorite - the hop on, hop off bus!
Melissa and I love these buses because not only do you get to see a whole city (albeit briefly) in a single journey, but as a self-confessed history and trivia geek, I get to learn lots through those wee headphones while Melissa chuckles at me “in my element”!
We hopped off the bus at the Gassan diamond factory to do some window shopping. The history of this factory in itself is astonishing, and we definitely recommend visiting if you get the chance.
Then we hopped back on the bus and did the rest of the route before getting off at Amsterdam Central Station, and taking the ferry across the river to the A’Dam tower.
Melissa had wanted to go on the swing at the top of the tower, and I was completely on board with this idea…. Until we got to the top! I think at this point I asked her a few times if she was sure she didn’t want to back out!
But we waited on line and watched the other fools brave people taking their turn.
Joking aside, it was a lot of fun and a wee bit scary - For those of you who aren’t aware, the hydraulic swing is on the edge of the roof, and swings out over the 328 foot (100m) drop a total of 20 times, getting farther out each time before coming to a stop. It was a lot of fun!
Thankfully we had lunch AFTER the swing and not before it! We had lunch in the 360 degree revolving restaurant just a couple of floors down from the roof. The food was excellent, although perhaps a bit ‘too fancy’ for us, but we enjoyed it a lot, and we certainly enjoyed the panoramic views of the city.
Next up was a canal tour (yes, we DO pack a lot into a day!). The canal tour was an amazing way to finish a long day, nice and relaxing. The architecture of Amsterdam is really beautiful, and viewing it from that perspective is fun. The canal tour takes roughly an hour from start to finish and was very popular with fellow tourists. If you ever take a trip to Amsterdam we’d really urge you to do this.
Whenever I'd heard about the red light district in Amsterdam, I always assumed it was a particular district in the city, so you can imagine my surprise when walking back to our hotel we suddenly found ourselves noticing 'items' on display in windows! After we got over our shock, we quickly moved on!
Our time in Amsterdam was brief, but we packed a lot into that time, and I feel that we got a good overview of the city. Being so old it has a long and rich history, and is filled with beautiful architecture. We would definitely recommend Amsterdam to anyone looking for a short trip for a few days.
Recent Posts
Iceland
In April 2019, Richard and I had our first Icelandic experience.
Read all about it in this blog post.