Hoists in the rooftop of all houses in Amsterdam, used to lift up the furnitures since they do not fit in the door and stairs

Amsterdam by the day is a stark contrast to Amsterdam at night. The best way to explore the city is either by hiring a bike which is handy since Holland is very flat or  by joining a canal cruise. I chose to do the later.

The cruise allows you to hop on and off to major Amsterdam attractions and districts. The cruise is very pleasant as you get to experience many canals and get a nice view of canal houses. I started by visiting Rijks Museum to see many famous paintings by Dutch artists such as Van Gogh, Jan Vermeer and Rembrandts.

The second place I visted was Anne Frank’s House. There was a long queue but it moved pretty quickly. Anne Frank’s house is very interesting. It gave me a spooky feeling as I saw her family hiding living quarter behind a hidden secret door as they tried not to keep silent during the day since the house was still used running as a business. What would a human do to survive! It is definetely a must place to visit.

We then had a quick rest to enjoy the weather and sun by sipping on local beer (Heineken of course) and had dutch snacks which consist of cheese and meatballs. We also had the famous Dutch apple pies . After that, we went for a quick window shopping at Pieter Cornelisz Hoofstraat which is an equivalent of Bond St in London (Shop baby Shop! ). Our afternoon spent lazing and strolling Amsterdam’s Vondelpark which has nice lawns, footpaths, outdoor cafes, ponds. My Dutch flatmate told me it is legal to have sex in this park. Don’t we all love the dutch for them being so liberal .  People always ask if Dutch people are really that tall. When I went to Holland, I do not really see many tall people but they are certainly taller in average compare to any other nations in the world. I see lots of bikes as well. They do not wear helmet like in Australia but I guess the speed of riding in Netherlands is slow compared to cyclists back home.

I love the houses off the canal, it looks very cute with the tall window and high ceilings. Even though they lie against each other and have many levels and lots of stairs, they look very grandeur to live in. Jordaan used to be the working class district, now home to expensive canal houses due to the bigger size houses compare to any other district in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, Netherlands Photos

Related posts:

1. Kinderdijk Windmills – Holland
2. The Natural History Museum – Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden