Amsterdam: Een mooie dag in de stad van Kanalen

Amsterdam, the official capital of Netherlands, is a mix of 13th Century architecture and modern era lifestyle. The old architecture is solely visible in buildings, markets, canals, houses etc. whereas the modern lifestyle is visible in pubs, bars, drugs, clothes etc. It was during the cold weather when I was there in Holland’s working Capital City Den Haag in December, and on a weekend we decided to visit Amsterdam for a day. In the morning we took a tram from our hotel in Den Haag to the central station from where we took fast train to Amsterdam (that cost us around 17 euros each for return ticket, valid upto 12 midnight), that meant that I had to catch the return train latest by 10pm from Amsterdam. We had to pay 1 euro extra for each ticket as we did not use the automatic machine to purchase ticket and rather bothered the lady at the manual ticket counter, we did not dare to take a chance at automatic machine since all was written in Dutch on the various buttons on the machine. It was a double storey train, two classes, first class and general class, and the general class better than our luxury class in an Indian train, spacious, table between seats, newspapers, electrical points for mobile charging and no dust or a minute piece of waste on the floor or seats. Seats were as comfortable as they can be. The scenic view throughout the way was full of huge fields, cattle, canals, large office complexes (many international companies could be seen like IBM, HP, Sony etc.). A little of the passage was through tunnel also. In next two hours we were at Amsterdam Station. The loo was very clean and could be utilized by paying 1 Euro per visit. Just outside the station is tram station for local travel. 
The center of Amsterdam is shaped like a horseshoe, surrounded by four famous canals called the Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Singel and Prinsengracht. These four canals meet at centre at central Dam Square on which Dam Palace is built. On the south of Central Station, there is the world famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) Red Light District, the area has many adult shops and peep show bars but there is heavy police presence, and many security cameras to take care of the visitors. Although it is warned repeatedly that you have to take care of wallets and belongings as chances of pick-pocketing are quite high in this area. The official tour in this area is only in the night time. Amsterdam and Den Haag have several excellent museums and two of the best are next to each other in Amsterdam namely The Van Gogh Museum, that houses some of his most famous masterpieces comprising of his work right from his youth in Holland till his death in France. The museum is open every day between 10:00 and 18:00 hours and till 22:00 hours in Friday. Very near to this is a 250-room Rijksmuseum containing one of the best Rembrandt collections in the world. Although at that time the main building of the museum was under renovation, still major art work is at display in the Philips wing of this museum which is open every day between 09:00 and 18:00 hours.
Don’t forget to walk around in the main market adjacent to red light area and on a walking distance from the station. Also spare some time to walk around the canals and the roads to pass through age old architecture which is still intact and beautiful. Look at the houses style, the typical windows, staircases, shops and the churches. We visited Rembrandt’s house where he lived from 1639 to 1657, near to Waterlooplein. In the main city is the oldest church Oudekerk, made in 13th century where Rembrandt’s wife Saskia is buried. Roads being narrower, it is easy to walk rather than drive in a taxi or car and parking charges at various places are as high as 4-5 euros per hour. Being a high tourist attraction, stealing and pick pocketing is at high in Amsterdam. Lucky were we that the day was sunny and there was no rain throughout the day. A day visit of city along with the famous windmills and a diamond factory (some 10 kms away) cost us around 50 Euros each (5 hours tour) and another 20 Euros each for the Canal Cruise by a Boat (2 hours tour). The sun sets here quite early around 3.45 or 4pm and after that it was dark when we traveled in the canal. The lighting of the buildings, market, pubs and restaurant was looking very good at late evening time. Tried to take a snap of a group of people behind a glass wall on 17th floor of a building along the side of the canal doing Aerobics to keep them fit, but it shot blurred as either the boat was running quite fast or they were exercising faster. A famous line for Amsterdam is “it is difficult to distinguish street from canal from October to March due to heavy rains.
Please enjoy some of the photographs shot at Amsterdam uploaded in the video section! (the windmill, the diamond factory, the diamonds…)
The meaning of the title line “Een mooie dag in de stad van Kanalen” is “A beautiful day in the city of Canals”

Den Haag - Netherlands - The Hague

’’Den Haag’’ in Dutch or ’’The Hague’’ in English is the official capital of Netherlands in English or Nederland in Dutch, but the working capital is Amsterdam.

Den Haag is the traditional completely Dutch city that gets time to sleep in the nights. Amsterdam on the other hand never sleeps, more active in the nights.

i was in Den Haag for 15 days on a business tour. dec.1 2005 to dec.15 2005. Went by Air France from Delhi to France and then by KLM from France to ’’Schiphol’’ - Amsterdam International Airport.

Schiphol to Den Haag by train - took just about half an hour. beautiful scenic view on the way- farms, cattle, European colonies, big buildings carrying big industrial/business names of international fame.

The train stop is just below the airport, take your luggage in trolley by lift and drop trolley when you catch train. frequency is every 15-20 minutes you get a train to Den Haag. Good cozy fast trains. Don’t forget to get your money converted to euros as no other currency is accepted here. Only at airports you can pay in dollars as well as in euros. 100 dollars will fetch you around 79-81 euros depending on the current price of euro and the conversion rate charged by the bank. Different banks will have different rates. Train fare from schiphol airport to centraal station in den haag is about 8.5 euros (a return ticket will be around 17 euros). If you take from automatic machines you pay less but if you buy from the counter you pay 1 euro extra.

Reached centraal station (or central station) around noon, took a big taxi (cheverlet) to reach to my hotel (taxi fare around 22-25 euros). My hotel was in the centre of den haag near museon (on the right) and world trade centre (on the left). a beautiful 10 storey hotel - one day charges 120 euros including a fantastic breakfast. 

Transport facilities - trams and buses for within Den Haag, trains for other cities. I liked trams over buses as they were more economical and convenient. you can take a weekly ticket, weekend ticket, day ticket. I used to take 15 strips for 6.5 euros. Everything is in zones as far as trams are concerned. Whole of The Hague is divided in zones. So if you cross two zones, you will have to punch 3 tickets of that 15 tickets strip. Or you can buy the ticket in the tram itself from the driver but that will be slightly costlier.

People take early lunch here (1-1.30) and early dinner (6-7.30 or max 8). people are fond of going to Chinese, Thai, Malaysian restaurants. People are good, friendly, warm and decent. I was well greeted at my hotel - was asked if I prefer a smoking or non-smoking room. Room having wireless internet facility which I used everyday. Breakfast was excellent. Everybody uses city map here. You carry map with you all the time and ask for direction from anybody. They stop and try to tell the best possible direction. 

In December all trees (too tall) are naked. No flowers, no leaves, no tulips. (Tulips and momentos are famous here besides international fame ’’Holland Casino’’ in Rotterdam, and night life in Amsterdam). Amsterdam is just as free as conservative Den Haag is. 

I could find very good discipline on roads. population is less, so due to less traffic so many roads are single lane or max 3 lane and still no traffic jams. People respect government and their rules, and government respects people. Since all vehicles run in high speed and in their lanes, there were no accidents in 15 days except one minor accident where a car driver smashed another. People don’t mix driving with drinking here. Girls smoke and drink openly. Seperate lanes are there for cycles as cycling is an old tradition in ducth and you will find lot of kids, young and old riding on cycle. 

Amsterdam has pole dance, exotic shows, sex museum, live sex shows, legal red light area where no cameras are allowed and if by mistake you take one, its film will be exposed. netherland is below sea level. Tulips come during April till September in the year. rest of the time it is very cold.

You find lot of windmills below and huge farms when you are landing at Amsterdam airport - Schiphol. Moroccans is a big problem here in europe, this community is settled since last 3 -4 generations. Boys of current generation do not go to schools whrereas girls study. So there is a mismatch in the community. Boys develop into rioters, thieves and non-social elements. You will not find any dust in the country. last week of December and first two weeks of January welcomes snowfall here.

Two bad incidents - on the very first day while in the market I bought a distilled water bottle (cost was bar coded), seller was an Asian - the cost of the bottle was 72 cents and he charged one euro by saying that outside its cost is 2 euros. He gave no bill. rest everywhere whatever you buy you get bill.
 
A huge black (African/ Negro) beggar around 6’’ plus all of a sudden came by my side in Amsterdam and demanded 1 euro in a very scaring voice.

Don’t forget to take cap, gloves, and extra caring clothes if you happen to go during November - December -January - February in Den Haag. you will have problems of food if you are pure vegetarian but still you can do with various breads and cheeses, fruits, juices etc. But if you are non-vegetarian you will get very good and tasty food. (a dinner will cost you around 15-20 euros including a glass of wine or beer). If you greet strangers you receive greetings in return. People are helpful. Take care of your pockets if you want to go to red light area in Amsterdam as it is over-crowded at peak hours. In holland casino entry is not very easy. You must have some local person with you and your identity proof and ofcourse money!!

Average expenditure per day Euro 120 for hotel room with breakfast
Lunch - 15 euros
Dinner - 15 euros

If you have a heavy breakfast in the morning (or late morning) you can skip lunch and have an early dinner.