Sunday, August 2, 2009

Europe & UK Tour - Netherlands

Amsterdam

My Contiki Tour in Amsterdam began with the river cruise along the canals and was really worth it. The first thing that caught my sight were the bicycles. You can see thousands of bicycles in Amsterdam as they are still currently the favourite transportation. I got to know from the tour leader that bigger door size means the house owner has to pay higher tax. Therefore, some big furniture were moved into the house through the higher floor using crane.

River cruise along the canal....

The house boat along the canal during the river cruise

Bicycle are still a popular transportation in Amsterdam.

Another view during river cruise....

During the nightfall, our tour leader took us to the red light district which is a popular night spot for prostitution. It is a legal activity and we were warned not to take any photographs there as to protect individual privacy. Our night ended with a life show...(u know what I mean).

In the next morning, we had a couple of hours to spend in Amsterdam before continue our journey to the next country. We took the opportunity to try the local food and visited the sex toy shops. Amsterdam is popular with the fast food chain shops such as Febo and we enjoyed the chips topped with mayonnaise. Another recommended local food was the herring fish. We tried this exotic food but not to my liking. Due to currency conversion, we did not buy much souvenirs but I reminded myself to at least buy a decoration refrigerator magnet or key chain as a token of memory.
Though my visit to Amsterdam was short, it had exposed me with lots of memorable experiences and interesting sights. The only thing that fell short on this tour was no itinerary to visit the windmill and the Tulips garden. That was compensated during my Netherlands revisited plan after the tour.

Zaanse Schan

After completing the Contiki tour, I revisited Netherlands by my own. Zaanse Schan was a very relaxed pleasant self arranged trip. Basically almost all I wanted to see in Netherlands can be found in Zaanse Schan. Clog and cheese making can be found in this place. Not to mention too about the colourful windmills along the river bank. One of them was opened for public viewing to understand the operation of the windmill.
Netherlands architecture

Cheese making

Clog making

Clogs readily to be sold as souvenir

One of the windmills in Zaanse Schan

Kinderdijk

One of the most preserved windmills are found in Kinderdijk. I went south purposely to visit this place and had to stay overnight in Rotterdam. It delivered as it promised. I could see many windmills strategically located along the long stretch of riverbank. They looked more natural than the colourful ones found in Zaanse Schan.

The cube houses(total 38) in Rotterdam were designed by architect Piet Blom in 1984

Long stretch of windmills in Kinderdijk

Fatso encounter!

View from one windmill to another....

Keukernhoff

Another great place worth a visit during the spring time is Keukernhoff. It is located about 10km from Haarlem and I heard that the cycling journey to this place was breathtaking. I decided to cycle and the experience was unbelievable. It was a mix feeling with a bit nervousness not to lost my way and at the same time felt the magnificent view at my very own pace.

View of the last portion of red tulips being harvested just a kilometre or two from Keukernhoff

All the tulips were blooming in Keukernhoff garden and there were plenty of Kodak moments to capture these colourful tulips.

Anybody like white tulips?

How about the flaming red ones?

The end of my tour in Netherlands.

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