City Trippin' to Amsterdam

Finally some more blogging about travelling!

At a mere 250km from Brussels, Amsterdam is the closest capital for a city trip. And it's worth it. Except for the large amount of tourist crowds around the busy places, the city is perfect for a short weekend out.

I Amsterdam...at the museum

The canals and architecture of the city are probably the biggest attraction and invite for long walks through the center. Though it's easy to get lost, if you follow some big canal you always get back where you wanted. The city is pretty big, therefore exploring the city by bike is often a good plan if you really want to see everything in some days time.

Going by car from Belgium is easy and only a couple of hours driving, but be aware: parking space in Amsterdam is rare and damn expensive (3,5 to 6€ per hour). A full day in a covered parking costs 50€. Driving around in the city is definetely discouraged and the small streets are not great for driving anyway...

So we walked and walked around...this is what we saw on our way

Skewed houses along the waterside

The House of Bols, the modern version of brewery visit. Won the design award of the year for the nice concept of the 'museum'.

Smells and Tastes...

A great tour, a great tasting session afterwards...and great marketing @ the House of Bols

Pop Art in the Academic neighbourhood

Concert Hall

picture of the diamond skull exposed inside

more houses along the canal

One of the classics: the red light district of Amsterdam by night, 90% tourists, 10%...

Houses and boats...charming

Amsterdam Central Station - boats, trams, trains qand bikes...

a lot of bikes.....