My European holiday

[Starkler]

I think the only person who knew i was going was Dave47tuc, but here i am reporting on my first few days in Europe. I am currently staying with a good friend in Amsterdam and having a great time exploring in and around this beautiful city.

I arrived last thursday and we spent Saturday looking around the city, taking a canal cruise and even managed some of the sights of the red light district:whistle: I was being good though;)

On Sunday went to The Hague (which is actually a city), went to a place called madurodam, which is an amazing theme park of Holland in miniature, and ended up at Scheveningen beach a short distance away.

Yesterday I went to Rijksmusuem, which is a musuem of mostly 17th century art of the Dutch masters. I have never been a person interested in art, but its really something to see so many totally amazing rare and famous pieces so close that you can touch them. They wouldnt let me take any photographs though :sadeyes:

Later today I plan to visit the Verzetsmusuem, which displays the history of the Dutch resistance in WWII, which should be another fascinating outing :)

Next Monday we are off to london for 3 days, then to Rome, Paris and Brussels before returning back to base in Amsterdam.

Heres a few piccies.

1&7 are at Scheveningen beach, The Hague.
2: Myself out front of the Royal Palace, Dam Square.
3-5: A few snaps from the canal cruise.
6 Red light district.

[Starkler]

How could i forget my lovely host Levy. She has been a wonderful and generous companion giving me the hospitality of her apartment in Amsterdam.

[Dave47tuc]

Lucky bugger:P

Have a great time and don't scare the locals ya big aussie:lol:

[wavelandscott]

Have a great time!

I had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam about 10 years ago...As a "farmboy's" first vist overseas, I found it an amazing and interesting place.

Don't forget to get some wooden shoes!

[acropolite]

Looks like fun Geoff, thanks for taking us with you (at least in thought). I have a mate in the Hague who is originally from Oz, Keep the photo's coming, it will be fun to tag along.:thumbsup:

[MrB]

Aaaah Amsterdam....
If you're running out of food options (I always do when travelling), I can highly recommend one of the many Indonesian restaurants.
Indonesia was once part of the Dutch East Indies colonies so no surprises that they developed a taste for Indonesian food.
The restaurant I went to(in 2006) was Kantjil & De Tijger (http://www.kantjil.nl/restaurant.htm)(link)
Awesome food, nice atmosphere, friendly people etc etc blah blah blah...
Enjoy :)

EDIT: Oh and you'll like Rome (I was there 3 weeks ago). EVERYTHING worth seeing is within walking distance.
Got an awesome money(approx $50) and time saving tip(you won't have to stand in line for 1 to 2 hours!!) for you if you're planing on going into the Coloseum and the Forum?

[OneOfOne]

I stayed with some friends just out of Amsterdam about 15 years ago and they offered me some salted licorice...whatever you do, no matter how much you may like "normal" licorice....don't do it....I almost threw up immediately and had to wind the window in the car down as fast as I could and spit it out....eeewww....sends shivers down my spine!

[iceman]

Very cool Geoff, have a great time!

More pics!

[Ric]

There is nothing like an overseas holiday, hope you have a great time.

Do send more pictures if you get a chance.

Cheers

[h0ughy]

enjoy the trip - and a pic of polaris!!

[Jen]

:hi: hey whats the night sky like over there i didnt see any mention of the european skys :P

[janoskiss]

Have fun, Geoff! Thanks for the piccies! Keen to see more from the rest of your trip. :hi:

[erick]

Have a great time Geoff! There is a lot to see in Europe.

[Starkler]

No problemo. Im taking it easy over here and as Im not working now I'm under no time pressures. Levy is working until the end of this week so Im basically bumming it here for now and have time to check in on IIS ;) The hard paced touring starts next Monday for 2 weeks.



I'd love to hear it, as long as it wont get me arrested or sent to the back of the line like a naughty boy :lol:



Thanks for the warning! Lev has been here 5 years and hasnt heard about the salted licorice :shrug:

As i mentioned, I went to the Verzetsmusuem which is a museum re the German occupation of Holland in WWII. The stories told and the displays were fascinating, although I felt an overwhelming sadness on seeing a display of farewell letters which had been tossed from trains by Jewish people being shipped to places from which they would never return. :sadeyes::sadeyes:
.
.


Ok here we go :D

1: Protestors protesting......something :shrug:
2: Protestor with funny hair :lol:
3: Multi level bicycle parking near Amsterdam central train station. The Dutch are sure big on bicycles and they are deadly I tell ya! I almost got bowled over by one yesterday and I got abused by the dear lady cyclist in dutch much to the amusement of those nearby. :rofl:
4: Seven canal bridges in a row.
5&6: A couple of random pretty houses I saw.
7: Another view of Scheveningen beach, The Hague.

[GrahamL]

Geoff there must be some very historical astronomy related sites around.
So where you planning to visit?

[MrB]

Haha! No it's totally legit ;)

The $50 saving I mentioned isn't quite correct, It's what I would have saved(I did save $25 - for two people) if I had known the following.
Kinda long post, I might make this sound overly complicated, but it's really not:

Where do you get an entry ticket?
Well, in the map below I've put two red dots, the lower one where the entry is to the Coloseum. When I was there(about 1pm), there were hundreds of used tickets just thrown away on the ground outside(there's a kind of a cobbled road/open area).
What most people don't know(myself included, I stood in line for 90mins and paid) is that these tickets are valid for 48 hours!! D'Oh!
Sooo, just pick a few up and check the date+time of purchase and work out if it's still valid! I've scanned my ticket so you know what they look like.

The line for the Coloseum is loooong... even in the off-season!.
It might not look long from the outside, but the outside line is just the security check(metal detector/baggage x-ray, like at airports - empty you're pockets), once you get through that, you'll walk for a while and find the end of the real line. This line is for people that need to buy tickets, not the line for entry. You'll notice there's a clear walkway along the left side of the line, this is for tour-groups and ticket holders to walk straight up to the entry gates. :D
If the guy scanning the tickets at the entry gate say's you've already been in, just tell him you went out to have a smoke or something, and point to the valid for 2 days thing.

So, what if you can't find a valid thrown-away ticket?(or the guy won't let you in :shrug:)... well, the line for entry into the Forum (which is only 3min or so walk away from the Coloseum) is much much shorter(when I was there), you'll only stand in line for 15mins or so.
The forum is huge and the entry to the Forum isn't the easiest to find so check the pic of the map below, I've put a red dot(up and left of the Coloseum) to mark it and save you walking all the way around.
Once you have your ticket for the Forum, you don't have to go in, you can turn around and head for the Coloseum ;)
The ticket for the Forum(Foro) gets you entry into the Coloseum, and vise-versa!
Sweeet.

They aren't too picky about the 48hours thing, while standing in line at the Forum, I realised(too late :rolleyes:) the Coloseum ticket would get me in, so I used it even though it had expired by about an hour, the guy's barcode scanner buzzed and flashed red, but he still let me in after looking at the ticket and not saying a word. Nice of him.

There ya go :)
And have fun!

Note that Circus Maximus (bottom left of map) is free and about 5 min walk from the Coloseum down Via di S. Gregorio. There's really not much to see there, but it's pretty cool to sit and think of it's history.

[Starkler]

Haha! Brilliant! thanks mate :thumbsup:

[Starkler]

Something that may be of interest from the Amsterdam Historisch museum.

A large world globe standing over a metre high dating from around 1650 which shows Australia being joined with PNG. There was a matching celestial globe showing the constellations but that was in the museum entrance and without any display info :shrug:

[Starkler]

Well folks Im now back in Amsterdam after touring London, Rome, Paris and Brussels. I had a great time and collected about 3GB worth of photographs. :eyepop:

I also managed to bump into a fellow IIS'er at the Vatican museum. :lol:

[Starkler]

By the way, does anyone know what this astronomical related object is?
Found at Vatican museum.

[seeker372011]

if you are still in Amsterdam you should visit the Anne Frank -museum? is it called- I can't remember

[seeker372011]

Oh and I like Madurodam but have you been to Cockington Geen in canberra ?? :)