De Waag, originally built as a city gate in the 1400s. It was later used as an execution site and holding cell for criminals. Now it's - what else - a restaurant.
People probably thought we were odd, taking a picture of a kebab shop. But hey.
Amsterdam is full of crooked houses, apparently so that stuff could be dragged up from the canals on ropes without knocking into walls. But this house was crooked in a different way - the left side almost looks folded.
Canal house boats. Cool.
Our hotel room opened into a little courtyard. Then you could take the stairs up to a big wall that overlooked the junction of canals by the hotel - this is one of the views.
Me being a stupid tourist, getting ready to buy some clog slippers.
A good idea of what the red light district is like - bright, garish and unapologetic, but surrounded by cute typical Amsterdam ideas, like red shutters over attic windows.
Another canal shot. Amsterdam is a really colourful city, especially compared to Edinburgh which is basically a city comprised of different shades of grey.
Amsterdam was full of tempting bakeries, something we took full advantage of. This was the most impressive one we saw.
The concert hall, just across the road from the Museumplein. I was particularly taken by the gold harp on the roof.
Toby outside the Van Gogh museum, embarrassed because I made him stand in front of the murals like some kind of tourist.
A giant chess set that's actually being used.
2 comments:
From Beth: Thanks for the photos - it's always great to see other places. And I reckon if you are a tourist, you might as well act like one and enjoy the role! Glad to hear about the colour in Amsterdam - multiple shades of grey in Edinburgh sounds a little limited!
Hi Dorothy and Toby
Thanks for Amsterdam blog. Can i assume from your reference to 'the dam' in Amsterdam that Amsterdam actually has a 'dam' and that this has something to do with its name? Is there a famous hamster there too? (Sorry, bad Dad joke).
I like reading about the rain that follows you about wherever you go. We don't have any in Canberra any more. Maybe you could send us a recording from Edinburgh or from your next visit to another famous, wet European city. I also liked reading about Anne Frank but i'm shocked that you could suggest the sacking of academics from the Van Gogh museum. What's happened to you Miss D? I'm sure Vincent would be very pleased to hear that his every drop of ink is now the subject of learned disputation. I suspect there are more theses being written today about sex than about art - did you bump into any anthropologists at the live show? I heard one the other day on ABC radio talking about the domestication of raunch culture (thankfully 'raunch culture' was explained for the benefit of this old, doddery male who stopped watching Rage in the pre-raunch era). Those Americans might have been researching something lively and interesting... I won't speculate because it is a family blog.
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