Going Dutch

In many of the tourist guides and brochures, you will see a lot of promotion for the "iAmsterdam" card which gives you a free pass to most of the major museums and some attractions in Amsterdam and includes a transport pass for the Metro and trams. You can purchase one that covers 24, 48 or 72 hours. The top cost at the moment is 58 euros for the three day card. You can also get a Museumkaart that is almost the same thing, allowing entry into most of the same major museums. The cost is, with fees, about 40 euro and it's good for a full year. There is no transport included.

What i find is that the short term cards find you rushing from museum to museum to attraction to fit everything in so that you can say you broke even or saved money. In up to three days, that's a lot of overload. You don't end up doing anything else aside from going in and out of museums, churches etc. The iAmsterdam card also gives you discounts on other things like canal cruises and some restaurants so that's also good but there are plenty of cheaper, less known places to eat or shop that will be cheaper anyway.

In my opinion, i think the museum card is the better deal because it's good for a year. There's no rush to see everything and the real advantage is that it's good at museums and sites all over The Netherlands so if you're doing day trips or traveling around, it'll save you a lot of money.

Of course, it depends on where you're going and for how long and what kinds of things you like to do and see. For me, getting the museum card and buying strippenkaart transport tickets, which are also good in many other Dutch cities, (or the new chip card) would be the way to go. If i was only going to be in Amsterdam and only for a few days, i'd assess what i *realistically* thought i'd be able to see and add up the costs of the entry fees. Chances are I wouldn't see enough to make the cost worth it, even if it does give me access to the "fast lane" and avoid the queues in the ticket lines. If you go early enough to the really popular places, you can usually avoid the worst of the lines. Another way to avoid those lines is buy the tickets online, quite often at a bit of a discount.

For this, our first trip to Amsterdam, Because the Rembrandthuis was closed, we didn't get the card and we never did get to some of the other attractions on our list. We only ended up going to the Rijkesmuseum that needed paying an entrance fee and also to the open air museum in Arnhem. The museum card would have cost twice what those entrance fees did. You have to make your list, check the cost of individual entry fees, and make your decision. It's sometimes a crap shoot if you don't get to all the places you plan to.

The cheapest way, of course, is to walk. You can buy a Strippenkaart for about 5 euros with 8 strips on it, probably good for most of a day if you take the tram in the centre. Each trip in the centre, one zone, will use up two strips and is good for about an hour or so, so you can take another tram or metro within that hour on the same ticket.

Another cheap way is to use the Stop/Go bus. This mini-bus seats about 15 people and takes a route starting by the Public Library next to Nemo on the waterfront near Centraal Station and, with a stop at the station, then follows the Prinsengracht canal all the way around to Waterlooplein. You can hail the bus or ask the driver to stop anywhere along the route. Tickets from the driver cost 1 euro (cheaper than a ticket on the tram) and are good for an hour. You can get to most of the popular attractions from this route, within a short walk. You can also use the Strippenkaart and the driver will stamp one zone (two strips) for you. They run every day between 9 and 5:30 about every 12 minutes.

The plan is to spend three nights in Amsterdam though not three whole days. We arrive later on a Sunday afternoon and leave mid afternoon on Wednesday. On Tuesday we are heading to Arnhem for a day trip involving an Open Air folk museum so that leaves Sunday night, Monday and Wednesday morning to see a little bit of Amsterdam. We did have a list of possible museums and attractions to see, with one or two in particular being a "must see" but the rest were open for negotiation as time and energy allowed.

We flew from Manchester UK to Amsterdam via Heathrow's Terminal 5 which is absolutely enormous. It is probably no larger than the other terminals but it feels bigger because it's more open with huge windows all around. Ate in the Weatherspoon's pub in T5, not impressed. I had a tuna melt which was barely melted and the tuna wasn't even warm at all. We arrived in Amsterdam under sunny skies. The airport is not too difficult to navigate but the baggage area seemed like a madhouse. It seems too small for the numbers of stations and people that are using it and there's a great bottleneck at the exit. Once you're out into Schipol, it's wide open spaces. We found the ticket machines and tried to get train tickets into the city centre but it didn't like my credit card. Off to the desks. The clerk there didn't seem to be too swift, telling me that the card was probably expired (no it isn't) or that the card might not be set up to be used in Europe (never had a problem in the past). We used cash at the desk and found our way to the correct platform. I thought about it afterwards. My bank sent me a new card last fall with the chip embedded. New PIN number. I think I put in the old PIN!

Anyway, it is only 15 or 20 minutes into the huge Centraal Station. From there, we just followed the crowds out the door and i had my notes and maps with me. Our hotel, the Tulip Inn Amsterdam Centre, is only a few blocks away and very walkable. We only had carry on luggage so we weren't too encumbered. We found the hotel without any problem and checked in to our mini-room. Smallest. Room. Ever (see hotel review for photos!) Still, it was nice looking and the bed was comfy even if the toilet was wedged into a narrow corner and the walls of the bathroom were glass (frosted in discreet strips in the middle).

We had the evening and decided to take a canal boat cruise to introduce ourselves to the city. We hurried back to the Station. In front of the station in the canal is where most of the tour boat offices are. The major one, Holland International, was the one we went for but they're all pretty similar in price and routes. We got there about 8 minutes before the departure so we didn't get seats as good as we'd have liked. The boats contain tabled booths down both sides, which they also use for dinner cruises, i should think. Each booth/table sits four or 6 very small people. The roof is glass and the side windows open. We didn't get window seats but our booth-mates did open the window so many photos taken on that side of the boat are reflection free.

The cruise lasted an hour, with narrative and was really nice under sunny skies. You can see the elegant canal houses that line the water, but there are also modern buildings too, some built to match or similar in style. You go under the stone bridges and down a few quieter canals but mainly you are in the large canals that circle the old city. It was a nice way to see the city from a different perspective.

Once we had disembarked, it was time to start looking around for somewhere to eat. Between the street our hotel was on, and the "main drag" Damrak that leads from the station to Dam Square, are a few smaller streets, some pedestrian only. We thought there would be places in there. Damrak itself does have eateries but they were fast food, or quite tacky. We found that the general feeling of Damrak as it was, with tatty souvenir shops, arcades, theme pubs and restaurants. We also noticed a *lot* of rubbish and litter all over the place, on ground and in the water of the canals!!! It was very off putting. By the end of the evening there were street cleaners out and we didn't notice it as much the rest of the time we were there but it didn't make a very good first impression. I suppose Amsterdam is a weekend destination for parties, stag and stagette parties and it's too bad that people don't respect the city enough not to find appropriate places to put their trash. Maybe the city is partly to blame for not supplying public garbage cans, I don't know.

We did finally find a dark little bar/restaurant just a block up from the station and in off Damrak on a side street. It had a menu that had some things that appealed to both of us so we ate there and enjoyed it. The price wasn't too expensive though not cheap either but the food was good.

After we ate, it was still light out so we walked up Damrak to see Dam Square where the Palace and National Monument are. There are some other large buildings there and the Nieuw Kerk (New Church) which isn't that new but is newer than the Old Church which is down in the Red Light District. It was closed of course, at this time of night as was the Palace. One of the buildings has Madame Tussaud's in it and there's a "Grand Hotel" along the back of the square which is large and open otherwise. It was chock full the next night as the Netherlands commemorate those that died in wars. The Royal Family attend and lay wreaths on the memorial and there's a service. We didn't brave the crowds for that and watched on tv instead.

Getting tired now, we walked behind Dam square and passed a huge shopping "mall" which is just behind. Also closed this time of night. We wandered back to our hotel, not that far away, stopping to get some snacks for the hotel room and spend the rest of the evening trying to decipher some of the Dutch television shows!

Didn't sleep all that well though the bed was comfy. I think i had too much caffeine late in the day yesterday. We had an early start. Breakfast isn't included in the hotel rate so we went into a pub type place a few doors down and had a hot breakfast. I had eggs over cheese and ham on toast and it was nice. The weather is good, sunny with clouds and it's mild though sometimes the breeze is cool. The streets look a bit cleaner but there's still litter in corners and bus shelters. First order of business was to get our train tickets to Arnhem for tomorrow and to get either a transport pass or "Strippenkaart" tickets.

The Netherlands transport has a special kind of train pass that costs about 40 euros and covers two people all day (after 9:00) and you travel in first class. That's a pretty sweet deal but we discovered, when we bought the tickets, that those tickets must be paid for in cash! We also got our one way tickets for Brussels for Wednesday. The clerk worked it out that it was cheaper to get another one of those first class for two people tickets and then two second class singles from the Belgian border. That meant another cash payment so we paid cash for the whole whack. Good thing i had it but now we need an ATM!

Outside the station, there's a white building just across the tram tracks and this is where you would go for tourist info. You can get your transport passes/strip tickets and also the museum card passes or the iamsterdam passes. But the queues were long and crowded and in the end, we just paid the driver for tickets to go to Waterlooplein where there's an outdoor flea market. We spent a pleasant hour or so browsing the stalls. You can get lots of different things here, from clothes to souvenirs to household items. This is an area that was historically the Jewish quarter and the market was set up for the Jewish merchants originally. You could spend all day in this neighbourhood. The Jewish historic museum is only across a canal, Rembrandthuis is around the corner and not too far away are the Hermitage Amsterdam, the Dutch Resistance museum and Artis, a park with a zoo. In fact, we did try to do to the Rembrandthuis which is one of the residences the artist lived in for awhile. It has some of his work, sketches and things. He's one of Graham's favourite artists and we'd hoped to check it out but unfortunately it was closed, getting ready for a new exhibit. Bummer!

We went into a cafe across the street for a break and decided what to do next. Well we had to find a bank machine and we had to get tram tickets. These were obtained in a supermarket at the end of the street by the canal. No, actually, that's the Amstel River. We got a good view of the "Skinny" bridge from the other side as well. This is a little bridge that was supposedly built so that two sisters could visit each other across a canal. It's been enlarged and widened but is still a small bridge.

We walked along one of the quieter canals for a bit. Or so we thought. I didn't realize, judging from pictures, that either side of the canals are actually streets where cars go down though you do see cars in photos of canal side views. The street is only wide enough for one car and are one way i think. Plus of course, the endless stream of bicycles are always there are they're even more hazardous because you don't hear them coming. They don't ring their bell until they're almost on top of you. Having cars and bikes kind of takes away from the tranquility of the canals, I think.

We found ourselves in Rembrandtplein (or Rembrandt Square) which is ringed with restaurants, bars and cafes. Perfect time to stop for another brew. I think the place would be hopping at night and it was fairly busy in mid day as well. We chose a cafe and rather than sit right outside, we sat in a front section that was still open to the outside. One side of the table was a long padded bench seat where i sat and discovered a curled up black and white cat sharing the other end! I don't know if he belonged to the restaurant or had wandered in for a rest! Coffee/tea and cake later, we were ready to go again. En route to the Singel canal where the floating flower market is, i stopped in to an electronics store since I'd blown up my battery charger the night before in the hotel. There's a tall tower near the market too, which used to be part of the city defences, i believe. There's now a tourist info office in it.

The Floating Flower market is touted as a glorious explosion of colour and scent, a "floral paradise" of many many varieties of flowers and tulips (in season) which are my favourite flower. That's why i went to Amsterdam in May, hoping to see them. We did see them, but all the tulips we saw in the market were wooden or silk. Apparently we had missed the prime season by a couple of weeks. Rats! There were tulip bulbs to be purchased in quantities, and that was something i did expect to see in addition to fresh blooming flowers, and other fresh flowers too but quite a few of stalls along the canal seemed to carry souvenirs rather than flowers....so in my opinion, it's a bit of a tourist trap really, and a bit of a disappointment. Maybe we were just there at the wrong time because a coworker thought there were far more flowers than what i remember seeing. Still, i know if we'd got there at the right time, we would have seen more tulips in the flower shops that are among the houseboat/stalls and we did see some lovely roses and some nice flowers. It seemed to me that at least half or more sold souvenirs and crafts, more than i expected. I expected most of the stalls to be flower shop type stalls selling either flowers or seeds and bulbs and gardening items. It wasn't like that, not when we were there at least. I certainly wouldn't say that i was overwhelmed by flowers but i was overwhelmed by souvenir kiosks. I do realize that tulips aren't going to be prominent in the market most of the year, they have their prime season like any other flower and we missed that but i did think there would be more flowers and displays than there were. They were there, don't get me wrong, just not in the quantities i thought, judging from all the descriptions in various guidebooks and websites. Maybe i just wasn't paying attention? I don't know.

Enough of that, we sat on a park bench for a few minutes to rest our feet and then continued on.

I really wanted to find a courtyard called the Begijnhof. In the 12th century, this began as a religious retreat for women. It wasn't quite as strict as a convent, the women were not nuns though did have to vow chastity and obedience to the parish priest. They could leave at any time to get married and did not have to take a vow of poverty. They did good works, teach, tend the sick. They were referred to, some time later as Beguines. This "settlement" was originally surrounded by canals and marshland but over the years it was filled in. There is a church and a small chapel. The women would be buried in the church but when the official church in the Netherlands converted to Protestant, one woman refused to be buried in the "new" church. Though she was initially buried in the church, she was moved to a grave at the edge of the church grounds and you can still see her grave commemorated in the square. The last Beguine that lived here died in 1971 and since then, the houses have been given over to senior citizens.

So what is there to see here? Not a whole lot but it's very pretty, quiet, and one of the two oldest houses made of wood in Amsterdam still stands here. The church is pretty and you can also visit the chapel. The houses are the tall thin canal type houses with gabled roofs and pretty windows and decoration.

It's not all that easy to find. Take the tram to the Spui stop and go into the square. At one end, there is a sign to the Begijnof but keep to the left as there's a street veering off to the right at the same corner of the square. There's a little alleyway into the courtyard with information on the wall as you pass in. When we were there, there was also a walking tour group which clogged up the narrow little entrance when we were trying to leave. Tourists!!!!!

See the website for a lot of interesting information and history. There is a little shop outside the courtyard on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal near the tram stop. They sell religious books and cards and postcards. The square near here, Spui, was nice too, with some street performers and shady places to sit. There's a very trendy looking shopping street just off the square as well lined with designer shops.

We need food so it was time to find a place for a late lunch. We saw a few small places in a small street that was off that trendy one and picked one of them, (see de Rozenboom review). The food was lovely and the staff was friendly. Graham had a burger and i had a ham and cheese "toastie" which was yummy! The Dutch do cheese so well! We shared a sweet pancake for dessert. The stairs to the toilet were a menace, however. Narrow, spiral and fairly steep. I nearly fell over the top step and you just want to hold on and go slowly coming back down again.

It was quite late in the afternoon so there isn't a lot of time to get to and see a museum now as most of them close at 5 or 6 and it was about 4 by the time we left. I had heard the view from the top of the new public library was good so we thought we'd try that. We got the tram back to the station and started to walk towards the area where the Nemo science museum is, which is where the library is as well. It didn't look that far on the map and probably wasn't, but with sore feet, it felt like a mile. We went to the top floor (6th) and yes, the view was good though it had clouded over by this time. Too bad it wasn't a higher building but you can't have everything. We went back to the ground and there we saw a tourist hop on hop off mini-van that runs around the outside circuit of the city along the Prinsengracht canal to Waterlooplein. You can get to most of the attractions from wherever it stops and it stops wherever you ask the driver to stop. We got on and our tram ticket was stamped with enough time that we didn't have to pay. Except i realized i left my shopping bag up on the sixth floor where I'd laid it down to take a photo!!! Eek! Back up there and found it, it hadn't been picked up or blown up as an abandoned package or anything but we missed the bus and it was the last one of the day so we trudged back to Centraal and hopped on a tram once we found the right place.

We rested in our room for a little while. My feet were so sore and blisters threatened. I covered the sore areas with large bandaids to make sure it didn't get worse and continued to do that for a few more days. It worked, too. I still had sore feet but i didn't get blisters. The thing is, most of the things we wanted to see today didn't seem that far apart and weren't really worth using a ticket for. But the walking and then standing and looking takes a toll!

We watched the memorial service on tv and then went out to find a pancake restaurant I'd seen noted in a guide book. Now, we had no intentions of visiting the Red Light District but it seemed to have visited us anyway! We left the hotel and went round the first corner to head towards the canals and we caught sight of a couple of red-lit windows with women standing there wearing bikinis in the dim light. Took us by surprise! We noticed more red lights on some of the side streets though not nearly like it would be in the main district. I guess this must be the fringe area.

We walked a few blocks and over a few bridges to the Prinsengracht canal and found the Pancake Bakery restaurant (see review). It looks like a pretty basic place in one of the old canal houses. It's on two levels, we sat on the main level that's a few steps down from the street. The pancakes are what we call crepes and there were lots of different fillings. I had one with cheese, chicken and onion and Graham had a satay one with chicken and both were delicious but very filling. I couldn't finish mine but i shouldn't have had the onion soup for starters. It was dark when we walked back but we didn't feel threatened. The street we used to return had restaurants and closed shops. The canals were pretty at night, lined with street lamps and the outlines of some of the bridges lined with lights. Tomorrow is the Open Air museum in Arnhem!

The Arnhem Openluchtmusem (Open Air) is in the outskirts of the city of Arnhem, about an hour away by train. You then have to go to the nearby bus station and take a city bus, a number 3 that says Altveer on the front. Watch out for this because we saw several different number threes with different destinations. We asked the driver to let us know where to get off the bus and it was clearly out in the suburbs. You cross the road and go down the entrance driveway to the ticket office.

This museum is a collection of about 80 houses, farmhouses and buildings that come from various parts of the country and from different eras. You can get a feel for how people lived in Holland at different points in time over the last couple of centuries here. It's not set up like a historic village as such. Each building is kind of it's own little museum. Some are from the 20th century and some as old as the 18th. There is a tram line that goes around the huge park that is filled with trees and streams and canals. There are gardens and farms with rare breed farm animals. There are some little shops in some of the houses and there are a few cafes scattered through the park as well. Some of the houses and cottages would have belonged to poorer people and some to wealthy merchants and you can see objects and antiques in each type of house that relate to how the owners would have lived. You could spend all day here, looking through the park and in the visitor centre exhibitions as well. We didn't see it all but we did a good job of it. I had met a Dutch man through another travel website and we were meeting up with him and his wife here. It's a good job we did have them with us as many of the displays' descriptions did not have English versions and some of the people that worked in the park only seemed to speak Dutch. I think if you buy the guide book in your language of choice, it does describe each of the buildings and history and that would be useful. We did have the guide but didn't use it.

We spent from late morning until nearly the closing time walking around, poking into the buildings and businesses. We saw how they made paper from old rags, we saw a printing press, there was a dairy and a brewery and a little church. There were amazing topiary gardens and some really pretty and unique looking farm houses. There were windmills to see and animals to make friends with. Some of the merchant buildings actually have shops inside, a general store, a candy shop and a bakery. We had lunch in one of the cafes on the property. There was one farmhouse that would have belonged to a more prosperous family and it was filled with antiques and had little cupboards that opened up to reveal a bed. Odd but it used to be quite common for people to sleep in these enclosed spaces.

There is also a couple of buildings that house collections called "Collector's Paradise", collections that people have donated to the museum over the years. Collections of the oddest things in huge numbers. There is one room that showcases pipes and is only a fraction of the 20,000 strong numbers that one person obtained. There were collections of spectacles, religious icons, Pinnochio books, erotic images (including dolls, posters, etc), and one of the largest was a two level room with walls lined with piggy banks of every imaginable shape and size. There was one room full of Royal Family memorabilia. Across the courtyard was another building that looked more like a warehouse. The lobby had all sorts of household items including furniture nailed to the wall. I didn't go through the building as it looked like a lot of the stuff was just boxed and maybe a bit displayed. I sat in the lobby thinking the others had already gone in but it turned out they were outside looking for me!

By this time we were just about done in and as the rain was starting, we thought it was a good time to leave. We browsed in the gift shop for postcards and then drove into the city centre and parked up. We walked to an old courtyard around what used to be a church and is now a theatre, i think. The buildings around the cobbled square pretty much all had restaurants in them. We picked one that our friend had hear was good. It was quiet and dark and cozy, with wood furniture and the set menu was on a large board. But it was all in Dutch! Good thing we had someone to translate. There were quite a few choices for each course and we all seemed quite happy with our meals. For four people having the set menu and a couple of drinks, the total cost was only 99 euros which we all thought quite reasonable. The drawback was that the restaurant did not take credit cards!!!! Eeek! Between the four of us, we scraped together enough to pay the bill or we'd have had to do dish washing duty i think! Time to find another ATM!

The rain had stopped and we did find a bank machine on the walk back to the train station. We left our friends there and trudged up the incline to the station, found the platform and spent a quiet hour back to Amsterdam, resting. The museum was definitely worth a day trip. It's 14 euro per adult but if you have the museum card (not the iamsterdam card) then this cost is covered. It's not a bad price for a whole day's activities. We finally got back to the hotel with aching feet and legs but we were a bit rested from sitting and chatting at dinner and from the journey back. We repacked our stuff as we are checking out tomorrow and heading for Brussels but in the morning, our other Must See, the Rijksmuseum!

We checked out of the hotel this morning and left our stuff in the luggage room. Off to the Rijksmuseum but we need to find a place for breakfast first. On one of the nearby streets, it looked, from my map, as though there should be both shops and cafes so we headed in that direction. It's early enough that most of the shops aren't open yet and we didn't see too many eateries but we did see one that was open and it looked inviting. This is a trendy type shopping street, with the stores all designer type labels so the restaurant is a bit more expensive. Caffe PC is elegant but served up a very good omelette which gave us the energy to get through the morning and most of the afternoon.

Since we didn't buy a museum pass, we had to queue to get into the museum but the queues weren't too bad. You go through a security scanner first and then buy tickets. A couple of school groups arrived as we did but they went through a fast lane or one for groups at least. Most of the museum is actually closed off for renovations and they have their 400 best set up in one wing as the Old Masterpieces exhibit. It's a little taste of everything, i think. In the entrance is a large painting of a group, some weapons and armour and a large model ship. There are beautiful cabinets and exquisite inlay and some wonderful silver pieces. One room is devoted to Delftware and some of that was really lovely too. There's a huge dollhouse that's full of detail. The real attractions, however, are the paintings by the Dutch masters like Hals, Vermeer and Rembrandt. Rembrandt's portraits are stunning in their detail and realistic look and feel. One of an old woman had hands that looked like real wrinkled skin and veins and others had lace and pearl collars and decoration that looked like it would be real if you touched it. When you look at his portraits next to other painters who worked with him or used his style, you can see he really knocks the spots off everyone else! Of course the most famous, The Night Watch, is there and it's in a room of its own with cards to explain various bits and pieces of it that make it so special. It's very large and the figures in it are full of motion rather than just sitting or standing posed stiffly. It's very different from his usual types and it was a commission where all of the people in the painting paid to be in it.

Because of the abbreviated exhibit, we got through it all in about an hour and a half or so. Normally the museum would take you some hours to see everything, similar to others of it's size like the British Museum in London or the Metropolitan Museum in NY. We did some souvenir shopping in the small shop there. There's a larger shop that's shared with the nearby Van Gogh museum in the Museumplein square. We didn't go to the Van Gogh though, as neither of us is all that keen on him but maybe next time if we get back again. When we left, we crossed the street and had a hot drink in a restaurant and did some souvenir shopping in a place a few doors down. From there, we walked across another canal, near Candela which is a lovely large green space. We found ourselves in another restaurant ringed square called Eiders but decided we'd had enough. We took the tram back to the hotel, got our bags, and headed for the train station. We ascertained that the tickets, though two different sets (one dual pass and two singles) were for the same train, just different cars, found out where the platform ("spoor" is the Dutch word, in case you find yourself in a train station in the Netherlands) would be and went there to wait. The train system seems to be pretty good. Any time we've taken them, they've been spot on schedule. Some of the intercity trains are two levels. This train must be part of the Belgian train system because the first class compartment was a bit different and we liked the seats better, which were a bit roomier even than the other train yesterday. There were few stops and the 2.5 hour journey seemed to go quickly as we talked about our experiences over the past few days and looked forward to a couple of nights in Brussels with a visit to Bruges. Again, just a little taste of both.

The Rijksmuseum is one of the top museums in the world. Currently in 2009, there is a major renovation ongoing so only the top 400 masterpieces are on exhibit. You get a taste of the greats, Hals, Vermeer, Rembrandt including the famed Night Watch and his exquisitely detailed portraits. You also get a view of the art and artifacts from the Dutch golden age in the 17th century and they are a sight to behold. You don't get a reduction though the whole museum isn't open but it's much more digestible this way and you can always go back again when it's reopened to see the rest. It's the kind of museum that you can spend most of the day in when it's fully operational. Currently there is no cafe but there are plenty nearby. There's a small gift shop on site and a larger one shared with the Van Gogh museum in the large square outside.

We went earlish in the morning (in early May), arriving about 10 (it opens at 9). We didn't have a museum card for the fast lane but the queue wasn't too long. They xray your bags when you first go in and then you get your ticket. There is a lift for people with mobility problems.

We were blown away by some of the items on display including the exquisite doll's house but the real stars were the paintings and portraits by Rembrandt. When you compare them next to the portraits by the other masters, even, you can see that his skill knocks the spots off the rest! There was a wonderful display of Delftware and ceramics. The scale model of the ship in the entrance hall was awesome and i really liked the Chinese gun rack as well. Even in it's abbreviated format, it's well worth seeing.

Open from 9 to 6 every day, late opening to 10 on Fridays. You cannot take photos in the museum.

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/

I booked this hotel in Amsterdam on the recommendation of a coworker who stayed here. The location is very good, just a few blocks from Centraal Station and Dam Square, with a tram stop right outside for several lines that are very useful for many of the main attractions. The staff at the hotel were very nice when we checked in, offering us maps and brochures and later on, called one of the tour boat companies to check on departure times for us. You are given a swipe card as a key and you also need it to call the elevator from the lobby and for the toilets in the lobby as well. You need it to power up the room also, via a slot on the wall when you enter but the lights can be turned off or dimmed via switches.

We were forewarned about the bathroom. It has glass walls though a frosted section around the middle on the wall that faces the room. The door swings both ways, btw, so don't let it hit you! The shower was roomy enough but the toilet is wedged into a corner and there isn't much hip room even for narrow bodies.

The room itself is very small, probably the smallest i've ever been in. The double bed foots right up against the back wall which is carpted and has a flat panel tv mounted on it. the wall of the bathroom is about a foot from one side and the outer wall with window is about a foot from the other side. Behind the bed is a desk with two chairs and there's a closet/wardrobe at the entrance of the room where you can stash your suitcase and hang a few things. There's a safe in the closet as well and they have a kettle or coffee maker in the room with supplies. We only had hand luggage so it wasn't too bad but it would be a bit cramped if you had full size cases. Having said that, the room was nicely decorated and the bed was comfortable and we weren't in the room much anyway. I wouldn't let it put you off too much but make sure you're very good friends with your roommate because of the glass walls to the loo!

We booked through a travel agent and got the room for 109 euros on the Sunday night and 119 on the Monday and Tuesday so that was pretty reasonable for the center of Amsterdam. Breakfast was not included so we ate elsewhere in the mornings.

One more caveat. We turned right out of the hotel one evening and then took the first left to walk to the canals to a restaurant and were surprised to see a few women in windows with red lights!!! We were not aware that we were *in* the Red Light District and actually, we weren't in the main one but there were some areas behind the hotel that did have some window "dressing" on display though not as concentrated as the main area which was in the older section on the other side of Damrak, a bit away from our hotel street.

Right across the street is a bicycle rental shop Yellow Bikes" if you want to have a go. There seemed to be a lot of restaurants in the area and walking back towards the canals, the restaurants were a bit nicer and more upscale. There were cafes where you could have breakfast if you wanted or if it wasn't included in the room rate.

To find the hotel from Centraal station, cross over the bridge in front of the station and stay just to the right past the bike parking garage. Walk up Voorburgwal a couple of blocks, staying on the left when it forks. You'll see the red canopies of the hotel on the right. Tram 3 or 5 goes there from the station as well and the stop is right outside. Make sure you ring to stop the tram. We zipped right past one night and had to get off near Dam square which isn't that far to walk back.

http://www.tulipinnamsterdamcentre.com/

Our first night in Amsterdam, we took a canal cruise and then decided it was time to eat. We walked down Damrak, the "main drag" of Amsterdam where we had been unimpressed by the eatieries on offer. We ventured into the smaller streets just off there, looking at menus. Many were *those* kinds of coffee shops or they places were blatantly tourist traps (Scottish pub in Amsterdam?) . We finally came across a small place that seemed to have a menu that appealed to us so we went in.

Rosmarijn is not that large, with dark wood and tables. The bar stretches down one side, tables down the other and in the back. There was an English version of the menu on offer, always a good thing when you don't speak the language. Prices weren't too bad, considering the central location and the food was quite good. I had a schnitzel and Graham had a mixed grill and both were filling, hot and tasty. If you are in the Damrak area and want a place that's quiet, (at least it was on a Sunday evening) this is a good spot. It's one block from Centraal Station up Damrak and just off to the right. I do believe the toilets are up a flight of stairs but otherwise, mobility shouldn't be a problem to get in and out of the restaurant.

http://www.rosmarijn.nl/

Amsterdam is full of quaint restaurants, tucked away in corners and up short narrow streets and this is one of them. We were visiting the Begijnhof area near the Spui tram stop and decided it was time for lunch. We walked around a bit looking at menus and trying to decide when we spotted some signs up a narrow street which was off a very busy and crowded shopping street lined with trendy designer stores (Kalverstraat, I think) in the area. A peek at the menu satisfied us and once inside, we were hooked.

De Rozenboom has a big, bright window in front and has three levels of seating area. We were ushered in to the lower level with it's dark wood walls covered in blue and white tiles. The wood tables and chairs matched the decor and the staff was quite friendly. They had an English menu which was handy and the contents were fairly varied. There were Dutch specialties, some Amercian style items and lots of general tasty goodness. They have a la carte and a tourist set menu and also a children's menu as well and there is a board on the wall with specials and additional items that may not be on the menu card.

Graham had a burger and fries from the "snack" menu and i had a delicious ham and cheese "toastie" that was listed on the board and we shared a Dutch pancake with chocolate for dessert.

The prices are reasonable, too. The restaurant is open from noon to 9:30 in the evening. I wouldn't recommend this if you have mobility issues, though, because there are narrow stairs to each level and the stairs to the toilets are spiral and a bit hazardous. I would recommend the restaurant otherwise. the food was wonderful and the staff was friendly. See the map on the website for location. http://www.derozenboom.com/

Dutch pancakes are more like we in North America call crepes. You can get them with many types of fillings or as a dessert with syrup or chocolate, which is how many of the Dutch have them. We were with a Dutch couple one day and they seemed to scoff at anything in a pancake that wasn't sweet. But I digress.

The Pancake Bakery has been featured in guidebooks, which is where i'd heard about it and it wasn't too far from our hotel so that was our choice for our last evening in Amsterdam. It's on the well known canal, Prinsengracht, a very short walk from the Anne Frank house and is in a 17th century canal house on two levels. It's an unassuming restaurant, not flash and fancy like you might think a touristy type restaurant would be. You go down a few steps into a narrow, deep room and there is also an upper level. One wall is brick with framed old photos and prints lining the walls, the other is plaster with a specials board and more prints. The wait staff are quick and efficient and the menu has dozens and dozens of varieties of pancakes, sweet and savoury.

They have traditional type pancakes with fruits, or ham, and always cheese if you want it, and they have international versions with things like chili, curry, and satay. If you want more ingredients that listed on a particular type, you will pay a fee for each so it can add up.

They also do omelettes if you prefer and they have a children's menu for smaller sizes.

We each had a pancake and the one i had, if i remember, had chicken and cheese and it was the size of a pizza. Too much for me to finish but it was quite tasty. Mind you i made the mistake of having onion soup as a starter and that's filling on it's own. Graham had an Indonesian satay one and was quite satisfied with his as well. We shared a dessert called poffertjes which we thought were like profiteroles but are actually mini pancake type rounds with sweet stuff on them. This one had cherries soaked in kirsh with cream ("slagroom") on it which i liked but Graham didn't as he found the liqueur too strong.

Tram 13, take the Westermarkt stop. Open from noon until 9:30 p.m. they accept major credit cards. Prices vary from 5 ro 13 euro per pancake, more if you add extra toppings. The traditional ones average about 8 euros and the specialty and international ones are 10 to 12 euro so it can be expensive especially if you're adding extra toppings. Children portions are a bit cheaper.

The Openluchtmuseum (Open Air Museum) is just outside the historic city of Arnhem, just an hour away from Amsterdam by train. It's a large wooded park with streams and ponds and gardens and about 80 or so buildings, many of them farmhouses and they have been brought here from all over the country from various eras of history. The museum represents the way of life of the Dutch people over the past couple hundred years, from farming to merchants to industry. There are people that will show you how to make paper out of rags, how cheese was made in a dairy using steam powered machinery, you can shop in an old fashioned general store or buy freshly baked goods from a bakery. There are thousands of objects, furniture, prints and there are rare farm animals that are kept here as well.

There's an old tram system that is set up to take you around the park to save your feet a little. The buildings are in clusters in various parts of the park and though you can walk from one area to another, it's probably better to take the free tram ride.

There are also two buildings that house massive collections of all kinds of things that have been donated by Dutch people. Some of the collections displayed include spectacles, pipes, religious statues, Royal Family memorabilia, an airline "sick bag" display and a room with two levels of walls encasing piggy banks of all shapes and sizes! The second building has a lot of the collections stored but the entrance has a wall with all kinds of household items and furniture nailed up the wall!

There are a couple of cafes around the grounds including one in the main visitor centre. there are also displays in the visitor centre and films to see. They have activities for families and kids through the season and special events at holidays like Christmas.

The museum costs 14 euro per adult, discounts for children and seniors. You can buy the tickets online and if you have the national Museumkaart, it's free. It also costs a little extra to park there. You can get combination tickets to the Burger's Zoo as well.

Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. spring through Fall, In winter, most of the buildings are closed for entry but you can stroll through the park and see the outside of them at least. There is a reduced price for that.

After a long day tramping around the Openluchtmuseum (Open Air) outside Arnhem, we drove back into the city centre to have dinner before going our separate ways. The city centre market square in Arnhem has lots of restaurants and cafes but Pieter had heard of one in particular so that's the one we went for. It's called Bij Oma eetcafe, side by side with one called the Cavern. Bij Oma is on the left.

There are a couple of steps up into the restaurant and inside, the decor is quaint with dark wood tables and chairs, and lots of framed prints on the walls, most of them reminscent of the early 1900s graphic art. Lots of little ornaments as well and the bar in back had flowers and nice hanging lamps.

There was a large set menu on a blackboard on one wall which had quite a few choices. Usually these types of menus have only 2 or 3 choices per course but this one had about 6 or 8. Price was reasonable so we all opted for that, our Dutch friends translating the menu for us. Dinner was leisurely and the restaurant was warm and cozy. The staff was nice and they didnt' rush us.
Graham had the steak with red wine sauce and pronounced it really good. Several of us had the homemade tomato soup for starters which really went down hot and cozy after a day out in the open air. I think i had Satay but i can't remember now. I do know it was very good. The Creme Brulee for dessert was yummy as well. Everyone was happy with their choices and the price could not be beat, 19.95 euro for three courses with drinks extra, of course. For the four of us, it cost 99 euro.

The only caveat? We discovered the restaurant did not take credit cards so we had to scrape together the cash between us to pay for it.

We were heading to the Rijkesmuseum and got away early so decided to find a place for breakfast in the area. I had the impression the Hooftstraat was a street with a lot of restaurants and shops so we headed up there. Turns out there were far more shops, most of them designer and trendy, and hardly any restaurants but we did find this one, Caffe PC and it was open for breakfast (about 9 a.m.) so in we went.

The restaurant is modern and chic, with white tables, some brown comfy chairs and some curvy metal chairs. There's also a few tables with a banquette/bench type seating. There's glass and chrome and modern art on the walls. They have an English menu as well as a Dutch one. The prices are a bit high, probably in line with the trendy district. The service was quite good and the food was excellent, keeping in mind this was breakfast/brunch.

We both had omelettes with cheese and mushroom and the omelettes had to have been made with 3 or 4 eggs at least. They were quite large and filling and cooked just right. Hot coffee and tea and we were set for the whole morning and a good piece of the afternoon.

It would be easy access for people with mobility issues but the toilets are down a flight of stairs.