Alluring Amsterdam : Part 2

After a colorful day at the Tulip Gardens, we reached the hotel and had a relaxed dinner. Our hotel was one of those many Airport hotels of Schiphol. It had some of the best amenities like luxurious rooms, a great sports bar , a greater fitness center and a spectacular spa. Spending an entire day at the hotel itself would probably make it a relaxed trip, provided that we cancelled all our other plans :)

However, after the quiet dinner, we looked up the internet to see how the weather favored us for the next day. "8 deg.Celsius and  70% chance of rain!" This immediately ruled out our plan to go to the beach at Den Hague (The Hague). While the thought of spending the day at the hotel hovered on my mind, I dint heed to it!
It then occurred to me that a city tour on a hop-on, hop-off would be a great idea. This way we could maneuver the rainy day and still manage to see a few of the attractions. So, a city tour it was!!

Day 2: Amsterdam City tour.


View Larger Map

The day started with a royal breakfast at the hotel. After such a start, we could be nothing else but energized! The shuttle dropped us at Schiphol Airport and from there we took a train to the Centraal Station (20 mins train journey). Next to me were a few teenage girls who were gossiped about their love life. They discussed how lucky or unlucky each one was ;and also went green with envy about another girl, who according to them was really blessed!! And why? Because, she had managed to marry a rich man! Their candid discussion surely kept me awake, in spite of a heavy breakfast! Thank you girls!

"Tours and Tickets" is a famous agency which organizes city tours, canal cruises and other tours around Amsterdam city. We went to one of their counters in the Damrak region (5 mins walk from Centraal) and exchanged our Holland pass coupons for a city tour!

This turned out to be a great plan since it took us around the city with guided assistance at some of the key attractions. The first and in every girl's opinion, the best attraction, was the famous Gassan Diaomond Factory.

Located in the Wasserplein region of the city, Gassan diamond factory is one of the many must visit places of Amsterdam! As a part of the guided tour, we had a brilliant opportunity to learn details of the Diamond cutting process and specifically about Gassan diamonds !

Gassan 121 Diamond

A lady executive took us through the process of transforming a raw diamond into a 121 facet diamond - a patented commodity from Gassan! Diamonds are girls' best friend .. and a man's axing enemy?? Just kidding :) After seeing these , I submitted a lengthy application to my husband (for some diamond jewelry)!

Stages of Diamond cutting

Famous diamonds from across the world

We could hop-off at this place and then take the next hop-on bus from the same point. Hence, we planned to visit Resistance museum!

The Resistance museum is a quiet exhibition about the disturbing facts of the World War! Apparently, a photographer who had taken a license to click the photos of those times, clicked most of the pictures which form the majority of the exhibits. The life and problems of the Dutch who witnessed and endured the events of World war; their works from their hide outs; their mechanized cycles; pictures of the crowded wagons which transported the Dutch; ration cards issued to the citizens by the government with the on-set of food scarcity and heavy pricing of commodities; some touching stories through descriptive letters and the like are all preserved here. By the time I walked out of this museum, I felt as if I had gone back to those days and that I had lived with them! It is indeed another must visit place! For information sake, this museum isn't much talked about and even the locals seem to  be less aware of it!  A guide book and the well marked direction planks at every street should really come in handy!

We walked back to the Gassan Diamond stop, hopped on the bus and to continue our guided tour. The next few stops were at the Heineken Brewery, the Vondel Park and the Dam square. We registered these places on our mind , marked them on the map and planned them as our next few destinations.  On our way, we saw a few "Coffee shops". These are what I call - the grass and weed bars :) With no inclination to hop-off here, we continued till Damrak - our last point on the guided tour.

After a quick lunch at a "Veg only" doner bar (Maoz veg is the name if I remember it rightly), we grabbed a double scoop gelato at a nearby parlor. With the melting gelato in one hand and the Wax museum hand-out in the other, we wasted no time and walked towards the museum.

The Madame Tussauds is so famous that it needs little or no explanation at all. So, here are a few pictures of life-like statues and about our pleasant experience meeting a few of the celebrities - all under one roof!
For those who have seen the wax museum in London, I am told this is a bit of a disappointment - for a reason that you don't get to see a many Indian celebrities here. The only Indian personality among the exhibits is Gandhi-ji. Most other statues are of the Dutch personalities and of celebrities from Hollywood.

It was time now for us to relax a bit, for we had had a tightly packed day until now. What better way to relax than to enjoy a Canal cruise! Again, by exchanging another coupon from the Holland pass, we took an hour long Canal Cruise.

We passed through some of the famous bridges like the Skinny bridge (of the "Diamonds are forever" movie fame) and passed through almost all the canals - the Amstel canal, Herren gracht, Kaiser gracht and the Prinzen gracht. Along the Amstel river are some of the most  beautiful and expensive house boats. These are apparently stationary and have now become Amsterdam's prized possessions!

It was dusk and a light drizzle seasoned the glamour of Amsterdam. The city looked perfectly romantic and all set to treat the people with its enchantment!

Continued..

Bonn-Voyage : Part 2

6th March , 2011, Sunday
A royal continental breakfast, a sunny weather, high spirits to travel - Isn't that enough to call it a perfect morning?? We quickly got ready, packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. Day 2 of our Bonn-Voyage :)

Poppelsdorf Schloss

1.Poppelsdorf Schloss: With sober looks from the exteriors stood this classy palace amidst the vast botanical garden. The bright sunshine, the sparkling water in the pond nearby, the sounds of the ducks, the children playing in the park, the cool breeze made me forget the world! I felt liberated :)
Summer is the time to visit this castle.Then, we could see much more vibrance and color in the botanical garden. We took a stroll in the garden, talked to a few people there about when the best time would be to visit this place again, and also learnt that this garden was now part of the Bonn University. Though we couldnt explore much inside, it was indeed a treat for us!!
(Poppelsdorf Schloss, Bonn)

2.Frauenmuseum: This is the world's first women's museum!! It consists of exhibits ofwomen's contribution to art, culture, science, their discoveries and is unique in Germany. Unfortunately, we couldnt go inside this museum since it was a Sunday and another reason being it was a carnival weekend. Nevermind, we did learn much about this museum- dedicated to the women, open to all :)
(FrauenMuseum, Bonn)

3. LVR-Landesmuseum:



This museum has, in its display, the evolution of man and culture. From the man of Neanderthal era, to the present day, the evolution is shown with a lot of detailing about the occupation, livelihood and the like. Realistic exhibits of early man and the set up took us by surprise and made us feel as if we lived with them :)

(LVR-Landesmuseum, Bonn)


It was noon now and time for our lunch. Being vegetarian calls for an extensive search of hotels that serve purely vegetarian food :)"Vegetarian : No chicken no fish" - that is one definite thing we need to mention while ordering food :)
After some search, we found a small restaurant in the market place which served Pizza, Pasta and some tapas. This place was another experience of its kind!! A open restaurant in the center of the market- only shelter - umbrellas above our head. Romantic it was to sit there in the crowd and still feel confined to your table. The sun shone brightly above us as we had our lunch.  A nice meal, an amazing company of my hubby, beautiful weather- just apt to call it a perfect date !! :) Who says we cant be dating after marriage? I did !! With my hubby, ofcourse :)

We sat there as we planned our much awaited destination next: Drachensberg Castle!

4.Drachensberg Castle, Konigswinter:  Our navigation system led us to Drachensberg castle. We had to drive uphill now to reach the castle. But as the navigator suggested, we discovered that we couldnt drive till the castle and it was a restricted area. Never mind we thought and parked the car at the base of the hillock and began walking. Every step we took revealed newer, brighter and better view of the place. Lush green pastures , tall brown ,bald trees of the winter, fresh air, endless road and a castle on the top of the hill which stood there alone elegantly- oh what a scene that was!!

A steep flight of stairs led us to the reception area of the castle. Here was the guest house. Adjacent to this was the Castle. It looked like the castle they show in Disney land :) Surrounding the castle are walls that give it a fort-like look. The view of the farther side of the city across the Rhine river was spectacular. To add to our joy, we spotted a para-glider too! It was nothing but fabulous to stand on top there and experience the beauty of nature.
(Drachensberg Schloss, Bonn)

This was our last destination as we had planned. From here, the journey back home was still memorable. Our drive was through the outskirts of the city, through the less urban areas where house looked old-style but elegant with the sun shining dull on their roof tops.

As I now recollect, everything seems so picture perfect. Eagerly awaiting the next vacation. Hope it gets better each time!!

Cheers!