Thursday 7 August 2014

Sometimes sunny Amsterdam

Today was my fourth day in Amsterdam, but only day two for mum, who had devised a schedule to follow with one of our friends.

I've substantially bulked up my Amsterdam Flickr set:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645850119538/

First up was a tram ride from the apartment to a chocolaterie/bakerie in the inner west. There we had some seriously evil-looking chocolate cakes before walking into the city proper, and the Dam Palace, which has had many purposes after starting life as Amsterdam's City Hall. Inside were many beautifully preserved hallways and rooms:

Dam Palace

We wandered around for a couple of hours before I was abandoned in Dam Square, directly outside the palace - my mum and our friend left to take the tram home. Time for me to do some wandering!

I went almost all the way up to the Amstel, before heading back down almost in a straight line, steering clear of De Wallen (the red light district). By this stage the sun was starting to come out and the white clouds were starting to dissipate - damn good photography conditions, compared to what it's been like!


Amsterdam's canals in the sunlight

I eventually made it back to the apartment, having walked just over 12 kilometres, at around 6. After having some salmon for dinner, we decided that we would head back out to Vondelpark after dinner, get dropped there and walk back home from there. Vondelpark is another park in the style of Berlin's Tierpark - a lot of trees and paths. Vondelpark however has more open spaces and is more of a place for locals to go to. There are also some tourist drawcards, including a couple of strange art installations:

Vondelpark in the evening

By the time we walked back down Ferdinand Bolstraat, the main road near the apartment, it was well and truly. I managed to grab a couple of shots that turned out OK:

Amsterdam's outskirts in the dark

Tomorrow we'll extend our reach a little, going on a driving trip out to the north, visiting a couple of touristy hotspots. Until then!

No comments:

Post a Comment