Amsterdam-Brussels September 2010

Our 10 year anniversary trip was 12 days in Amsterdam & Brussels.

Grand Amrath Hotel, Amsterdam.

Outside cafe where we had dinner.
Houseboats along one of the canals.

Anne Frank House. John got it right when he said it was sobering. It's hard to believe that 8 people lived in this tiny space for 2 years. They never got to go outside and get fresh air.
The Anne Frank House. No photographs allowed inside.

Everyone here rides bikes. Well, not everyone because there are cars here as well but there is a parking garage just for bikes at the Central train station and it's very hard to get a spot there. The bike traffic is equal to the car traffic. The cars will at least slow down and let you pass though. Bikers? not so much.
These bikes are all parked on the corner next to the restaurant where we were eating.

The canal cruise was about an hour long and took us around the city of Amsterdam.
Narrowest house in Amsterdam (with the white bay window).

Houseboats are also very popular there. The location is primo. Everyone wants to live in the city along the canal so they are willing to pay the high prices. We saw a houseboat for sale that was pretty similar to this one and it was 375,000 Euro. According to the tour guide they go up to 1,750,000 Euro. This particular houseboat has a balcony but I don't think I'd be willing to step out on it.
Canal houses, some of which have doors that open right onto the canal.

"Grand Tour of Holland" -5 cities in 9 hours. We went to Aalsmeer, which is where the big flower markets are. This is a very big business for the The Netherlands.

Aalsmeer flower market.

We went to Rotterdam, which is the second largest city;

The harbor at Rotterdam. This is the Erasmus bridge (also called the Swan Bridge). During WWII, Rotterdam was basically destroyed by the Germans. Instead of rebuilding the old stuff, they chose to start clean. The buildings here are very modern.
Rotterdam Harbor. The Prince William Bridge.

Delft, which is where they hand make all the pottery;

This is the Delft pottery shop where they hand make the blue & white Delftware. It's really pretty but expensive. We spent an over an hour here when we could have been hanging out in the town square which would have been much more interesting.

Delft City Hall. Over the door is the coat of arms of William the Silent.

The Hague, which is where the city government is and where Queen Beatrix lives;

This is the Peace Palace in The Hague where the International Court of Justice is. I tried to take a picture of the Palace where Queen Beatrix is but it was on the other side of the bus and the driver wouldn't let us out to take a picture.

Scheveningen, which is a beach resort town along the North Sea;

The beach at Scheveningen. We couldn't get off the bus here either.

Madourodam, which really isn't a city at all. Madourodam is an exhibit where they have all the important "things" in Holland in miniature.

All the of the important monuments and buildings are represented here. The miniature city was named after George Maduro, who fought in World War II in the Dutch resistance.

There are several working windmills in The Netherlands. This is two of the "Three Sisters" in Groningen.

The Red Light District in Amsterdam. They have a wide range of shows in this area. I think almost anything goes in Amsterdam.

The canal at night in the Red Light District - Amsterdam. In all of the windows outlined in red there are prostitutes that will tap on the glass to get the attention of a potential customer.

Rembrandt's House.

A coffeeshop in Amsterdam. One of the many where you can buy and smoke pot.

Amsterdam Centraal Station.

Haarlem canal. Haarlem is a smaller village outside of Amsterdam. Just as picturesque but closed on Sunday.
"The Dam" lit up at night.
Centraal Station lit up at night.
The "bicycle garage" by Centraal Station. It's hard to tell in this picture but this garage holds 40,000 bikes and, according to our tour guide, it's always full.Countryside - view from the train on the way from Amsterdam to Brussels.John on the train from Amsterdam to Brussels. We were in first class and we had the whole car to ourselves for most of the ride. Nice.

Holland countryside. There is a lot of farmland outside the cities. This is between Amsterdam & Brussels.

In Brussels, this is a monument to those who fought in World War I and World War II.

The dome over the Palace of Justice in Brussels.

The Arch of Triumph - Brussels, commissions by Leopold II and built in 1880.

Cinquantenaire Park Brussels.

Royal Palace where the King & Queen of Brussels work. They live on the other side of town. When the flag is up, the King & Queen are in town.

Atomium in Brussels. Built for the 1958 World's Fair. You can actually go in to 5 of the spheres.

Town Hall in Grand Place Brussels. King Louis XIV used the spire of this building as a target to bomb the city. Most of the buildings were destroyed, except the outer walls of the town hall. They are still original dating back to the 1400's.

The Guild Houses in Grand Place. The original buildings were destroyed in the bombing by King Louis XIV in 1695. All of these buildings date back to about 1698. There are symbols along the tops of the doors to represent the guilds the met in the different houses.

The famed Mannikin-Pis.

Brussels at night. The tall spire is that of the Town Hall in Grand Place.

Belfry in Bruges. This was in the movie In Bruges. There are 366 steps to the top of the Belfry and it is supposed to have the best view of the city. After climbing all 366 steps, we found that the Belfry was under renovation and the views were obstructed.

Scenes from the canal tour in Bruges. Bruges is about an hour train ride from Brussels.

Scene from the canal tour in Bruges. I thought it interesting that the steps went right to the water.
Windmill in Bruges.
One of the three towers of Ghent: St. Bavo's Cathedral - Ghent Belgium.
View of Ghent from the top of the balfort.
St. Nicholas Church - Ghent.
The Balfort in Ghent. This bell tower had an elevator to the top and the view was fantastic. We were able to go up as high as the four turrets above the clock.
Gravensteen Castle - home to the Count of Flanders - Ghent.
The three towers of Ghent: St. Nicholas Church, The Balfort, St. Bavo's Cathedral.
The Graslei - Ghent.
Canal tour - Ghent.

All in all, we took four canal tours on this trip. Two in Amsterdam, one in Bruges and one in Ghent. It was a great time and I'd go back in a heartbeat.