Then train station in s'Hertogenbosch or Den Bosch as it's called too
Looking very hot for the factory tour at Sapa Pole Products, don't you think?
The big square in Den Bosch
St Jan's Cathedral (or St Janskathedraal as it's called in Dutch) in the background
Detail on St Jan
St Jan's Cathedral again
The roof is not always straight...
Very pretty city, too bad it was raining when we had the time to do some sightseeing.
Not a great pic but I didn't have anyone better illustrating the canals. MGolany buildings were built over the river as space was very limited within the city walls and therefore there is a big canal system underneath the houses.
Our hotel in Den Bosch, Golden Tulip Hotel Central
The Royal Palace (Koninklijk Paleis) in Amsterdam located at Dam Square. It looks nice....I guess :P
A lot of renovation of buildings going on in this town, at least this one has given you an idea of what it looks like underneath. :)
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum also at Dam Square
De Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), a Gothic 15th-century church in Amsterdam neighbouring the Royal Palace. The church is used for royal ceremonies and royal weddings.
Detail on De Nieuwe Kerk
Magna Plaza, shopping centre behind the Royal Palace, built in 1899 and was formerly the main post office.
Homo monument?! What the...
Dam Square with National Monument, a monument to memorialise the victims of World War II.
National Monument again
Still Dam Square
A lot of people are riding bicycles in Holland and of course they need a superhero to fix their bikes when they break...It's bicycle repair man!
Hard to believe you're entering the Red Light District...pretty houses by the canal.
Amsterdam is very liberal and being into prostitution, soft drugs and pornography is ok -it's only human. The Bulldog Energy, one of the many coffee shops located in Amsterdam.
Notice the mushroom on the door...
The world's first coffee shop, the Bulldog (later a whole range of shops) On December 17th , 1975 Henk de Vries emptied the contents of his fathers sex-shop into one of Amsterdam 's famous canals. Now he had a place for his latest experiment, the world's first coffee shop.
Oude kerk (Old Church), Amsterdam’s oldest parish church. An Gothic church right in the middle of Red light district
Detail on Oude Kerk
Amsterdam is sometimes refereed to as "Venice of the North".
Erotic museum anyone?
Girls in the windows in Red Light District Prostitution is a legal profession in Holland and the prostitutes are even tax payers, believe it or not. We heard that is wasn't safe to walk around RLD after dark but it I read that it's actually the safest area in Amsterdam as clusters of policemen, and private bodyguards employed by the girls themselves are always on duty.
Good to know!
The grass is always greener in Amsterdam...haha!!
Lots of sex shops in RLD
After visiting the nest of sin we decided to take one of many boat tours of the canal.
Many of the houses in Amsterdam are very narrow, this is because they used to pay taxes according to the width of their façade. So they built there homes very small but deep, clever people the Dutch! :)
A not so fancy house boat
You can normally distinguish the houses in Amsterdam between ordinary single houses (3 bays, total width of 7-8.5 metres, with the front door placed to one side but often in the middle in the case of 17th century houses) and double houses, which in fact belong to the category of two houses sharing one façade.
Centraal Station (the central train station) as seen from Lake IJ.
Sea Palace, a floating Chinese Restaurant
Another one of the many canals. Amsterdam consists of over 100 km of canals and has over 2000 bridges.
Westerkerk (Western Church) in the background.
It's amazing that the houses are still standing, since they are leaning all over the place.
Another one of Amsterdam's many houseboats. People started populating the canals after World War II due to housing shortages.
The Homo monument - the triangular stone in the middle. Not very impressive, we actually walked right past it searching for it. The monument commemorates all the men and women who has ever been oppressed or persecuted for their homosexuality.
Westerkerk, the spire is with it's 85 meters the highest church tower in Amsterdam.
Having a nice cup of coffee after visiting Anne Frank's House
Very happy that we beat the crowd and got to Anne Frank's House early enough to not have to stand in this line. :)
Westerkerk again as seen from the bank of the Prinsengracht canal.
Prinsengracht 263, the second house from the left. the house were Anne Frank's father had his business and also the house were she and her family hid away from the Nazis, in the secret annex in the rear of the building.
Everyone in Amsterdam seem to be riding a bicycle and there are bicycles parked everywhere within the city.
On almost all the houses you will notice a pulley. As the stairs were very narrow and steep it was impossible to get the goods and furniture inside this way, so every house has a pulley on the outside to lift the goods.
No one uses winter tires in Holland, the car to the right is sliding to the right so the two guys have to keep pushing it up in order to prevent it from crashing into the steel poles. Quite entertaining to watch actually!
Souvenir shopping!
Leidseplein
Heineken Brewery. Founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken. The brewery in Amsterdam was in use until 1988, now it's home to the "Heineken Experince", where visitors can learn the history of one of the world's most recognizable beer brands and taste the famous Dutch pilsner.
Welcome to the world of Heineken
Water+Barley+Hops+"A" yeast = Heineken
Giving a helping hand...
Mmm beer!!
Sign found at Mackers in Amstedam
The Central Station
