Amsterdam

Hi Everyone,
Amsterdam what an amazing place. There is a feeling that you get as soon as you arrive and you can't quite put your finger on it but the more you explore this city you come to the realisation that it is a feeling of freedom, of acceptance and of pride.
We drove here from Dinslaken, in Germany, a drive of about 2hours. You cannot easily find parking in Amsterdam and if you do you cannot afford it so they, the powers to be, have come up with a new scheme that is called park and ride(P&R). What you do is park your car in one of about 7 designated parking stations outside the city depending from what direction that you approach and then take the metro, bus or train to the city. It is really the only alternative at a cost of 8 euro a day and free public transport it is a viable alternative to a city that doesn't tolerate cars where bikes rule the roost.

We were told that bikes are everywhere here but you have no idea just how many bikes there are in one city. Pedestrians, cars, trams, buses you name it have to look out for and give way to BIKES. I have never in my life seen so many bikes and the attachments that they have so that they can perform daily chores like grocery shopping, taking the family out, carrying produce you name it a bike in this city does it. Today we watched a heavily pregnant woman ride down the road in the middle of people, trams etc with not a worry in the world another mother strapped the baby capsule to the back of the bike while the father sat the toddler on a special seat over the handle bars- no need for a car here and the weather does not deter them at all.

Wherever there is a pole or a railing you will find a bike attached

Even under bridges to keep them a bit dry but they don't mind them being out in the rain. Think they are made of sturdier stuff than ours- and they are nearly all black no need for fancy.

There are even parking stations just for bikes-just amazing.

close up view

View from the balcony of the apartment where we had the occasional glass of wine before venturing out to dinner

When deciding what days we wanted to visit Amsterdam we found it very difficult to find accommodation but were lucky enough to find an apartment(a little more than the budget but worth every cent) in a great location. The caretakers are the owners of a very popular B&B next door and they were so helpful in letting us know where and when it happens in Amsterdam.

 

The apartment building with Mez on the balcony.
The orange brick on the first floor where balcony is was the size of the apartment-quite large

Dining room of apartment with beautiful very high ceilings

Lounge area leading out to balcony

We have been here for 4 days and it has rained and thunderstormed off and on the entire time but that has not stopped us,except for hiring bikes, from enjoying and seeing lots of this city.
The special coffee shops with their very special aroma(not coffee) are everywhere and you might be interested to know that we did have coffee in one and yes it was only coffee.

We also did the very touristy thing- always got to do at least one- of taking a canal boat ride. Even though it was raining it was great to get a different perspective of the many canals and waterways of Amsterdam. There are something like 252 bridges, 160 canals, 8000 heritage listed buildings and 2500 houseboats. What a way to spend your days on a house boat moored to a canal in Amsterdam.

one of the many house boats on the canals with their own garden and outdoor living area

This house boat was on a special section of the canals that once was the area of the old breweries and thus the plant decoration with green beer bottles on the deck if you look closely.

No parking signs in the waterways no need for them on land more traffic on the waterways and by bikes.

Even though it was very wet hopefully you can still see the number of house boats that line the canals.

Mez enjoying a little bit of sun on the canal cruise 

Took ourselves to the red light district last evening and it was sad to see women degrade themselves by standing behind windows inviting the needy into their den - very animalistic - disturbing. But an area that is buzzing and is part of the "freedom" of Amsterdam.

On our way and just near the red light district we came across this scene of urinals out in the open on the footpath of one of the main roads.

One of the many sights in the red light district

Another amazing thing about Amsterdam is the architecture. The buildings are beautiful and it is very hard to find any that are square. They are mostly leaning on each other or very noticeably forward, the windows in some are square but the sills and surrounds are completely out of plum. We were told today that the reason that the buildings are so tall and not very wide is the fact that way back the people were taxed not on the height of the building but on the actual land space that it occupied.

some of the many buildings that are not square

 When we arrived we were introduced to an Amsterdam stairwell but we were the lucky ones only having to go to the first floor, even still it was extremely steep and don't forget we have been on the road for 2 months and have collected all sorts of stuff so the suitcases are getting heavier by the day.

Mez at the first floor landing just outside the door to the apartment

Although we were not there in tulip season the flowers are beautiful and they have a special flower market each day, where you can buy the most exotic species. We had a quick look on one occasion.

This stall had every imaginable species of tulip bulbs and much more- a gardeners paradise 

We of course looked through all the trendy shops in the Jordaan area and Mez was told by a friend that used to live in Amsterdam that we must go to a special place and eat the apple pie the best in Amsterdam and of course we had to do this- weeks and weeks of intense gym work awaits us on our return.

If your ever in Amsterdam you have to go to this restaurant-Winkel, famous for the apple pie

We enjoyed our stay here and if you ever get the chance even for a few days it is a must see on your European travels.
Still cant get over the number of bikes.

After leaving Amsterdam we wanted to head to a rural area in Holland to see windmills and how the normal folk live so we headed to Heusden a small town about 1 hour south of Amsterdam.
We booked into a lovely little B&B that is owned by Ina who has lived here all her life.

Outside Ina's B&B

Typical of the Netherlands are the steep staircases but we were lucky this time we were on the ground floor no carrying heavy bags up flights of stairs.

We decided to hire some bikes and have a look around the area so Ina gave us a few maps and suggested that we go and see a castle a little way from here. So off we rode with maps, water and rain jackets for what we thought was going to be a short ride through the countryside. We left about 10.30 had to cross two rivers by ferry but somehow it took us a lot longer than was expected(as usual) to get to this castle.

One of the ferry crossings on the way out

The crossing on the way back. this time you had to ring a bell from the side of the river and this guy comes and picks you up. Mez tried to get him to take us back to Heusden in his boat as it was so far to ride-but no luck.

 Three and a quarter hours later of riding nonstop through rain and herds of sheep we sited the castle. We had a bite to eat- starving and raced around the castle because we knew that we had the big trek back. Return trip much shorter went a different route and this time did not make any wrong turns and arrived back at 5pm.

The castle

As you do- if there is one of these around some silly idiot is going to stick their head in it

Every castle has one

We spent five and a half hours riding bikes on dykes! all through the countryside covering about 65 ks so needless to say that certain parts of the anatomy are a little tender and sore this evening. The dykes are amazing they are of course all along the river banks and are mainly paths for bikes and walkers with the occasional one where cars can drive but only at very slow speeds, they are very safe. Thank god for the flat terrain otherwise we would have sent out an SOS and maybe still be out there.

The little bar on the right where we had to have a drink on our return

one of the many quaint homes that we passed on our travels on bikes

A great day but delirious with tiredness tonight.
Well we wanted to see windmills and we saw heaps- some of them below

We have had a lovely time in Holland and now we are driving to Belgium today to Brugges (everywhere we look this place is spelt differently)

Take care

love Ann

Zurich, GERMANY- Rothenburg, Mainz

Hi Guys

Well we headed to Zurich after Lucerne and it was a bit of a let down being in a big city and the short amount of time that we spent there I don't think we did it justice. We stayed a bit out of the city and caught the train, very close to our hotel, into the old part of Zurich which only took us about 10 mins. After getting our bearings with the help of locals we set out to see the sites. Well, we came across the most refreshing and amazing scene where all the locals(oldies- well not that old because there were plenty there our age) get together for an afternoon of dancing, wine and lots of music and fun. We had to stop and have a beer and even got asked for a dance by one of the 'younger' more agile male variety - even though he couldn't speak English he understood that it would be a little difficult to do the cha cha in hiking sandals and joggers. Mez even made comment that it was like a scene from the movie Cocoon.

From there we walked and walked and looked at the city but were more than happy to get the train back to where we came from and have some dinner and go to bed. Last nights dinner in Switzerland was, only because of the area that we were in and the limited choice was, Mexican- two dishes and wine set us back $140- Switzerland a very beautiful country but so so so expensive.

This could have been Mez tripping the light fantastic but for her hiking sandals

Some of the sights of Zurich

Mez on her way across to the dance - you can see the anticipation in her eyes!!!

After leaving Zurich we were off to Germany to a small medieval town called Rothenburg. Along the way we were prepared and stopped off like true travellers and made our lunch on the side of the road.

Ann's lunch stop cafe

We arrived in Rothenburg in the arvo and managed to find the little hotel within the walls of this medieval town. We unloaded the car and went for a walk of about 100m and instantly wanted to stay more than one night. After negotiations we sorted out an extended stay in a very quaint town.

Town Hall in main square just around corner from hotel

Pics of the town on our early morning walk- thanks Deb for the tip to see this place without the day crowds it was beautiful.

The afternoon we decided to stay longer

After doing the little shops over we were told that we happened to be in town for the local wine festival of the region and it was on for 2 more nights so of course we had to go.
We found a seat at a table of locals about our vintage, if not a touch older, and with very limited English on their part and no German on ours we were able to communicate and had a great night drinking the local wine and listening to the somewhat boring local musos. We had a good time.
Next day was all about walking the town early before the TOURISTS(not us) get there, shopping for things and seeing the beautiful countryside.

The wine festival 

View from the attic room 

View from the street below our hotel room- love the way they use all the space in the roof for rooms we should learn from them.

Our hotel  and restaurant in the middle of town just around the corner from the main square.

View of the countryside just outside the town walls on our early morning walk

                                                         Mez on the walk that you can do of the town wall that kept the enemy from invading the town-very rickety with original cobble stones and her elbow is resting in one of the canon placements.

One of the tower entrances to the town

Legend has it that the Mayor way back had to scull so many litres of wine to save the city from destruction and so in the town square when the clock strikes the hour between 11 and 2 each day the windows on either side of the clock open to show the characters depicting this reenactment. ( The locals at the wine festival tell us it is all a bit of a fairy tale but who are we to doubt legend)

Had to put this pic in as it is a hotel named after my family from Maitland 

Another thing we did was to climb to the very top of the town hall tower- what a mistake, it was hundreds of steep steps in a very small stairwell and when we got to the top it was so scary that we had a 2 second look and thought oh my god how are we going to get back down- my silly idea

Thanks Deb for your advise to go to Rothenburg it was a must see on an adventure through Europe.

Mainz
Mianz was a totally different Germany than Rothenburg but none the less an interesting working class town. We pulled up to our hotel on a main road and it looked rather run down but we were very lucky to have been given one of the four rooms in the hotel with a balcony and a great view of the Rhine River. We went for a  walk into old town and along the Rhine. This river is amazing how many working boats use it every minute of the day and night.

Pic of the Rhine from hotel with one of the many boats that use it every day

Sunrise of the river

View of the area from the hotel balcony

local bar stop on the river where they import sand and sunlounges, umbrellas and even the beach volleyball court

every town has it churches this is one of many

lovely bridge over river that we walked for our exercise and to explore the area

While at Mainz we took a day trip to Darmstadt to see the area that some of my ancestors came from. Again another working class town with a character all of its own.

After Mainz we spent one night in Dinslaked a small town a little over halfway between Mainz and Amsterdam where we are spending 4 nights.
Amsterdam is amazing will fill you in soon.

Hope you are all happy
love Ann