Netherlands
7 Attractions in 7 Hours – Turbo Tourism in Amsterdam
September 2, 2010 by Sherry Ott
The best form of transportation…complete with storage.
It was 11:30AM and the man at the ticket counter looked at me anxiously and said “Are you ready?” I took a deep breath, tightened my backpack straps, got a good grip on my camera and said “Yes” confidently.
The machine let out a long BEEEEEP! My I Amsterdam card was now officially ticking.
I was off to the turbo tourist races armed with my camera, map, comfortable shoes, backpack, and my I Amsterdam card. The card was my ticket to get into numerous museums and events for free around Amsterdam in addition to discounts at tourist attractions and restaurants. What’s the catch? It’s only good for 24 hours and it costs 38 Euro. In a previous post I told you all about how to use the I Amsterdam card strategically to get the maximum value out of the card, I was now ready to put all of it to the test.
After plotting my route out on the map, figuring out closing times, and renting…
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Red Light District Amsterdam
August 24, 2010 by Sherry Ott
As the night falls, the red lights become more evident
I really didn’t know what to expect from the infamous Red Light District in Amsterdam; but I was certainly intrigued and excited to check it out. I like the sleaze, the grime, the passionate, and I really like things that challenge my way of thinking – so I had high hopes. Yet those hopes were tempered with my thoughts around “is this just another one of those…” One of the bad things about traveling is that you’ve been a lot of places (duh), but they all start to seem the same in some ways. Would the Red Light District be like Pad Pong in Thailand, or the Tenderloin in San Francisco, or like the alley I used to live off of in Vietnam (there were a number of brothels there)?
First of all – I have to answer the question that plagued me when I arrived in the RLD – Why use red lights? Why not blue or yellow or green? Here’s the answer I found on the origin of the red light:
According to the Origin of
Woolfiller for Sustainability’s Next Top Model
August 23, 2010 by Katherine Hui
This is Woolfiller, one of the contestants in the running for the title of Sustainability’s Next Top Model.
Woolfiller is a clever little kit that repairs holes and hides stains in woollen jumpers, cardigans, jackets and carpets, for example. The kit comes with the special filler material, a probe for adhering the filler to the garment and a block to place under the garment while its being mended. Woolfiller is the invention of Heleen Klopper, a product-designer based in the Netherlands.
To vote and find out more about the other ‘models’, visit Sustainability’s Next Top Model.
(Green Thing kicked off An All-Consuming summer, by holding a competition for Sustainability’s Next Top model. The Facebook competition features 4 inventive, creative and new sustainable start-ups, who all have a chance at wining at £50,000 marketing campaign. This week Green Thing will feature each product before the voting closes on 31st August 2010 at 1800.)
The Windmills of Kinderdijk, Netherlands
August 20, 2010 by Sherry Ott
Beauty on a Dark Day
As most of you know, I’m currently traveling/housesitting in Europe. This has sent my photography into overload…so instead of one photo this week – you get a set of photos from my recent trip to Kinderdijk Netherlands. Kinderdijk is a Unesco World Heritage Site thanks to it’s amazing display of windmills – more than 19 of them still preserved and standing! My trip couldn’t have been complete without the transportation help of my Couch Surfing hosts in Rotterdam, Daniel and Oliver!
The day was horrendous as you can tell from the pictures – occasional rain and lots of wind! Most of the time I had my poncho on trying to keep the camera gear dry! But I like the result – I hope you do too!
You can view the complete Kinderdijk Photo Gallery here
Netherlands Bike Culture
August 19, 2010 by Sherry Ott
- Bikes parked everywhere
As soon as I stepped out of Amsterdam Centraal station from the airport, I saw what makes Amsterdam different from other cities I’ve visited…no, not the canals (Venice has canals!); it was the bikes. Seeing everyone flitting around on two wheels immediately struck me as a unique piece of culture.
I’m not sure why, but I love cities with strong cultural ties to a mode of transportation. Vietnam and motorbikes, NYC and the subway, Nepal and buses, Monogolia and Jeeps, Delhi and autorickshaws, Philippines and Jeepneys, and now…Netherlands and bikes. The moment I set foot in Amsterdam, I knew I would be exploring the city by two wheels. The first day I went and rented a bike for a week making me the happiest tourist ever; wandering around the canals and down the rivers, out into the non-touristsy areas where little English was spoken, riding into the countryside, and even going bar hopping with locals.
My trip out into the countryside was one…
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World Tap Water Week: Jointhepipe.org
August 17, 2010 by Green Thing
Jointhepipe.org has developed its very own water tap stations, together with Dutch water companies. The first real sustainable water machine that is CO2 neutral! There are both indoor and outdoor versions of these water machines, so they can be installed in place of commercial water machines in offices and other buildings, or in public spaces such as parks, streets and at train stations. With these machines Jointhepipe.org wants to make sure everybody will be able to drink tap water always and everywhere, even if there is no tap around. The first water stations will be introduced in Amsterdam very soon!
Aalsmeer Auction: The Wall Street of Flowers
August 17, 2010 by Sherry Ott
Trains of Flowers move through the center
The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. and I wondered why I was doing this to myself. It’s just flowers, I could sleep a little while longer – right? Yet my desire to see flowers ended up winning out over my desire to sleep; after all, this was the only time I’d be able to see the largest flower auction in the world – so what’s a little lost sleep?
Graham, my couchsurfing host, kindly decided to come with me to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction just outside of Amsterdam, near the airport. Unfortunately he’s not a caffeine addict like me, so we had a cup of decaf before leaving his apartment at six. Fortunately he was with me so we were able to navigate a number of local transportation snafus/closures/construction – else I might have just given up and went and sat at a café for some real coffee, skipping the logistical journey of flowers through this famous flower market!
An alternate bus route dropped us off by the large Aalsmeer auction building. Large doesn’t really describe it; I…
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Strategy for Using the I amsterdam Card
August 10, 2010 by Sherry Ott
This sign in Museumplein says it all…
Amsterdam has a lot to offer for tourists – but how do you see everything while on a budget?
Before arriving I had seen I amsterdam card on many websites: See everything Amsterdam has to offer a tourist in a limited amount of time. It sounded like tourist hell to me, kind of like getting the value meal and then super-sizing it. I didn’t think it sounded like fun running around trying to see all of the popular tourist attractions in one day. Like most things, bigger and faster doesn’t necessarily mean better, but I was willing to give it a shot because I am a budget traveler and the card can be a good deal.
Actually – let me rephrase that – the card can be a good deal if used correctly.
What you receive for your 38 Euro
For 38 Euro you have access to more than 40 free attractions, some 50-odd discounts on other…
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Photo of the Week – Amsterdam
August 6, 2010 by Sherry Ott
Gables in the Sky
To celebrate the announcement this week that Amsterdam’s Canal District was added to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list – I bring you Amsterdam.
The homes along the ring canals of Amsterdam are famous. The 17th century residences of wealthy merchants, financiers, craftsmen, doctors, lawyers, politicians and artists are characterized by big, narrow windows and decorative gable tops. My sunny days were few and far between in Amsterdam, however when the sun did come out, and the skies cleared to show how brilliantly blue they could be, I ran outside with my camera!
If you’d like to see more travel photos this Friday, hop on over to Briefcase to Backpack’s Photo Friday, where I demonstrate how to use rain and clouds to your advantage in photography!
Please note, my photography is for sale on my Global Photography site – stop by and browse through the world!
Netherlands: History, Culture and Economy
July 31, 2010 by Victoria Levy
The Netherlands (pronounced /ˈnɛðɚləndz/; Dutch: Nederland, pronounced [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy.
The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and water borders with Denmark, Norwayand United Kingdom. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.
The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces.
The word Dutch is used to refer to the people, the language, and anything pertaining to the Netherlands. This lexical difference between the noun and the adjective is an attribute of the English language that does not exist in the Dutch language. The adjective ‘Dutch’ is derived from the language that was spoken in the area, called ‘Diets’, which equals Middle Dutch.
The Netherlands was one of the first parliamentary democracies. Among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the European Union (EU), NATO, OECD and WTO. With Belgium and Luxembourg it forms the Benelux economic union.
The country is host to five international courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The first four are situated in The Hague…
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