Where did I go?

Now you know! (I didn't buy the hat, I just tried it on outside a shop)

More precisely, I went to Amsterdam.

Frankly, there's not much to see in Amsterdam if you don't like museums. Hidayah and I didn't go into a single museum (though we did consider going to Madame Tussaud's); our time in Amsterdam was spent walking around. It's a nice town to walk in, I really liked it even though I'm unable to say what I liked! :P

We used the public transport as well. Trams are the best way to get around, and if you see something interesting you can just walk there later. The system can be a bit confusing until you've tried it...then you'll see that it's really quite simple! I searched a lot on the internet for information about the public transport in Amsterdam, but the only information that kept coming up was that there were strip-cards, and the number of strips needed for a journey is the number of zones you cross plus one. (if you stay in the same zone, it means you cross one zone, so you need two strips) The used strips are stamped either by the conductor or in a machine.

This information is very clear, but how many strips will I be using? The problem is that there are hardly any maps showing the public transport zones clearly! (or the tram lines, come to think of it) So now I shall tell you: In Amsterdam there is ONE zone. The other zones are in greater Amsterdam, but tourists usually don't go that far out of Amsterdam.

The good thing about this strip-card system is that one card can be used by as many people as you like, provided that the right amount of strips are stamped. So Hidayah and I shared one 45-strip card. I wanted to take a photo of it (with all the stamps on it) before leaving Amsterdam, but forgot :/ Luckily Hidayah still has the ticket and will be sending me a photo :D So I shall add it later!

Edit: I just added the photos of the strip-card we used (thanks Dayah!)

Each stamp has the zone (5700 for Centrum, the centre of Amsterdam), the date and the time on it. After stamping, you can use the public transport for a certain period of time, which depends on how many strips you stamp. (for two strips it's one hour)

We spent three days in Amsterdam, arriving on Tuesday and leaving on Friday. On Wednesday we went to Keukenhof, the famous tulip garden outside Amsterdam. That was the main reason we wanted to go to Amsterdam, and also why we could only go during the April holidays and not during Christmas or winter break...the garden is only open from March to May!

On Thursday we decided to go on a planned excursion. It was a trip to Zaanse Schans to see a clog-maker and windmills, then to Volendam and Marken, two fishing villages. These places are situated outside of Amsterdam, so it's not that easy to go there on our own. The excursion cost 31€, pretty expensive but definitely worth it if you want to visit these places anyway! There was a visit to a farmhouse where cheese is made and a boat-ride included. But more about these trips in another post, that way my posts won't be too long!

(None of those trips took up the whole day, we spent the rest of the day walking around Amsterdam)

Upon reaching Amsterdam from Keukenhof, we noticed this field with I amsterdam on it. (seems that it's a kind of brand for Amsterdam tourism) So the next day we took the tram here to take photos. The building at the back is Rijksmuseum (the state museum) In fact we didn't know at that time what the building was...we just took photos! :P



I'm in both the photos...try to find me! ;P
(remember, you can click on the photos for larger versions)

As a guidebook said, no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to its red light district. So we went there, and here's a photo:


Hehe, hope you're not disappointed! :P

We went there at night as well, and there were more people than in the daytime. Mainly tourists though.

To end this post, here's a photo taken at the Schipol (Amsterdam's) airport:

Guess what I’m pointing at?

I have more to write about, but I shall spread them over several posts; that way they'll be easier to read...and to find!