Advantages: You get a leisurely cruise through the canals, and the guides are excellent at telling you the history of Amsterdam and pointing out interesting places and architecture Disadvantages: bit blowy outside in cooler weather if youre on one of the open ones
If this is your first trip to Amsterdam, make it a top priority to take one of the daytime canalboat trips when you first get there. Some are large and seat maybe 50 people, others are smaller and take maybe 10 or 12, but they are an excellent overview of Amsterdam and it's history. Our guide gave us a running commentary in three languages, about the history and culture of the city, and pointed out numerous places of interest and idiosyncrasies along the way. The trips are usually an hour to two hours long, and are a tranquil island in the hubbub of the hustle that is life in Amsterdam. We were enthralled by the different fascias of the buildings, marvelling at their age and ornate decorations in stone and wood. We learned why the houses are so tall and narrow, because the taxes were paid on the footage of the width. And we were ...
Advantages: A great musuem for all ages - much more than just a collection of objects Disadvantages: Not fully accessible to wheel chair users or people with limited mobilty
With not much more than thirty hours to spend in Amsterdam (and still eat, drink and sleep!), I was forced to make some tough decisions about what could and couldn't be done.
In the end I decided that I should visit the Anne Frank House, partly because it ws raining heavily and it was obvious that it was time to do some indoor activities and partly because I had visited Auschwitz earlier in the year and am very interested in this period of history.
Background
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Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929. In 1933, Otto Frank and his wife, Edith, decided to leave Germany with Anne and their older daughter, Margot, to make a new life in Amsterdam because, being Jewish, they feared that their lives would not be safe in Nazi Germany.
They lived happily in Amsterdam until the Germans invaded and occupied ...
Advantages: An amazing sight Disadvantages: Venice is SO expensive
other way to encounter the magnificent palaces and buildings which line the Canal than by water. i would imagine wandering along a dim and dirty back street to turn a corner and behold this special view just wouldn't be the same. In this respect, I'm glad we jumped on the bus.
However, after a journey that seemed to last about as long as a wet Tuesday afternoon in Airdrie, and being thoroughly depressed by the shoogliest 'cruise' I've ever experienced...not to mention the almost deafening roar from the engines, we couldn't wait to get off the bliddy thing.
Sheesh, it was so slow and uncomfortable, I think I'd sooner have swam the length of the Canal Byronesque-style.
So, instead of travelling all the way to St Mark's, we jumped ship at the Rialto...Bridge, that is.
The Rialto Bridge is one of the most familiar views on the Grand ...
