Simply Sofie

It’s been a while since I wrote about our trip in Belgium and I actually don’t know where to start. But I’ll manage, it’s going to be about Netherlands now. But before everything else, I would like to say thank you to Thess and H, of course Charlie, for the nice accommodation in Dordrecht, Netherlands.

I mentioned on my last blog entry that the day after our whole day trip in Antwerp, Belgium, we went to Kinderdijk, to Madurodam at The Hague, and the next day to Amsterdam.

Thess and H brought us to Kinderdijk, located in the province of Zuid Holland. I don’t remember how far was that from Dordrecht but it was not at all a long trip. When we arrived in Kinderdijk, there was no entrance fee going inside the 17th century windmill village but somehow if you park the car past the guard of Kinderdijk windmill park you have to pay the parking fee.

We walked along the canal, enjoyed the scenery and went inside one of the windmills. With that, you need to pay to get inside the mill, can’t remember how much, but it was less than 4 euro.

I was surprised to see the interior of the mill because it was just like another house, just different in structure. You would think that it looked small from the outside but it was actually not bad inside the mill. Well, it was not that spacious but manageable.

One thing I noticed, the sleeping area was cute. I just don’t know if you can really stretch your legs as I didn’t measure how long was the bed, if you can call it a bed.

Our next destination was Madurodam at The Hague. Madurodam is a miniature city. Famous attractions such as buildings, churches, canals, and other important landmarks of Netherlands were replicated in minute detail on a 1:25 scale. It was so amazing looking at all those replicas.

They looked so real, only that we knew very well that they were just replicas because we were bigger than them.

After an enjoyable walk at the Madurodam, we called it a day. The next day, we went to Amsterdam just to familiarize with the place. We went with Thess and H who needed to go to Amsterdam for some important matters. Atinna and I went for a walk along the Vondelpark and even found Acro Hotel, the hotel where we stayed the next day and for the next few days with Donna and Sha before we left for England on the 22nd of April.

Please read Thess’s blog entry, vacation adventure: part 1 In holland, about our trip in Netherlands.

The next day, that would be 20th of April 2007, Atinna and I went to Amsterdam on our own. It was another experience just like the other day. When we arrived in Amsterdam, we took the tram from the Central Station to Rijkmuseum as the tram station was just along the museum and Acro hotel was just about 100 meters away from the tram station.

Donna already arrived from England. She already checked in at the hotel and was just waiting for us. After we checked in, about to look for a place where we could eat, Sha coming from France sent a message that she was already at the Central Station. So we waited for Sha before grabbing a bite.

When Sha arrived and finished checking in, we went to Rijkmuseum. We saw some of the original paintings of the famous Dutch painters like Johannes Vermeer, Jan Havicksz Steen, Frans Hals, and of course, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. It was not allowed to take pictures inside the museum so I have no pictures at all. I was also not able to get some photos outside the museum, not even the building itself.

After our Rijkmuseum tour, we had our canal boat tour from the Central Station area. It was actually a good experience seeing the center of Amsterdam from the canal and not only from the streets. You just sit, relax and enjoy the view. I didn’t keep track of all the areas that we passed by but I know that we went under the Skinny bridge (Magere Brug) and even saw Anne Frank House, now a museum, along Prinsengracht (street).

The day was not over yet. We still had a lot of time, so we went to discover the Red Light District near the Dam square. We walked around, went inside some bars and had some drinks. We left the area before it got really dark but we didn’t go back to the hotel immediately.

The next day, we went to Anne Frank House, but then changed our plan. We didn’t go inside the museum. We decided to return later after our trip to Zaanse Schans windmill village, Volendam and Marken fishing villages. Since we still had some time before the trip, we went to the flower market at the Koningsplein. The colorful flowers of the cactus really caught my attention. Then we had our lunch at an Indonesian restaurant in that area too. After that, we went to Damrak, joined a group of tourists for an afternoon sightseeing tour in Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken villages. On the way to Volendam and Marken, we also visited one of the very few cheese farms where the cheese is still made the traditional way.

We returned to Amsterdam after 6:00pm. We went straight to Anne Frank Museum. As usual, I didn’t take any pictures, so I just bought a book which I normally do every time I can’t take photos inside a museum. It was such an emotional and a melancholic tour at the museum for most of the visitors.

Well, it was our last night in Amsterdam, so we explored the place. We had our dinner at a Carribean restaurant at the Koningsplein. Then we went to a few bars in Leidseplein, listened to some music, and then danced and enjoyed the rest of the night at a Brazilian bar. The rest is history. Unfortunately, I was not able to dance, my feet were aching. What a pity, considering that it was a Brazilian bar.

The next day, we just walked around Museumplein, enjoyed the sun at the park, then ate before Donna left for the airport back to England. We had a later flight so we didn’t go to the airport with Donna. When Donna left, as we still had some time, we went inside the Van Gogh museum. Both the Rijkmuseum and Van Gogh museum are at the Museumplein area.

It was 2:30pm when we returned to the hotel, took our luggages and went to the airport. Thess was already at the airport waiting for us. Thess, Atinna and I bid our goodbyes to H and Charlie, and to Sha, who was returning to France later that day too. The three of us boarded the KLM plane, which left Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at around 5:20pm for London Heathrow Airport.

Please read Donna’s blog entry, (Amster) Damnation, about our trip in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

See you in England soon!!!

Note: This is a follow-up to my blog entry, European Destination 2: Belgium, last June 20, 2007.