the Dam on the Amstel

...and in such fashion Amsterdam was named. Having the opportunity to go there for work, I planned to spend the weekend there as well to explore as much of "the Venice of the north" as possible. I got there on a Friday night from Frankfurt, which I visited also for work. (P.S. Frankfurt has nothing special that would make it a tourist destination. It literally has five historic buildings left as almost the whole city was destroyed by bombs and artillery fire during WWII. Although my hotel was snazzy... you have to ask me about that when you see me. A little snippet: it was called the Innside Premium Suites located right downtown and with elevators that take you straight to your suite. Nice!)

Without further ado, here are the pics if you'd like to skip to the good stuff.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ysolmaz/AmsterdamNetherlandsSep2007

Day 1:
- Having traditional Dutch sweet pea soup with smoked ham at De Roode Leeuw. Excellent, albeit a bit simple and hearty meal.
- Visiting the Van Gogh Museum and learning he had a fascination with Japanese prints! (Did any of you know this?)
- Pretending to be Alexis (my friend who lives in Amsterdam) at the Rijksmuseum to get in for free (she has a museum pass); although the guy rejected me saying the card didn't belong to me because I wasn't a girl... Ummm.. yea. Had to pay 10 Euros to see a reduced collection that didn't even include the Kitchen Maid by Vermeer. I was pissed off! Don't go to the Rijksmuseum until 2009, when they reopen. In its full glory, it's supposed to rival the Louvre...right...
- Biking around Vondelpark with Alexis; I kept on using my trusty rental bike for four straight days to get around everywhere! You also get to shout, push and ring your bell at lame people walking around in your cycle path. It's fun! ;)
- Trying the traditional bitterballen, balls of unidentified meat fried and served with mustard. Yum! I have a nice picture of it in my gallery (testing the macro setting of my camera for the first time!)
- Having drinks with Alexis' friends and then going to a birthday dinner.
- Visiting the Red Light District and then having some more drinks.

Day 2:
- Waking up at 11:30am...
- Being a bit disappointed by the Anne Frank House after having waited almost an hour to get in. The actual rooms where they lived in hiding for so long are moving and emotional (you see the pencil marks they've made on the wall to see how much they've grown), but there is not one exhibition exploring racial/religious prejudice. It could be much more interesting if they could hold temporary exhibitions in the rest of the space there.
- Having bacon and apple pancakes with stroop (Ozlem, you're right. Stroop basically imitates the Turkish syrup known as pekmez. You stealing cowards! :P) It was a delicious mix though, I must admit.
- Taking a canal boat tour, which was really fun. See the pictures!
- Having a few drinks with Alexis and her friends
- Eating some good ol' Italian food, because I needed a break from the exploration and a return to the familiar

Day 3 and Day 4 were mostly spent at the office, which is in the suburbs of Amsterdam where ABN AMRO and Fortis are located. My last wonderful surprise in this city of canals was the incredibly cheap price of the trains to the airport from the city center. 3,40 Euros!!! Now that's cheap... You hear that price Heathrow Express?????

Next stop: MILANOOOOO!!!!! :D