Amsterdam:
Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands and the capital.
Amsterdam's name signifies, a dam in the river Amstel.
The Amsterdam canal system is a planned, conscious architecture and is worth a marvel.
Amsterdam also boasts of the biggest flower trade in europe.
Amsterdam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the city is lively and colorful. You could find all kinds of nationalities, caste, creed living and moving around in the city. It is said to be the city where you can do whatever you wish to. Its the center of fashion, flower trade, tourism,prostitution,yachts etc.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the world's oldest stock exchange and is one of Europe's largest largest stock exchange. It is situated near Dam Square in the city's centre.
Things to do:
You can take a canal ride in Amsterdam, visit the Madamme Tussad's museum, Nemo maritime musuem, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank Museum, Marijuana Musuem, Singel's Flower Market, Red light district etc.Nemo houses loads of experiments and exhibitions inside. No matter your background and your age, you will learn something new and have fun while doing it.
The old centre of Amsterdam was formed by rings of canals with unique mostly 17th century residences of wealthy merchants, financiers, craftsmen,engineers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, beuracrats and artists. Because of lack of space, these houses were mostly narrow. The office of the merchant was usually on the ground floor. Like in Venice the canals were the main way of transporting the goods.
De Wallen, the largest red-light district of Amsterdam, is a major tourist attraction, and the most famous in the world.De Wallen is a confined area for legalised prostitution and is Amsterdam's largest and most well known red-light district.It consists of a labrynth of roads and alleys containing several hundred small, one-room apartments rented by sex workers who offer their services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights. You can pick your choice and head on into the illuminated rooms.
Prostitution is legalised,licensed and taxable in the Netherlands, and in Amsterdam the window prostitution dates back to years.
A decade ago, the government in the Netherlands legalised prostitution in an effort to cut human trafficking and organised crime.
But it seems their efforts have had the opposite effect, the red light district has turned into a hub for human traffickers exploiting the country's liberal approach to sex business. Government is pushing hard to bring in more regulations to stop this dark side of Amsterdam.
Photography is forbidden in the red light area, hence i am posting some from the picture post cards of my Amsterdam collection.
The sale, possession, and consumption of small quantities of cannabis, while technically illegal, is legal in small quantities.
In Netherlands, you can possess/ sell small quantities of intoxication esp the soft drugs viz Cannabis, Marijuana etc. Soft drugs may only be sold in assigned coffee shops which are strictly checked by the authorities to see if they follow the rules. They may never sell more than the already mentioned 5 grams. Soft drugs may only be sold to persons of 18 years and older which has to be proven by showing a valid ID.
Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world and is a centre of bicycle culture with good facilities for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks, and several guarded bike storage garages. Bicycles are used by all socio-economic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam's small size gives motor driving a painful experience for majority of the people.
Nearest Airport : Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - one of the busiest airports in the world.
The Hague:
The Hague (Den Hague in dutch) is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam.
The Royal Dutch Shell commonly known as Shell, is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands
Den Hague - Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular for water sports such as windsurfing and kiteboarding.
The nude beach of Scheveningen is one of the oldest nude beaches of Holland. If you prefer going to the beach wearing no cloths then this is the place to go.
The area is marked with clear signs indicating that nudist recreation is allowed. Outside of this area nudity is forbidden.
It is however permitted to enter this part of the beach wearing cloths. For privacy reasons it is not allowed to take pictures or use any other recording equipment.
Rotterdam:
Rotterdam is the second largest city of Netherlands.
The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. Till 2003, it was the world's busiest port; then it was superseded by Shanghai.
The German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Germany decided to conquer the country in a single day, but to their dismay, they faced huge resistance by the Dutch army, and then on 14th May gave a big blow by bombing Rotterdam and threatened to bomb other cities as well. The city was almost completely destroyed by the german troops killing thousands. During the war, Rotterdam was bombed several times during allied raids that were aimed at the harbour area. The City Council decided to create a 'new' and better city than rebuilding only the damaged areas of the city.
By 1970s, the city was rebuilt. By 1980 the city council envisaged and started to give a new look with the State of the art and new styles apartments, office buildings, towers and recreation facilities resulted in a more livable city center.
The Euromast is a tower in Rotterdam, which is the tallest building in Rotterdam. It has an observation platform around 95 meters above ground and a restaurant as well.
From the apex of Euromast, you can get a bird's eye view of the Rotterdam city and especially the harbour and the dock.
Aalsmeer:
Alsmeer Flower Auction is a flower market center of the world, every day, thousands and millions of flowers come to be marketed to the Netherlands and throughout Europe, the largest flower market area in the world.It cannot be described, photographed as its so huge in size, over 1 million sq.m. Every day, millions of flowers esp tulips(Nether land's own baby), plants are brought to Aalsmeer, where it is auctioned off to potential buyers all over the world, thus setting the price of flowers, daily turn over of more than 6 million euros, making .All these are completed pretty early, by 6-7am in the morning, so that the flowers can reach the buyers anywhere in the world while they are still fresh, with a high end sophisticated state of the art logistics system.
Everything happen round the clock within 24 hours.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Courtesy : Internet)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8PM Transport – Growers select their flowers for auction and send them on their way to Aalsmeer.
10PM – flowers are checked in electronically
10:30PM – all of the flowers are put into different refrigeration areas to prepare for auction and flowers are grouped by variety
4AM Inspection – Quality inspectors move throughout the trolleys of flowers checking quality and making notes that will be included with the auction data
6-8AM the clock – the various auctions begin and bidders buy as the ‘clock’ ticks down in pricing.
7-10AM Distribution – Flowers move to the distribution area and resembles a chaotic mess
11AM Transport – flowers are transported out to customers who bought them
4PM – the flowers have made it to the consumer…whew…all in less than 24 hours.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Courtesy : Internet)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kinderdijk :
The Netherlands is famous for its windmills. Today there are still more than 1.000 mills. Nowhere in the world you will find as many windmills as near Kinderdijk.They have been well preserved.
The mills drain the excess water from the polders - below the sea level, which are mainly found in The Netherlands, after which the water is made to flow into the river through sluiceways.
Nowadays power-driven pumping engines do the job, instead of the wind.
In 1997 the mills of Kinderdijk has been listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Site.
As Kinderdijk is in a rural area, getting there with public transport can be a time-consuming process. The easiest way to get there is to first take a train to railway station Rotterdam Lombardijen. Further, you have to travel by bus to reach Kinderdijk.
The windmills were used to help with Netherland's drainage problems.. and to ensure that places with large area do not get flooded because some parts of Netherlands is below sea level.
In winters, Kinderjik turns to be a skating zone. All the small lakes turns into freezing ice land, which attracts thousands to do ice skating.
Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands and the capital.
Amsterdam's name signifies, a dam in the river Amstel.
The Amsterdam canal system is a planned, conscious architecture and is worth a marvel.
Amsterdam also boasts of the biggest flower trade in europe.
Amsterdam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the city is lively and colorful. You could find all kinds of nationalities, caste, creed living and moving around in the city. It is said to be the city where you can do whatever you wish to. Its the center of fashion, flower trade, tourism,prostitution,yachts etc.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the world's oldest stock exchange and is one of Europe's largest largest stock exchange. It is situated near Dam Square in the city's centre.
Things to do:
You can take a canal ride in Amsterdam, visit the Madamme Tussad's museum, Nemo maritime musuem, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank Museum, Marijuana Musuem, Singel's Flower Market, Red light district etc.Nemo houses loads of experiments and exhibitions inside. No matter your background and your age, you will learn something new and have fun while doing it.
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| National Monument – a memorial to the war victims |
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| Amsterdam -Picture Post Card |
The old centre of Amsterdam was formed by rings of canals with unique mostly 17th century residences of wealthy merchants, financiers, craftsmen,engineers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, beuracrats and artists. Because of lack of space, these houses were mostly narrow. The office of the merchant was usually on the ground floor. Like in Venice the canals were the main way of transporting the goods.
 |
| Aerial view of Amsterdam ( Courtesy: Internet) |
Prostitution is legalised,licensed and taxable in the Netherlands, and in Amsterdam the window prostitution dates back to years.
A decade ago, the government in the Netherlands legalised prostitution in an effort to cut human trafficking and organised crime.
But it seems their efforts have had the opposite effect, the red light district has turned into a hub for human traffickers exploiting the country's liberal approach to sex business. Government is pushing hard to bring in more regulations to stop this dark side of Amsterdam.
Photography is forbidden in the red light area, hence i am posting some from the picture post cards of my Amsterdam collection.
The sale, possession, and consumption of small quantities of cannabis, while technically illegal, is legal in small quantities.
In Netherlands, you can possess/ sell small quantities of intoxication esp the soft drugs viz Cannabis, Marijuana etc. Soft drugs may only be sold in assigned coffee shops which are strictly checked by the authorities to see if they follow the rules. They may never sell more than the already mentioned 5 grams. Soft drugs may only be sold to persons of 18 years and older which has to be proven by showing a valid ID.
Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world and is a centre of bicycle culture with good facilities for cyclists such as bike paths and bike racks, and several guarded bike storage garages. Bicycles are used by all socio-economic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam's small size gives motor driving a painful experience for majority of the people.
 |
| Tactile guidance for the blind to the railway station. |
 |
| Shell Oil Headquarter |
 |
| NEMO museum |
Nearest Airport : Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - one of the busiest airports in the world.
The Hague:
The Hague (Den Hague in dutch) is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam.
The Royal Dutch Shell commonly known as Shell, is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands
 |
| Parliament |
Den Hague - Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular for water sports such as windsurfing and kiteboarding.
The nude beach of Scheveningen is one of the oldest nude beaches of Holland. If you prefer going to the beach wearing no cloths then this is the place to go.
The area is marked with clear signs indicating that nudist recreation is allowed. Outside of this area nudity is forbidden.
It is however permitted to enter this part of the beach wearing cloths. For privacy reasons it is not allowed to take pictures or use any other recording equipment.
Rotterdam:
Rotterdam is the second largest city of Netherlands.
The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. Till 2003, it was the world's busiest port; then it was superseded by Shanghai.
The German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Germany decided to conquer the country in a single day, but to their dismay, they faced huge resistance by the Dutch army, and then on 14th May gave a big blow by bombing Rotterdam and threatened to bomb other cities as well. The city was almost completely destroyed by the german troops killing thousands. During the war, Rotterdam was bombed several times during allied raids that were aimed at the harbour area. The City Council decided to create a 'new' and better city than rebuilding only the damaged areas of the city.
By 1970s, the city was rebuilt. By 1980 the city council envisaged and started to give a new look with the State of the art and new styles apartments, office buildings, towers and recreation facilities resulted in a more livable city center.
The Euromast is a tower in Rotterdam, which is the tallest building in Rotterdam. It has an observation platform around 95 meters above ground and a restaurant as well.
From the apex of Euromast, you can get a bird's eye view of the Rotterdam city and especially the harbour and the dock.
Aalsmeer:
Alsmeer Flower Auction is a flower market center of the world, every day, thousands and millions of flowers come to be marketed to the Netherlands and throughout Europe, the largest flower market area in the world.It cannot be described, photographed as its so huge in size, over 1 million sq.m. Every day, millions of flowers esp tulips(Nether land's own baby), plants are brought to Aalsmeer, where it is auctioned off to potential buyers all over the world, thus setting the price of flowers, daily turn over of more than 6 million euros, making .All these are completed pretty early, by 6-7am in the morning, so that the flowers can reach the buyers anywhere in the world while they are still fresh, with a high end sophisticated state of the art logistics system.
Everything happen round the clock within 24 hours.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Courtesy : Internet)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8PM Transport – Growers select their flowers for auction and send them on their way to Aalsmeer.
10PM – flowers are checked in electronically
10:30PM – all of the flowers are put into different refrigeration areas to prepare for auction and flowers are grouped by variety
4AM Inspection – Quality inspectors move throughout the trolleys of flowers checking quality and making notes that will be included with the auction data
6-8AM the clock – the various auctions begin and bidders buy as the ‘clock’ ticks down in pricing.
7-10AM Distribution – Flowers move to the distribution area and resembles a chaotic mess
11AM Transport – flowers are transported out to customers who bought them
4PM – the flowers have made it to the consumer…whew…all in less than 24 hours.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Courtesy : Internet)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kinderdijk :
The Netherlands is famous for its windmills. Today there are still more than 1.000 mills. Nowhere in the world you will find as many windmills as near Kinderdijk.They have been well preserved.
The mills drain the excess water from the polders - below the sea level, which are mainly found in The Netherlands, after which the water is made to flow into the river through sluiceways.
Nowadays power-driven pumping engines do the job, instead of the wind.
In 1997 the mills of Kinderdijk has been listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Site.
As Kinderdijk is in a rural area, getting there with public transport can be a time-consuming process. The easiest way to get there is to first take a train to railway station Rotterdam Lombardijen. Further, you have to travel by bus to reach Kinderdijk.
The windmills were used to help with Netherland's drainage problems.. and to ensure that places with large area do not get flooded because some parts of Netherlands is below sea level.
In winters, Kinderjik turns to be a skating zone. All the small lakes turns into freezing ice land, which attracts thousands to do ice skating.
