exploring amsterdam
change mood
Every Sunday in December, browse through contemporary artworks from local artists. This is your chance to acquire great art at affordable prices. Make your way to the Spui during your stay at the Central Amsterdam hotel before this art market closes until March 2010.
when all the partying has got too much for you, head out to Volendam on the coast nearby. A service bus from outside the central station takes you to a tiny seaside town reminiscent of a disney set, where locals still wear traditional dress. Top it off with a short trip across the water to Marken, and pick up your bus from there to get back to Amsterdam in time for tea! Fab!
Glasgow is the city of Rennie MacIntosh, a architect with a view in the future. Beautiful buildings or designs for a chair can be seen in this city. On the other side it is also a city where you can shop till you drop. Everything can be bought here, from vintage in de Barras to Italian Design nearby George Square.
It is a nice trip to get to the IJ-Kantine from the centre of Amsterdam. You have to take the boat at the rear of the Central Station to the NDSM yard, the boat trip is for free. It is a perfect way to escape from the rush of the city and enjoy sailing on the IJ.
Relaxe and have a glas of Prosecco and the sea platter: oysters, 1/2 lobster, king prawns and shellfish and enjoy the spectacular view out the window
it is so cool to ride bycicle in amsterdam - you will get it free if you park your car in the park & ride of olympisch stadium. the price for the garage is just 6,-€ per day.
You can climb the roof of NEMO (New Metropolis, near Central Station). Up there you can sit in the sun, have a drink, relax and above all: enjoy a great view over the Y-water and the city of Amsterdam!
formerly popular block, you can't miss this northern zone in a visit of the city.
take a walk in its pleasant streets, try a dish of risotto in one of its restaurant, look above you to see how nice can be its sky at the sunset, and of course go in the Pinacoteca, one of the most important museums of the city!...
I love the phrase "for all the world citizens" , so for the one who would like to explore Barcelona, I will suggest MelonDistrict. It is a residence hall for students, but they keep some rooms for young people like us who explore the city for a couple of nights. The place has a white-gray urban style, but the location and the lovely girls of the front desk is the best.
MelonDistrict Residence Hall
Parallel 101
08004 Barcelona, Spain
+34 93 2172583
http://www.melondistrict.com
Hello to all other Citizens! Cant wait to have the pleasure of visiting the Hotel. I have been to Amsterdam many times in the past but cM will give a totaly new twist to our stay there!
PS: Why not consider Athens for a new cM? ;-)
there is a small, but great service that allows a far better option to the crowded tourist canal boats. You can rent it for 3-6 hours. it comes with a motor and is a well kept, simple boat that can seat 5 or 6. the guy has about six of them he rents. Here is his number: 0204224007
This a unique perspective for a unique view...
a restaurant, club and a space to new things and music.
Finally there is a flavour of East Berlin in Amsterdam! The formal headquarters of one of the Dutch foremost newspapers now houses a myriad of cultural entrepeneurs and a laid back bar on the seventh floor.
Bruges is often heralded the Venice of the North. Once in the city centre you will see why: the historic heart of the city remains untouched, and there are many monument buildings, exceptional churches, atmospheric squares as well as the famous canals.
The hotel exudes a personal ambience, combined with state of the art comfort. Even the most demanding guest will rapidly feel at home!
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Handboogstraat 1
B-8000 Bruges
Belgium
Telephone: +32 (0) 50 25 25 25
Fax: +32 (0) 50 25 25 27
Mail: info.brugge@apollohotelsresorts.com
For the impatient citizens; until citizenM opens, one of the best alternative hotels in Amsterdam is Hotel V.
Individually owned and run, this hotel offers affordable design a little off the beaten path at the Victorieplein, which is in the southern part of Amsterdam but walking distance from the city centre.
Tucked away in a quiet street behind the Rokin, you find one of the best kept secrets of Amsterdam’s music industry.
The largest library in The Netherlands was royally inaugurated in the summer of 2007. The new headquarters of Amsterdam’s public library, next to the Central Station, counts thirteen floors.
One of the newer areas of Amsterdam, the Eastern Harbour District, is the location of a very good Italian restaurant called "Oceano".
Maybe the best thing about it is that during a nice boat trip you can easily park your boat in front of the restaurant and take out pretty much everything they have on their menu. Heated and wind protected terrace takes care of a perfect summer evening outside.
Restaurant de Oceano, RJH Fortuynplein 29, Tel. 020 419 0020. Website www.oceano.nl
The best way to go around Amsterdam and admire its great architecture is by boat; it gets even better if you are lucky enough to do it with a good friend.
Check out this website for a very good overview and booking tool for almost all restaurants in Amsterdam. Including reviews of previous customers. Dining City (www.diningcity.com) is rolling out to other cities of Europe as well, they currently have Amsterdam, Antwerp, Geneva, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Utrecht, The Hague, Hong Kong and New York, USA.
One of the best new places for cocktails in Berlin, Victoria Bar, www.victoriabar.de. Awarded with interior design awards in its opening year already. Victoria bar is at the Potsdammerstrasse. Reviews can be found here.
Hold hands and eat ice cream in Amsterdam's biggest park. Also excellent for joggers and bird-spotters: it contains a population of genuine, honest-to-god tropical parrots.
Halfway between Schiphol and Amsterdam's centre is a huge patch of nature, lakes, walkways, trees and more trees to revive your inner self. More information
Catch a train from Central Station and head for Zandvoort, one of the major beach resorts in the Netherlands. Take a free bus from the station and you’ll find Bloemendaal, nicknamed ‘MTV on Sea’ because that’s where Holland’s beautiful people hang out.
Fashionable district south of the centre. Full of bars and interesting parks mostly overlooked by tourists. More information
Hidden away in the KNSM Eiland. All the best skate, street and fashion brands. Including art exhibitions on their 90 square metre walls. More information
It was a last minute decision to spend the weekend in Amsterdam. The weather forecast promised a fine weather in the days to come so we thought we?d rather go elsewhere than to spend a weekend at our backyard beach (we?re not so much of beach fans). ?been to Amsterdam years ago while Son did a thorough cultural study of the city just three months ago with his friends in college (school?s pre-requisite). Our railpasses stretched its use up to Essen from the capital city of Brussels, leaving us to pay just a fraction of the already discounted weekend tarief from Essen to Amsterdam. Quite a bargain. It was about two and a half hour comfortable ride from Brussels to Amsterdam Airport, where our chosen hotel awaits. Why at the airport and not at the city center? I?ll tell you as I go along.
As soon as my son and I decided to spend the weekend in Amsterdam, we tried to book a hotel room at the city center itself. I guess we decided too late, as most of the hotels that we know of were either fully booked or the prices had gone sky-high. The only option for our hotel budget was outside the city center---where we found one nearby the Schiphol airport. Not bad, as we also love airport scenes. Call us mad, but we do love lingering around the airports and malls---and Schiphol (Amsterdam?s main international airport) isn?t just an airport but a mall as well---or shall I say Amsterdam?s Mall WITH an international airport attached to it.
There were several hotels in and around Schiphol Airport, ranging from one to five star accommodations: Etap, Ibis and Mercure are a few of our favourites. They offer a free shuttle service from the hotel to the airport. Sheraton Hotel is located and connected to the airport itself, but it was far-out of our budget range. Then, we discovered a new hotel just a few steps from the airport--- very trendy and young. We read a lot of reviews and the majority seemed positive about it. We even watched some videos and were pleased with what we saw; but personally, we chose this hotel becauseit was very much within our budget.
OUR HOTEL
CitizenM Schiphol is the trendiest hotel that we have ever been to---it is just about a few steps from the main entrance of the airport. The building from afar is like a grey/beige box with the name of the hotel written on it. At the back of it is literally the runway of the airplanes. In front of it is the main highway to the airport. ?sounds noisy, isn?t it? BUT IT ISN?T! It is actually quiet and very open. The walkway to the hotel from the airport is covered, therefore, rain and snow proof, I may say. The hotel entrance was very red, with its red glass doors and red glass hallway. The friendly English-speaking young man greeted us and booked us right away. Our hotel room was all ready when we got in at around 10 am. Key card was scanned and not stuck in the key slot. Son loved it instantly, while I had to analyze it logically and get over it. It was beautiful at first glance but definitely weird. Intelligently and tastefully designed but?still weird! usually, people call me weird, but this??
The room is controlled by a computerized control panel. When you get into the room, the panel greets you welcome. From there, you can control everything in the room---the lights, the window blinds, airconditioner, tv, etc. You can choose which mood do you want your room to be---business, romantic, love, etc. Super cool! Room has a large wall-to-wall bed with a big flat screen tv in front of it. Toilet and shower are two separate round cubicles but still is a part of the room. Its shape and location in the bed room is really awkward yet tasteful. It is like a cubicle where you utter the words : ?Beam me up, Scotty?, or the bedroom of one of the teenage kids of the Jetsons. A hotel mascot awaits you in your room when you come in. It?s a rag doll and it's there to accompany you during your stay. If you decide to adopt it, you will be charged ?19.95. Shampoos are in dispensers. You can buy the same shampoo with CitizenM?s logo on it from the souvenir shop of the hotel. There are about 60 tv channels in different languages. Film tv channels are free of charge.
My favourite part of this room is the wide glass window fronting the runway of the planes! Watch the planes land and take off from your bedroom window---how cool is that? Inspite of its closeness to the airport, this hotel is really SOUND PROOF! You can?t hear any sound at all! The bed itself is also the most comfortable bed that I?ve ever slept on. Lots of large pillows and the linens were soft and clean!
The bar downstairs is very cool and trendy. There are ready made foods that you can take by yourself. The price of the meals are very reasonable. Sushi costs around ?8 for 8 pieces, noodles, rice meals, salads and vegetarian dishes were also available at reasonable prices. Breakfast is available twenty four hours and there are so many places to lounge around, conference rooms to hold your meetings and a computer area where you can use about 6 of their computers and printers FREE OF CHARGE! The overall design of this hotel is very young and futuristic. Very attractive to the youth, the young-once and the modern business people who wish to stay there for a lay-over.
INTO THE CITY
After checking-in at the hotel, we decided to get into the action right away and boarded the train from Schiphol to the city center of Amsterdam. There is a tourist information just in front of the station. Here one can buy an I AMSTERDAM pass for 24, 48 and 72 hours. This entitles you to a free entrance for most museums and free use of the busses and trams in and around the city. I could have bought one of those but since we were just staying for one weekend and since we arrived already very late in the afternoon, I thought I?d just go around first and look at the bird?s eye view of Amsterdam and visit some interesting museums as we go along.
Our journey started at the Dam, the central square of the city. There were some street performers, a lot of tourists and the ambiance of everyone ?high? from their holiday hormones---including me of course. I wish I could start telling you now what all those monuments, attractions and site are all about, but the space on this blog will not be sufficient, therefore I will make my tips about it on a separate page. What to see at the Dam are the Bijenkorf, a very big and beautiful mall, the famous Hotel Krasnapolsky, Madame Tussaud and the Royal Palace. Then, we moved on to visit the Rijksmuseum, a museum that recently re-opened that houses several paintings and arts of famous artists. The Van Gogh Museum was hard to miss since I have been a fan of him since I was just a little child. My sore feet flattened by the heavy weight of my obessed body gave up and we were forced to take the tram to get us to Leidsplein where we took a cuppa at the imposing white and yellow building of the café Americain. Leidsplein is where the action is---lot of good shops and restaurants. Walking back to the station, we passed by the very busy shopping streets where bargains were still on and people still unreluctantly buying stuffs. To end our day we passed by the Albert Heijn supermarket to buy some fruits and vegetable salads for our evening meal, that is, after we quenched our thirst for window shopping at the Magna Plaza, a large mall of nothing but signatures.
Back at the hotel at precisely 7pm. Feet sore, head turning from fatigue, rested-muscles aching and hunger pangs active, confined us at our room for a while. Cold aircon took my fatigue away (but not my sore feet). Son experimented with the control panel of the room while I checked on my mails from my laptop-served with a FREE WIFI. By the way, I forgot to mention---aside from the free wifi, every hotel room is equipped with a safe fit for every laptop. I found it very handy. Because of the proximity of the hotel to the airport, we thought we?d take a drink at the panoramic bar/restaurant of the airport and watch more planes go by. Then, we went back to the hotel, lounged around at the lounge area and used the hotel's computer at the lobby FREE of charge.
THE DAY AFTER
Ahhhhh?a brand new morn! I have dozed off pretty deep. ?woke up with smile on my face rather than ?gosh! What time is it? Darn!? sort of morning. It was 5am and ?was ready to hit the road. Unfortunately, Son was still in his REM state and I dared not destroy his peace or it would be war the rest of the day. I opened the window blinds to have an early glimpse of the comings and the goings of the planes that must have taken me to or taken me home from a holiday of my dream. Oh well, watching them pass by my window was exciting enough. Next time, it will be my turn to travel farther ---to my dream destination. TV was set on the free film offered by the hotel. Actually, there were two film channels where I was zapping to and fro until I fell asleep last night. Can?t remember what they were. I was so tired to really watch them fully.
At 6am, I finally hit the shower. The shower wasn?t really privacy-friendly. Although you can set the light inside the cabin on the mood of your choice, the walls and doors are see-through. Not convenient if you are sharing a room with a specie of opposite gender. Although there was a white curtain in between the shower and the bed, the curtain was also see through! Surely the interior designer of this room was a male, lol! :o! Sooooo, anyway, I decided to put off the light, opened the blinds of the window and let the lights from the runway lighten up the room and conceal the shower cubicle from the bed to protect my privacy---just in case Son wakes up and have a shock of his life. The shower was great though---the rain shower gave me the wow feeling of having--- a shower, well, ahhh, in the rain! Son woke up at 7am, had his share of public display in our shower room and off we went to the airport to take our breakfast at Starbucks. (BTW, if you want total convenience, CitizenM also offers breakfast at a very reasonable price!)
Back to the city center at 10 am, locking backpacks at the luggage depot of the central station. The fee was minimal and you can pay with your debit card or credit card. Should you want to pay in cash, ask the person-in-charge so that he can help you. Friendly staff---they are always there to help.
Our itinerary for today is pure relaxation with a bit of shopping and city orientation. Son asked me if I wanted to see the famous sights of Amsterdam and I eagerly said YES. So, he brought me to the ---Yeah? yeah?the Red Light District. Didn?t really see much, I just wanted to get out of there right away. Too wild for an aging female like myself, I guess. Soon, we were window shopping at the coolest streets of the Negen Straten (9 Streets) Wowowee! This place is awesome. It?s all nine streets of delightful shops and restaurants---
Brunch we did at the restaurant De Jaren. It is a grand building on the side street of the Negen Straten; quite clean, classy and trendy place to eat. Then, we went to visit the museum of the famous ANNE FRANK. Since it was forbidden to take pictures inside the museum, I took the liberty of taking the picture of the actual house where Anne used to live in, and the lower part of the house where Anne?s father used to work. We also visited a few churches such as the Nieuwe Kerk, St. Nicholas Kerk and Westerkerk. The views of the canals were phenomenal. The last part of our visit was way back to the Dam again and see more of the places that we?ve missed the day before, such as Madam Tussaud and the Bijenkorf. Our final goodbye was at the top restaurant of Bijenkorf where we had a delicious apple cake, coke and coffee.
Amsterdam is not so far from our place and yet the least visited city in our list. Now that we?ve found the cheapest way to get there via public transport, the Amsterdamers will surely see a lot more of us in the coming days.
WIJ ZULLEN TERUGKEREN! (We shall be back!)