Fangirling in Amsterdam
Last weekend I traveled to Amsterdam for two days of fangirling with sillie82 and BflyW (who flew in from Norway with her daughter A.). On Sunday evening I took the train to Schiphol airport to pick up B. & A. and accompany them to their hotel. I spent the night at my brother's.
On Monday S. joined us and we hung out in the hotelroom to chat and watch Supernatural before strolling through town until it was time for the Station Breaks concert (Check out BflyW's glorious photos!).
On Tuesday we watched some more Supernatural together and explored Amsterdam a bit more. I had a great time:) Here are some photos of our walks...
Sunday evening, February 19: waiting at the gate for the arrival of B. and A.
No, this is not a street in Amsterdam, but the brilliant carpet in the hotel; how cool is that?
LOOK AT IT, THEY EVEN PUT IN MANHOLECOVERS! \o/
After checking in, we walked towards Dam square for dinner and passed the newly opened Beurspassage, an upgraded alley between Damrak and the Nieuwendijk: I was blown away by the new design: it's gorgeous!
Monday, February 20
Streetart in ally between the Kolk en the Nieuwendijk.
Look who's joined us: S is in Amsterdam now too!
More street art and a view of the Nieuwe Kerk on Dam square
The interior of fancy shoppingcenter Magna Plaza, inside the old Post Office (1895).
Haha, never noticed these silly figures clutching to the side of the Nieuwe Kerk before (click to zoom:)
We had cake for lunch at The Drie Graefjes, it was very sweet and a LOT.
After a Supernatural break at the hotel, we walked to Rembrandt square, where figures from his famous painting of the Nightwatch are surrounding his statue.
The detail on these statues is stunning.
I just had to take a picture of this naughty Pippi:)
The Melkweg (Milkyway) venue of the concert of The Station Breaks with Jason Manns (so big!) and Rob Benedict (so small!). It was awesome. For the band I wished there had been a bigger crowd, but the small audience made it feel like a privilege to be there. They sang Brother and made us sing along with Wagon Wheel, which was great. I bought a CD of their own music, and hope to learn the right words of Just Walk Away, because I could swear they sang "I will be your cake" in the chorus, but sillie82 said it was "I will be okay", which may make more sense but I like my lyrics better;)
(BflyW posted her gorgeous photos here!)
What a splendid end to a wonderful day.
Tuesday, February 21
The Korenmetershuis (1620) in front of the hotel had some funky street art on its wall:)
I loved this view of the city from the hotel; the houses are so close together!
A video of the Westerkerk (1631) and the statue of Anne Frank (by Mari Andriessen, 1975); if you listen closely you can hear the carillon. Carillon information:)
This is the carillon Anne could hear from the attic at the Prinsengracht; the house she and her family hid in is right around the corner, behind the church.
There are some creepy decorations on the side of the church.
It is election time in the Netherlands, these are posters of the Party for Animals (yes, we have an animal rights party, they currently have two seats in parliament. The bullets are actually carrots:)
Taking the tram to the westside of the city. A long ride, but we could play a game with the little GVB monster on the window. If you moved your head you could make him eat cyclists and pedestrians, FUN \o/
I could photograph funky tiles all day; the flagpole holder features our King and Queen, I love this neighbourhood. :-)
There are two I Amsterdam signs in town, we are pointing at the one next to Westergasfabriek. We're here to visit the Tony Chocolonely store...
The Westergasfabriek (1885) is a former gasworksfactory now used as a cultural venue. We went there for the chocolate shop *grins* Look at all the colourful labels. YES THOSE ARE ALL CHOCOLATE BARS. \o/
Of course you could sample all their funky flavours; the latest addition is white chocolate with Raspberry & sparkle sugar. My forever favorite is milk chocolate with caramel & seasalt <3
One of my favorite photos of this weekend features one of the statues of Drie figuren op straat (Three figures on the street) by Peter Erftemeijer. (2001)
Here's another one of those figures:)
Digital election posters of all the political parties. I like paper posters better, but apparently they are being fased out all over the country, because this way the parties can't cover up their rival's posters. (Seriously.)
I like how they illustrated the streetnames in this area. This is Coenraad van Beuningen (1622-1693) a diplomat and old mayor of Amsterdam.
A creepy promotional poster for a food festival (for cannibals?)
We had lunch at Brecht, a livingroomcafe decorated with mismatched second hand furniture. It's very cosy:)
A random detailed house on the corner of the Vijzelstraat.
Funky monkeys on the cheeseshop in the Oudebrugsteeg <3
Our final touristy event of the day: a boattrip through the canals. Of the famous seven bridges view only five had the lights on, aaahw.
This set of houses is called the dancing houses because they look so wobbly. (Houses near the canals are build on poles and tend to sink down a bit over the years. They also all lean forward:)
After the boatride we had dinner at the station (great pasta at Julia's:) then brought B. and A. back to the hotel. S. and I walked to the station to catch trains home (in different directions).
I had a great time, it was an excellent fangirl get-together \o/
Speaking of fangirl meet ups: I'll be in London at the end of March. If you're in the neighborhood for tea, let me know!
J.
On Monday S. joined us and we hung out in the hotelroom to chat and watch Supernatural before strolling through town until it was time for the Station Breaks concert (Check out BflyW's glorious photos!).
On Tuesday we watched some more Supernatural together and explored Amsterdam a bit more. I had a great time:) Here are some photos of our walks...
Sunday evening, February 19: waiting at the gate for the arrival of B. and A.
No, this is not a street in Amsterdam, but the brilliant carpet in the hotel; how cool is that?
LOOK AT IT, THEY EVEN PUT IN MANHOLECOVERS! \o/
After checking in, we walked towards Dam square for dinner and passed the newly opened Beurspassage, an upgraded alley between Damrak and the Nieuwendijk: I was blown away by the new design: it's gorgeous!
Monday, February 20
Streetart in ally between the Kolk en the Nieuwendijk.
Look who's joined us: S is in Amsterdam now too!
More street art and a view of the Nieuwe Kerk on Dam square
The interior of fancy shoppingcenter Magna Plaza, inside the old Post Office (1895).
Haha, never noticed these silly figures clutching to the side of the Nieuwe Kerk before (click to zoom:)
We had cake for lunch at The Drie Graefjes, it was very sweet and a LOT.
After a Supernatural break at the hotel, we walked to Rembrandt square, where figures from his famous painting of the Nightwatch are surrounding his statue.
The detail on these statues is stunning.
I just had to take a picture of this naughty Pippi:)
The Melkweg (Milkyway) venue of the concert of The Station Breaks with Jason Manns (so big!) and Rob Benedict (so small!). It was awesome. For the band I wished there had been a bigger crowd, but the small audience made it feel like a privilege to be there. They sang Brother and made us sing along with Wagon Wheel, which was great. I bought a CD of their own music, and hope to learn the right words of Just Walk Away, because I could swear they sang "I will be your cake" in the chorus, but sillie82 said it was "I will be okay", which may make more sense but I like my lyrics better;)
(BflyW posted her gorgeous photos here!)
What a splendid end to a wonderful day.
Tuesday, February 21
The Korenmetershuis (1620) in front of the hotel had some funky street art on its wall:)
Click to viewI loved this view of the city from the hotel; the houses are so close together!
A video of the Westerkerk (1631) and the statue of Anne Frank (by Mari Andriessen, 1975); if you listen closely you can hear the carillon. Carillon information:)
This is the carillon Anne could hear from the attic at the Prinsengracht; the house she and her family hid in is right around the corner, behind the church.
There are some creepy decorations on the side of the church.
It is election time in the Netherlands, these are posters of the Party for Animals (yes, we have an animal rights party, they currently have two seats in parliament. The bullets are actually carrots:)
Taking the tram to the westside of the city. A long ride, but we could play a game with the little GVB monster on the window. If you moved your head you could make him eat cyclists and pedestrians, FUN \o/
I could photograph funky tiles all day; the flagpole holder features our King and Queen, I love this neighbourhood. :-)
There are two I Amsterdam signs in town, we are pointing at the one next to Westergasfabriek. We're here to visit the Tony Chocolonely store...
The Westergasfabriek (1885) is a former gasworksfactory now used as a cultural venue. We went there for the chocolate shop *grins* Look at all the colourful labels. YES THOSE ARE ALL CHOCOLATE BARS. \o/
Of course you could sample all their funky flavours; the latest addition is white chocolate with Raspberry & sparkle sugar. My forever favorite is milk chocolate with caramel & seasalt <3
One of my favorite photos of this weekend features one of the statues of Drie figuren op straat (Three figures on the street) by Peter Erftemeijer. (2001)
Here's another one of those figures:)
Digital election posters of all the political parties. I like paper posters better, but apparently they are being fased out all over the country, because this way the parties can't cover up their rival's posters. (Seriously.)
I like how they illustrated the streetnames in this area. This is Coenraad van Beuningen (1622-1693) a diplomat and old mayor of Amsterdam.
A creepy promotional poster for a food festival (for cannibals?)
We had lunch at Brecht, a livingroomcafe decorated with mismatched second hand furniture. It's very cosy:)
A random detailed house on the corner of the Vijzelstraat.
Funky monkeys on the cheeseshop in the Oudebrugsteeg <3
Our final touristy event of the day: a boattrip through the canals. Of the famous seven bridges view only five had the lights on, aaahw.
This set of houses is called the dancing houses because they look so wobbly. (Houses near the canals are build on poles and tend to sink down a bit over the years. They also all lean forward:)
After the boatride we had dinner at the station (great pasta at Julia's:) then brought B. and A. back to the hotel. S. and I walked to the station to catch trains home (in different directions).
I had a great time, it was an excellent fangirl get-together \o/
Speaking of fangirl meet ups: I'll be in London at the end of March. If you're in the neighborhood for tea, let me know!
J.