Globus Tour: Netherlands and Belgium, 2007
31/10/07 - 2/11/07
When I last wrote for pen_voyage, I was exploring the picturesque German town of Rothenburg and then cruising down the Rhine on a crisp sunny Autumn morning.
Next stop: the Netherlands!! Land of clogs, canals and cheese. Also, as I discovered: bicycles!
The sheer number of bikes in Amsterdam took a while to get used to. They're everywhere. There are massive parking stations for bikes and dedicated bike lanes and traffic lights. How civilized!
We arrived in Amsterdam after dark, and what a better introduction to the town than a tour of the red light district!? After checking in and having dinner, some of the tour group were escorted on an unofficial tour around Amsterdam's other well-known tourist attractions. I felt a bit awkward at times because we were quite conspicous as a tour group, and our guide would stop at certain points to give us some commentary.
Still, I was glad to have the opportunity to check out the small laneways lined with windows of women spruiking their wares. I wouldn't have ventured around there by myself and as a sociology/gender-studies nerd, I found lots to fascinate me. In my paper journal I have written: "I am intrigued by the contrasts here, and the openness".
So many of the houses in Amsterdam had big uncovered windows and illuminated living rooms inviting the eye of the voyeur. Much to ponder here about class, sex and gender.
But onto the photos...
On our first morning in Amsterdam we were taken on a canal cruise around the city. Perfect way to see the place!
The canals by night:
After the canal cruise (and a rather boring visit to a diamond shop) we had free time to explore. Mum and I checked out the fantastic Van Gogh museum. It was very cool to see the Potato Eaters, Sunflowers and Bedroom paintings in the flesh. :)
I was all museumed out by then, so I wandered around the town while mum went to the Rijksmuseum to see some Dutch masters.
I bought some postcards, marvelled at the different sense of community inspired by a decent public transport system, and "made some photos" (as Vidko, our tour guide would say). I had already developed a small series of bicycle photographs throughout the trip, but in Amsterdam there were so many scenes to choose from!
This poor old thing didn't look like it had been anywhere in a while:
In the evening, we went on the optional extra excursion to the old fishing town of Volendam, about 20km outside of Amsterdam. There was a big farewell dinner with some speeches and a real sense of friendship amongst the tour group, for surviving and enjoying such an epic and fast-paced trek through Europe.
On the way out to Volendam we stopped at a cheese-factory, a clog-making workshop, and yes... a windmill. Oh so touristy, but oh so fun. It was good to get out of the city for a while too, and being near the seaside for dinner was lovely.
One final destination before heading into London.... we stopped in Brussels for lunch! Yep, another day: another capital city!
The weather was a bit drizzly and I was quite keen to get to London, so I probably didn't enjoy Brussels as much as I could have, but here are a few snaps anyway. I was still amazed by how different each European city was from the previous one we had visited.
On the way to Brussels we stopped by the Atomium, built in 1958 for the Brussels World's Fair:
And once in Brussels, before lunch, we were taken to Manekin Pis - possibly the most boring statue in the world...?
Sidestreets away from the main square, Brussels.
Grand Place, Brussels:
We piled into the coach one last time, left Brussels and headed for the train station. Next we boarded the super-fast Eurostar and zoomed from Belgium, down to Calais, through the chunnel and into London!
When I last wrote for pen_voyage, I was exploring the picturesque German town of Rothenburg and then cruising down the Rhine on a crisp sunny Autumn morning.
Next stop: the Netherlands!! Land of clogs, canals and cheese. Also, as I discovered: bicycles!
The sheer number of bikes in Amsterdam took a while to get used to. They're everywhere. There are massive parking stations for bikes and dedicated bike lanes and traffic lights. How civilized!
We arrived in Amsterdam after dark, and what a better introduction to the town than a tour of the red light district!? After checking in and having dinner, some of the tour group were escorted on an unofficial tour around Amsterdam's other well-known tourist attractions. I felt a bit awkward at times because we were quite conspicous as a tour group, and our guide would stop at certain points to give us some commentary.
Still, I was glad to have the opportunity to check out the small laneways lined with windows of women spruiking their wares. I wouldn't have ventured around there by myself and as a sociology/gender-studies nerd, I found lots to fascinate me. In my paper journal I have written: "I am intrigued by the contrasts here, and the openness".
So many of the houses in Amsterdam had big uncovered windows and illuminated living rooms inviting the eye of the voyeur. Much to ponder here about class, sex and gender.
But onto the photos...
On our first morning in Amsterdam we were taken on a canal cruise around the city. Perfect way to see the place!
The canals by night:
After the canal cruise (and a rather boring visit to a diamond shop) we had free time to explore. Mum and I checked out the fantastic Van Gogh museum. It was very cool to see the Potato Eaters, Sunflowers and Bedroom paintings in the flesh. :)
I was all museumed out by then, so I wandered around the town while mum went to the Rijksmuseum to see some Dutch masters.
I bought some postcards, marvelled at the different sense of community inspired by a decent public transport system, and "made some photos" (as Vidko, our tour guide would say). I had already developed a small series of bicycle photographs throughout the trip, but in Amsterdam there were so many scenes to choose from!
This poor old thing didn't look like it had been anywhere in a while:
In the evening, we went on the optional extra excursion to the old fishing town of Volendam, about 20km outside of Amsterdam. There was a big farewell dinner with some speeches and a real sense of friendship amongst the tour group, for surviving and enjoying such an epic and fast-paced trek through Europe.
On the way out to Volendam we stopped at a cheese-factory, a clog-making workshop, and yes... a windmill. Oh so touristy, but oh so fun. It was good to get out of the city for a while too, and being near the seaside for dinner was lovely.
One final destination before heading into London.... we stopped in Brussels for lunch! Yep, another day: another capital city!
The weather was a bit drizzly and I was quite keen to get to London, so I probably didn't enjoy Brussels as much as I could have, but here are a few snaps anyway. I was still amazed by how different each European city was from the previous one we had visited.
On the way to Brussels we stopped by the Atomium, built in 1958 for the Brussels World's Fair:
And once in Brussels, before lunch, we were taken to Manekin Pis - possibly the most boring statue in the world...?
Sidestreets away from the main square, Brussels.
Grand Place, Brussels:
We piled into the coach one last time, left Brussels and headed for the train station. Next we boarded the super-fast Eurostar and zoomed from Belgium, down to Calais, through the chunnel and into London!