BeNeLux - Amsterdam

We are in the hurry this morning since the queue to visiting Ann Frank House is always long.
Ann Frank House where she wrote her diary in the Annex, her hiding place from the Nazis.
Location: Western Canal Belt. Address: Prinsengracht 267
Regular Hours:March 15 - September 14: Daily 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturdays and daily during July and August until 10 p.m.
Phone: +31 (0)20 556 71 05
Admission: Adults: € 8.50; Ages 10-17: € 4; Under 9: Free.

Bicycles parking lot.

Mission completes, we then take a tram to the central station to take a boat tour.

Amsterdam's canals are its signature and arguably most charming feature, and cruising these criss-crossing waterways puts the city in perspective while offering unique views of dozens of spectacular Amsterdam sights in a short period of time.

View from the boat trip.

We then have a lunch at this Japanese restaurant before removing myself from the gang to visit the Beginhof.

The Begijnhof, whose private residences nestle around an inner court. The handsome wooden house at number 34 is one of only two that survive below the river IJ.



Then I take a tram to the Albert Cuyp Market, one of the many open-air markets in Amsterdam.

Stroopwafels Or Dutch Cookies. These addictive Dutch treats are made up of two thin waffle-cookie layers filled with sticky, sweet stroop (syrup). The fresh made one is more delicious than the on-shelf at the supermarket.

Would you like to have some Waffle?

The chocolate stall which I am too lazy to buy and carry one to the airport.
While the Swiss and the Belgians may be better-known for their chocolate, history tells us that the Dutch have long had a love affair with the cocoa bean. In fact, a Dutchman invented the cocoa press, which made chocolate-making easier and thus brought it to the masses.

And that would be the end of my trip.

BeNeLux - Alkmaar, Amsterdam

This morning we take a train to Alkmaar.



The city of Alkmaar is famous worldwide for its cheese market. Cheese has been weighed in Alkmaar since 1593. Cheese carriers carry thousands of kilos of cheese from the ‘Waagplein’ square to the weighing house. Until the First World War, the cheese market was a vital centre for the trade. In 1916, an average of three hundred tons of cheese were sold on every market day.







The Alkmaar cheese carriers’ guild is responsible for moving and weighing cheese during the cheese market on Fridays. The guild consists of four groups (vemen) of seven men each.

A very crowded Cheese stall

Nowsdays the market is only for "a show".

A Today Cheese Carrier??

One will marvel at the predominance of kaas in Amsterdam. The Dutch take pride in their delicious cheeses, the most common of which are Gouda and Edam. The jong (young) variety is mild and creamy, while the oud (old) is mature and has a sharper taste. Goat cheese is also popular and often found on a tasty salad of mixed greens, walnuts and honey.

A bicycle at the red wall.

After having a cheese and ham sandwich, we take a train back to Amsterdam to visit the Rijksmuseum. The museum permanent collection boasts the best of Dutch and Flemish masters. However, it is under renovation until 2013, se we can only drop in to see "De Meesterwerken", a temporary exhibition of the Rijksmuseum's most beloved masterpieces. This naturally includes Rembrandt's De Nachtwacht, the Leiden-born artist's 1650 ensemble portrait of city militiamen, as well as selected works by Jan Vermeer.



After that we take a stroll on the shopping street called Amsterdam's mini Fifth Avenue, Pieter Cornelisz (P.C.) Hooftstraat. We only do the window shopping through the high-end classics (Chanel, Gucci, Hermés, Louis Vuitton), jewelry (Chopard, Cartier) and lifestyle stores, as well as several boutiques selling more luxury labels. After a brief of time, we decide to go to the more affordable stores on the Leidsestraat.



Having a Chinese dinner again tonight but at a different place.
The restaurant is next to the yesterday one. Comparing these two restaurants, I would like to recommend the New King restaurant.

BeNeLux - Zaanse Schans, Amsterdam

Zaanse Schans is the Netherlands in a nutshell: a town of traditional Dutch crafts and architecture, with six windmills, a wooden shoe workshop, a cheese farm and more. Some think it's an open-air museum, but actually, Zaanse Schans is simply a town full of extraordinarily well preserved architecture and traditions – one that's capitalized on its authentic atmosphere and added even more typically Dutch phenomena to the mix.








In front of the Bakery Museum “In de Gecroonde Duyvekater” which produces the popular duivekater bread, a sweet, oval-shaped white loaf.



From our hotel, Hotel van Onna, we walk pass the Westerkerk.


The Westerkerk was officially opened on Whitsunday 1631. It is one of the oldest churches especially built for the Protestant services, and the largest as such church in the Netherlands. The tower (85 m, the tallest in Amsterdam), which occupies a unique place in the affections of the people of Amsterdam, bears the symbol of the imperial crown of Maximilian of Austria, which was his gift to the city in gratitude for support given to the Austro-Burgundian princes. It has inspired many songs and poems and remains a symbol of the city for Amsterdammers abroad.

A beautiful houseboat.

The long line queue for Anne Frank House.

We end up having dinner at the New King, Chinese Restaurant in China Town. A very delicious meal.
Add: Zeedijk 115-117, 1012 AV
Tel: +31 (0) 20 62 52 180
Fax: +31 (0) 20 42 004 720
http://www.newking.nl/
Delicious roasted duck and crispy pork
Chinese Broccoli with oyster sauce
Beef in oyster sauce
Scallops

BeNeLux - Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Breda

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe. For those architecture buffs, Rotterdam has many stunning buildings.



From LP: The KPN Telecom building (2000). It looks like it's about to fall over but for a long pole giving it support. It's the work of Ronzo Piano who also did the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Cube House

Modern residential architecture (cube houses) in the city centre of Rotterdam. The cube houses were designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom, who tilted a normal cube house 45 degrees and rested it on a hexagon-shaped pylon. Each of the houses represents a tree and all togther they represent a forest. There are 38 cube houses all connected together with two megacubes at each of the ends. The houses have got three floors with a living space of around 100 square meters. Some of the residents use the small third floor as their garden.

The cube houses don't have any straight walls inside, so this gives a lot of new residents a headache when they need to buy their furniture. People that choose to live in these houses have to be creative while redecorating their houses.



The Willemsbrug and the White House.

The bridge was completed in 1981, designed by C. Veerling and named after King Willem III of the Netherlands. It is a cable-stayed bridge with a total span of about 318 meters.

‘Het Witte Huis’ (The White House) in Rotterdam isn’t a copy of the world-famous white house in Washington. The Dutch White House was the first skyscraper in Europe and was build between 1897 and 1898. It is one of the few structures that survived the bombings Rotterdam in 1940. The house is designed by Architect Molenbroek. It is 43 meters high and counts ten floors. The style of the building is art-nouveau. It was build with an elevator, which is unique for that time.

Euromast

The city also houses the 186 meters (610 ft) tall Euromast,, which has long been a major tourist attraction. It was built in 1960, initially reaching a height of 101 meters (331 ft); in 1970, the Euromast was extended by 85 meters (279 ft) to its current height.

View from the Euromast.

The 800m-long Eramusbrug with its graceful support was designed by Ben van Berkel.







Kinderdijk

Kinderdijk is a village belonging to the municipality of Nieuw-Lekkerland, in the province South Holland, about 15 km east of Rotterdam. Kinderdijk is situated in a polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740. This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The windmills of Kinderdijk are one of the best known Dutch tourist sites. They have been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1997.



Although, I am not good at riding a bicycle, my friends all agree that riding a bike would help save time than walking. Maybe true for them, but not me. Very tired.



Breda
The name Breda derived from brede Aa ('broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was once a strategic military and political significance.

Chasse Theater Breda (the casino)