A bit more from Amsterdam

So I’ve had an interesting day in Amsterdam that I thought I’d share with you all!

Hilary flew out this morning, so I’m back on my own again. The day started overcast and only got better from there, with there actually being more blue sky than cloud at one stage in the afternoon. It’s since regressed and the forecast for tomorrow is pretty bad- 20-25km headwinds and a 90% chance of rain, it’s going to be fun. In some ways I’m actually looking forward to the challenge- a bit of a change from 2 weeks of flat riding in the sun. I’m not sure if that’s how I’ll feel when I’m getting sandblasted riding along the coast to The Hague though! :-D

So after dominating the included breakfast (especially the coffee) at the hostel I jumped on the free walking tour. It was pretty interesting, and as you’d expect hit all the interesting spots. As usual I already knew a lot of the content but it definitely filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge to make it worthwhile. The tour lasted 4 hours, and with my meagre tipping it was great value! :-D

The group:

The Waag, a cool old building:

One of the highlights was seeing the headquarters of the old Dutch East India Company. This was partly because I’ve just read Simon Winchester’s Krakatoa which is about a massive volcano between Java and Sumatra that erupted towards the end of the Dutch colonial era. If you want to see some modern photos of the area I really recommend you check out this post from the Highlux blog here.
Courtyard of the Dutch East India Company:

I just want to have a quick rant (and it’s my blog so I can).. Don’t let your child feed the pigeons. They’re the rats of the sky. You wouldn’t let the kid feed the rats would you? So don’t feed the pigeons. I really dislike pigeons. This massive flock of pigeons (this was about 20% of the total flock) was just cruising around Dam Square going from one idiot feeding them to another, and everyone as having to duck to avoid getting hit as they flew around. Rats of the sky. </RANT>

Also of note was the narrowest house in Amsterdam, at something like 1.8m across (at the front, it gets wider towards the back).

After the tour finished I went to the World Press Photo exhibition. I’ve gone every year in Wellington in recent years, so I was glad I happened to be in Amsterdam when it was on. It’s a collection of the best press photos for the year from around the world. A lot of it is pretty harrowing to look at and comprehend the suffering that goes on around the world. The focus this year was on photos from the Arab Spring and the associated conflict as well as the devastation in Japan following the Sendai earthquake. So yeah, it’s pretty intense, but worth it to see these amazing photos printed really big, and to make you aware of things that often the media in places like NZ tend to overlook.

After the World Press Photo exhibition I headed to the Sex Museum for a look (and it was probably the cheapest museum in town at only 4 euro!). I’ll leave my description at the statement that it was interesting. And that it was nowhere near as depressing as the rest of the Red Light district where the women are standing in these glass fronted shop windows that seemed reminiscent of some perverse zoo.

So yup, back on the bike in the morning. I’m staying with Friedel and Andrew (and Luke) from TravellingTwo tomorrow night in The Hague, and according to a tweet they sent they’re making a pavlova for me! Talk about trying to make me feel at home!