Before visiting Amsterdam in October 2012 , I
knew it’s a city that is often described as truly cosmopolitan and a city that
has lot to offer in terms of its culture and hospitality. This was clearly
visible right from the moment I landed at the Amsterdam Airport- Schiphol. The Schipol airport is not among the best of the
airports in the world but is the modest one. In fact the T3 at Indira Gandhi
International Airport at Delhi seems far more modernized. But the ambience of
the airport with smiling people all around does makes one feel comfortable
straight away. In fact the officials at the immigration greeted us with smile
and it just took few minutes to pass the immigration checks. Another thing that
makes one comfortable straightaway is the language. If you know English well,
then language is never a barrier in Amsterdam.
One of the amazing
sight just outside the airport is that of an airplane crossing the over bridge.
It was an unusual sight for me as we are used to watching a train crossing an
over bridge but never thought of a Boeing crossing an over bridge.
The first impression of the city is that of a clean an orderly one,
just like any other city of a developed European country. For me it was nothing
unusual having visited a few European cities earlier too. Amsterdam is not a
crowded city unlike Paris or London. In some areas, we hardly find people
moving around. It’s something like what we see in India when a curfew is
imposed in a town or a locality giving a deserted look
It’s good to see lots of bicycles in a European city. Bike racks
are ubiquitous throughout the city . I
was told there are more bikes than the total
permanent inhabitants in the city. I tried to figure out what the reason was.
One reason that I could figure out was that the transportation by a car is
discouraged by the local government by measures such as very high parking fees
and by closing a large number of roads for cars. The measure may be aimed at
decongesting the city as the roads are not very wide.
Of course bicycles
are a delightful way of travelling within Amsterdam but the city of Amsterdam
boasts of an extensive transport network connecting city districts, and commuters
can choose a variety of methods to reach their destination as efficiently as
possible. This includes the train, tram, metro, bus and ferry.
Windmills are an
iconic part of the Dutch landscape, and no trip to the Netherlands is complete
without a visit to a windmill. With
eight windmills located in and around Amsterdam, windmill spotting is a great
way to see the city. Windmills (molens) were an integral part of Dutch
life for centuries, employed for industrial purposes like milling corn or
draining the lowlands of excess water. Once, more than 10,000 windmills dotted
the Dutch landscape.
Canals are another
noticeable feature of the city of Amsterdam .The numbers of canals have led
Amsterdam to become known as “The Venice of the North”. And thus, a trip to
Amsterdam is not complete without a boat cruise. We also had a canal tour which
was very relaxing and fascinating way of discovering the city. The four main
city center canals are Prinsengracht, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Singel.
While the lake tour is scintillating during the day its highly romantic by the
night when the city illuminates. We did the day tour only because of lack of
time.
If there are huge
network of canals in the city, there must be as many bridges too. Of
Amsterdam's 1280 or so bridges, the Magere Brug, or “Skinny Bridge” is the most
famous. It is a traditional double-leaf, Dutch draw-bridge connecting the banks
of the river Amstel. Approximately every twenty minutes, the bridge opens to
let boats through. The original bridge was built in 1670, but as the traffic on
Amstel increased, a wider bridge was built to replace the narrow one.
Not only is Amsterdam famous for its canals and windmills , its equally
famous for its cheese. The Dutch export well over 400,000 tons
of cheese every year. De Simonehoeve chese farm cheesefarm and clog factory is, just 15km from Amsterdamis where Gouda cheese is being produced. The family Klomp and their staff receive the tourist in the traditional Volendam costumes and
explain how cheese is made and demonstrated
how it is done. In the wooden shoe
factory we were explained and shown how the clogs are made by the traditional way by hand and the modern way
by machine.. The wooden shoes (clogs) were originated in Holland,
though not much in use now.
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