TRAVEL SHEET
Destination:
HOLLAND
Amsterdam
Leiden
The Hague
Keukenhof (the kingdom of Tulips)
HOLLAND at the end of April / beginning of May:
The best period of the year as to be able to admire the blooming of his Majesty: The Tulip!
The civilization of the north of Europe and a “plunge” into the colours of Nature, of the Flowers and of the great Art!!
Reason for the destination’s choice
Lots of reasons! The desire to visit the iconic Amsterdam, the spectacular blooming of the Tulips with a real triumph of colors and scents, the famous Mills and Art!!
Also, the curiosity about their lifestyle, mostly a life on the water (which is also my element ..)
Transports
– Flight to Amsterdam Schiphol (a very big airport that is also super technological – the controls are carried out by thermo-scan).
– Trains, buses and trams to visit and move in town and from one town to the other
Accomodation chosen
As almost usual, a private flat suits us more than any other kind of accomodation. We decided to stay in a private house in Leiden.
A house facing the river; the back garden overlooked the river.
A very special experience that we really enjoyed!!
What we have Seen / Done / Visited
We are passionate about Art, particularly modern and contemporary art, we love the biggest 20th century painters and sculptors, we also like innovative art, Graffitis, Murals and Street Art; we love Art Deco (Liberty) style both as Architecture and as Design and Furniture (but also for the same period’s Fashion).
We like immersing ourselves in Nature, see stunning landscapes, the most characteristic colours of every place …
In this case in Holland the rivers, the Windmills, the parks, the flowers, the markets and, as always, the people and their way of living.
The characteristic dutch towns and the beautiful town of Amsterdam.
I am sure that our photos speak for themselves … about the beauty and the peculiarity of the places visited.
Amsterdam
- city centre (but not only..) by going around by tram, boat, bus and walking
Touristic Tour by boat
The Markets on the canals
- Stedelijk
Museum of modern art
- Van Gogh Museum
- Bags Museum – Tassen Museum
Keukenhof Park
The Tulips’ Park (and a lot of other kind of flowers..)
Leiden
- city centre (medieval town on water and native town of Rembrandt) on foot
- Windmill De Valk in Leiden
- The Hague city centre
- Interesting trip by train between The Hague and Amsterdam
Haarlem
- city centre walking and Jopen Craft Brewery (former Church)
TOP EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES
Keukenhof Park
The park of Tulips and the flowers in general!! Unmissable and spectacular!!
A wonderful experience, a great painting of colours and bursting nature!!
There is also “the Van Gogh Tulip” (almost black, of course!)
The park is only open in the period of flowering and maximum splendor! So, as it is normal… it is almost always very crowded with people coming really from all around the world, a melting pot of races and languages as visitors! one more reason to further appreciate this very special place!
As for the large number of visitors all the time, we have specifically chosen to book for going there on a rainy day … There was a lot of people all the same, but a little less … Moreover, with the rain, I let you imagine the scents of flowers …
It is rather big to visit, both as outdoor areas and as indoor pavilions.
Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam)
Marvellous!!
We are passionate lovers of the great Master. Anyway .. even for the less passionate about Art .. in our opinion it is an immersion not only in his art but in the essence of Art in general!!
Bags Museum - Tassen Museum (Amsterdam)
Here is a niche experience dedicated to us women in particular!!
Yes, I have spotted it! .. In Amsterdam there is a Museum dedicated ONLY to bags and handbags in history and up to the present day!
I just loved it!! By the way, I’m a collector of bags and handbags!
It is logical, as a traveller … but also because I like to change when I go out …
The Museum is housed in an elegant typical dutch house on the river and it is distributed on several floors.
The Cafeteria overlooks the lovely internal garden and the cakes are excellent.
What we have never missed
We always try not to miss anything important in life .. pretty much all the time .. When travelling, even more …
Fish and chips for ever!!
– Super in The Hague there was a real fish shop where we chose the fish and they prepared it on the spot!! They gave us a timer that rang as soon as our dishes were ready! Everything was delicious!
– In Leiden city centre at the Chips specialist: a mountain of French fries with a large choice of mayonnaise of many types.
During the days around for visits or museums, we never miss afternoon coffee or tea!
It is necessary to limit the espresso coffee (which is very expensive ..) ..so, we almost immediately converted to tea with a cake or candy ..
When we are visiting an important or particular museum, since we never spend less than half a day there … (often almost 1 full day ..), a stop for a snack at the Museum Cafeteria is a Must! Usually, these are nice cafes with excellent fresh products … not only in Holland.
In all “beer” places… we certainly do not miss a good mug of local beer, on each occasion tasting various types. Dutch beer is great!!
Fun fact
The first day in Leiden we left the house to go and do the essential food shopping and thus we were in search for a supermarket which (as per the neighborhood’s map drawn and left in the house by the landlady.. unfortunately not very understandable ..) had to be in a few minutes walk ..
Following the map (as I usually do strictly..), unfortunately we could not find the supermarket … but a nice green area, a river with ducks, the bus stop for the city centre, etc …
As it is regular in Holland, people passed.. or better whizzed by bike only ….. just very few cars passed by … On foot we were the only ones …
So, I decided to try to stop an elderly gentleman who obviously was by bike (but slowly ..) to ask him for directions .. of course in english. He not only gave us the directions .. but very kindly he decided to guide us up there! So, we walking and him by bike (slowly) took us directly to the supermarket! Okay, it was a 7-8 minutes’ ride but he was really super nice!
Inside the supermarket I always start working: I have to translate everything for Mario who (rightly) wants to know the characteristics of the products, origin, weight and price per kilo … not speaking dutch .. ehmm … I often asked the employees in english. .. Our food shopping abroad is usually a bit long … but even in Italy it is not a joke …. but in the end we are always very satisfied!!
I discovered that
There are huge parking lots full of bicycles, for example near the railway stations.
You cannot enter railway stations unless you have the tickets: there are high turnstiles at the entrance. Inside there are shops, cafes, minimarkets … but you cannot access unless you have to take the train.
Train tickets’ costs are calculated on a kilometer basis.
For example in Leiden at the bus stop (which took us to the city centre) the digital display board that indicates at what time the next bus will pass (synchronized in real time) was powered by a solar panel.
On buses and trams, you can only get on with the ticket (opening bar); in addition, you need to punch the ticket also to get off the bus (fare always based on the trip).
As everybody knows, in Holland all the people always go by bike and, in front of the bicycle they have like big boxes inside which they carry the children, the dog, the shopping … everything!
Another small example of a civilization of a high level:
On some corners of the residential area where we were staying, there were little wooden houses with the glass door closed (but not locked): everyone can leave inside their books already read to be lent or given to anyone … and everyone can take any book! In Italy, we have a few examples of this kind in some airports… While in Holland, this is something normal, in the neighborhood. Often, from the smallest things, you can really really understand a lot … This means that reading and culture belong to everyone, always! We couldn’t agree more with the Dutch!!
The respect for what belongs to everyone can also be seen in the cleaning and care of the green areas, of the streets … Very good!!
At the supermarket we were struck by a rack with ready-made thematic packs containing all the ingredients (even fresh ones) to cook some recipes..
For example:
Lasagne (mah …), Burrito, Zucchini soup. A great idea!
In Holland, there isn’t just a single type of mayonnaise!! In Leiden, we entered into a Chips Shop to enjoy a steaming cone of Chips (or french fries) and they asked us which mayonnaise we wanted … What does it mean which one? at that moment I realized that there were about 10 types of mayonnaise in huge containers on the counter .. and the owner makes me taste some with a kind of mini-spoons … I can’t tell you how good and creamy they were … I love mayonnaise! Yum!!
Souvenir
We are not particularly consumers .. we spend for travelling and for visiting … and also for tasting typical and good food and products.
We are collectors of magnets and peculiar postcards: at home on the walls we have metal panels full of magnets coming from our travels / on the rear of the postcards Mario makes drawings and they remain among our travel souvenirs.
In addition, when the trolley or the backpack are chock-full .. a few magnets and postacards can always fit , so you can always bring them home.
In Holland, we also added a beautiful bunch of wooden painted tulips (bought at the shop at Keukenhof) and I wanted to buy a present for Mario: the tie with the red tulips. The wooden coloured tulips are in a white vase, always on my desk in front of me.
