Adelaide's Travel Notes - Netherlands

Netherlands
Amsterdam

	Amsterdam is often called The Venice of the North because of its canals or "grachts", but I think the city has its own atmosphere and beauty - too bad it was raining most of the time when I was there. The 160 canals are the main reference and one of the most popular tours is exactly a boat tour through them. Amsterdam was founded in the 13th century by the river Amstel.
Dutch architecture is very peculiar. In the historical center, where 1/3 of the buildings are over 150 years old, we can see many narrow buildings with steep roofs. Buildings are generally dark with white windows.
	Staircases is these old buildings are also very narrow and so most buidings were provided with a device to allow the elevation of furniture from the outside through the window. On the left you can see the narrowest building - just one window large. It's right above the white car's windshield, between the white building on the center and a brown one that is cut.
Begijnhof is a medieval square that brings us back in time with its quietness. It was originally inhabited my religious women. Only one of the original wooden houses from the 15th century remain.
	Among the great masterpieces exhibited in the Rijksmuseum is Rembrandt's "The night watch". I was delighted with Frans Post's paintings of Brazil in the 17th century, which was the Golden Age of Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum celebrated 200 years in 2000.
Another museum that I highly recommend is Van Gogh Museum, which houses 200 paintings from this great painter, plus many sketches. Because of the rain, we took a bus tour with Keytours. One of the stops is at a diamond factory, where we learn a lot about the different kinds of diamonds and the art of cutting and polishing them into real jewels. The Portuguese Jews brought the diamond industry to Amsterdam in the 16th century.

Links
Visit Amsterdam
Amsterdam Hotspots
Amsterdam Heritage
The Internet Guide to Amsterdam, by Steven Pemberton
Amsterdam in the picture, by Guide-U NL