A Look Back At Our Week In Amsterdam!
Written: Feb 21 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Takes great pictures, and you must go to the Anne Frank House
Cons: Dirty, Everyone smokes, over-rated
The Bottom Line: I know that people love Amsterdam, but we spent a week there, and it was too long. If you chose to stop here, make it no more than three days.
|
|
|
| sweetsue_98's Full Review: Amsterdam |
Our daughter "highly recommended" Amsterdam, as a city that we would love, so a year ago, we took her advice, as well as her, and thought we would find out what it was that made it an HR in so many people's book of travels. The good news was, we had free airline vouchers, so the flight was free! The bad news was, we didn't find Amsterdam to be that great, and actually a city that seemed filled with lost souls.
Our trip began in Springfield, Missouri, and connected in Memphis, with a night flight arriving in Amsterdam about 8am. The airport is quite nice, except everyone smokes,,,,,,,,even though it is a "non-smoking" airport. Customs was a breeze...basically no customs, and we were out and on our way to the hotel. There was a reasonably priced shuttle service to any hotel, so we hopped on, looking for the Ambassade Hotel....another HR in Fodors and Frommer's guide books. Well, it was an NR and at $250 a night was a big disappointment. We should have checked out, but decided we'd just stay there, as most of the hotels, with the exception of the Intercontinental, didn't look much better.
The interesting thing is that Amsterdam is just beautiful in every picture I have seen, including mine, however, it was dirty, lots of dog poop all over, the canals are actually the sewers, and so many people look lost in a very permissive society. I am not going to get into if that is right or wrong, because, it is Holland, and they do have a different way of looking at many things.
Let's talk about the good things! The Anne Frank house was just a few blocks from our hotel, and really a very touching experience. I even found a few people in the book of Jews that had gone to the concentration camps, with my last name. It was just a house in a row with all the others, but with such meaning and feeling. I HR anyone to take the time, stand in the lines, to see it. The cost of admission was about $5.
Amsterdam has many excellent restaurants to choose from. My biggest problem was, with asthma, the fact that everything was a "smoking area", it was difficult to breath. We finally decided that if we went early enough we would avoid the crowds, and that did help. Food wasn't a bargain! We checked out many different restaurants, as Amsterdam has a collection of assorted cultures, and therefore many different types of food. Our favorites were an East Indian restaurant with about 10 tables, and an equally small Italian place.....both were a convenient distance for walking.
Speaking of walking, Amsterdam is a great city for public transportation and also just using your feet. It was cheap, and the trolly system was excellent. No matter where you wanted to go, it was very easy to get around. The train system in Holland is great. After you get to Central Station (don't worry, you won't get mugged) there are trains that go to all parts of Holland, and they run on time, and are quick. One day we took the train to Haarlem, a charming city about 20 minutes north of Amsterdam. The train station lets you off within a convenient distance to walk......you are right on the edge of town. This city has the most beautiful McDonald's (you know the fast food)....and no we didn't go there, but it is in an old building covered in interesting mosaic tile. It was quite the site. Another day we took the train to Utrecht, about 45 minutes south of Amsterdam, and again an enjoyable place to visit. The trains really do run on time!
We saw most of the "tourist things" in our walks around town. The flower stalls are beautiful, and cheap.....the red light district is interesting. If you want to find some really nasty cards (and yes, I did) they are there......and also found a candle (we won't go into the shape) as a gag gift for a wedding shower.
In summary, Amsterdam is worth seeing. We stayed too long, one week. I would highly recommend that you can "do it" in 2-3 days maximum, and might want to consider it a stop over on the way to or from your big destination.
The greatest part of the trip was leaving, because we gave up our seats, like we usually do, and got more vouchers which we used on another trip. Guess there is no reason to complain!
Recommended:
No
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
sweetsue_98
|
 - Top 100 |
|
Reviews written: 394
Trusted by: 370 members
About Me:
"Still More George W. Bushisms: 'Neither in French Nor in English Nor in Mexican'"
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.