Amsterdam

I was fortunate to be able to go on a quilting cruise " Voyage of the Vikings"  through, Quilt Seminars at Sea, out of Bellevue, Washington.

What a trip.  My friend Jan and I arrived in Amsterdam, two days before the cruise, and got to explore and take a couple of bus trips to areas around the city center.

These first two pictures are views from our hotel window, the Radisson Blu. in the middle of old town Amsterdam.  

See those hook like appendages at the top of the buildings?  They are used to hoist large objects up the side of the house and into a window.  There are very narrow stairways in these houses, and they are not single family dwellings. They use a block and tackle assembly to do the lifting.

The roofs are used for gardening.  There is no smog or air pollution. There are flowers and plants everywhere.

The streets are very narrow and made of cobblestones.  A lot of one way streets for cars, but the thousands of bicycles don't pay attention to the direction.

The picture below is our bus on the right and an electric train on the left.  There was barely enough room for passing each other. The mode of transportation is bicycle, and bicycles, small cars, motor scooters and of course walking.  Jan  and I walked at least 4 miles a day.

One other way people get around as well as live on, are boats.
People are moved around on the canal by tour. personal boats and materials are moved by special barges.
They even build stages by using special barges that are tied up, by a bridge, so that people and stand and watch the show.

There are still some windmills around the city and countryside..
That amount of them that are still working is way below what was in the country once upon a time.

The architecture for the old and new Amsterdam is stunning.
There is building happening everywhere. It feels like there are never not enough apartments.
New structures are going up all around.

We did stop at a diamond museum. There were persons show how diamonds are cut, all about the different colors, and sizes
Naturally they had loose as well as ones set available for sale.  Lets just say they are beautiful.  Several people did walk out with some new jewelry.

American culture was everywhere.
This poster was in the bus parking garage.

The room where we were able to look at loose diamonds was locked behind us.
All of the diamonds we were able to view are kept under lock and key.. They are moved from safe to the secure room by an air or vacuum tube system..  It allows for a more secure system.

These windmills are part of Zaanse Schans, a museum village on the River Zaan,  North of Amsterdam.
All of the windmills in this village are working.

This one is used to cut wood.  It is still a working sawmill that was build in 1592.

Life on the river is made up of permanent homes.
The homes cannot be moved, and are secured permanently.  They do rise and fall with the changing water levels, but
cannot be moved from one location to another..  The homeowners pay taxes based on the space they occupy.  Some are plain and others have elaborate gardens, balconies, miniature backyards with a grill  for barbecuing. 

In Volendam we visited the museum.
In one room is "Sigarenbandjeshuis".
The room and all the contents in it is made of Cigar Bands.
It was created between 1947 - 1996 and uses more then 11 million cigar bands in the different mosaics and objects.

Closeup of cigar bands from the picture above.

The wall shows different coat of arms.

This picture shows what a shop would have looked like.

Had to get at least one bird picture in here.
In Holland they are called Grey Herons.

There are alleys between some of the buildings. that are pretty narrow.

Found this interesting.  This heron, seems to be begging and people friendly.
On the waterfront  on Volendam.

We boarded a ferry to take us to our next village, Marken.

I will write a bit more tomorrow about Marken and the quilt shops in Amsterdam.

I was duly impressed with Amsterdam.  I would love to go again, and see when the tulips are in bloom.  They say the fields of tulips are gorgeous.
I could continue about all of my impressions of Amsterdam.
It was a beautiful vibrant city combining old with the new.
It was a busy city.  Lots of places to eat both inside and out.  The Hop On Hop Off, bus gives a great way to visit different parts of the city.  You can choose where to explore.
If you are in a walking mood it is easy to visit so many of the sights.
Our hotel seemed to be in the very middle of the old section of town, and easy walking to
museums, cafes,  markets, a casino, and of course two quilt shops and one great fabric store,
More on that tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Mary