Just east of our apartment in Thissio is the neighbourhood of Monastiraki. This busy shopping district skims across the top of the Agora, and is filled with many shops and a hectic flea market.
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Filopappou Hill
Only five minutes from our apartment there are multiple sets of stairs that lead up into Filopappou Hill. This vast hill is an unfenced and somewhat wild park that is dotted with numerous historically significant ruins and other sites. We’ve already wandered through parts of it several times and there is still more to see.
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While in Utrecht we walked along a substantial section of Zocherpark, a lush and scenic green space located on the footprint of the now-demolished city walls that used to encircle the city center.
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Our third and final day trip from Amsterdam was to the city of Utrecht. Neither of us had any preconceptions about Utrecht and it ended up being a wonderful surprise only 20 minutes away. Utrecht is home to over a million people, but the beautiful historic center feels more like a small town than a city.
Read the full post »Rijksmuseum & Van Gogh Museum
We made time for the two biggest museums in Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. Both are incredibly popular but contain famous artworks that make the crowds worth braving.
Read the full post »Hortus Botanicus
The Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, dating to 1638. It originated as a source of medicinal herbs, populated over the centuries by rare plants brought home from Indonesia and other islands by the East India Company.
Read the full post »Rijsttafel
Ubiquitous across the Netherlands are Indonesian restaurants offering rijsttafel. The name translates literally to “rice table” and refers to a meal consisting of many small dishes based on the traditional banquets served during Dutch colonial times to show off the exotic foods of their territories. Today rijsttafel is a popular choice when Dutch people go out with large groups for celebratory meals.
Read the full post »Vermeer’s Delft
Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675) has become one of the most well-loved painters of the Dutch Golden Age despite working in obscurity during his own lifetime. Vermeer spent his entire life in Delft, living and working in his studio where he produced a relatively small number of now-famous paintings including Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Milkmaid.
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Delft is home to two major churches commonly referred to as the Oude Kerk (Old Church ) and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church). From our perspective they are both quite old, however, with the old church built between 1246 and 1350 and the new church built between 1396 and 1496.
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We spent a day in the town of Delft, located just under an hour from Amsterdam by train. With a population around 100,000 it was the smallest town we visited in the Netherlands. Delft is popular with tourists for its picturesque canals, towering old churches, and landmarks related to painter Johannes Vermeer.
Read the full post »De Pijp & Zuid
We stayed in Amsterdam Zuid, a little south outside the busy core of the city. Separation from the overcrowded tourist areas was great for our sanity but the immediate surroundings didn’t provide many restaurants. Luckily, the neighbourhood of De Pijp, only a couple subway stops north, had many great spots for eating and drinking.
Read the full post »Haarlem
We visited the city of Haarlem, a former port town with a pleasant medieval character, beautiful canals, and a fully-restored traditional windmill. Haarlem is located about 20 minutes from central Amsterdam by train.
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