Tag Archives: holland pass

Trip Planning, Airbnb, Holland Pass, Restaurants & Sights 13-15Apr2014

Posted on by
1939444_10152323518184494_295813700025215480_n

haarlemmerplein at night

this my last post on amsterdam.

wife did good trip planning & reserved a haarlemmerdijk apartment via airbnb. it was a huge apartment with 1 bedroom, big hall, full kitchen (with great coffee maker & coffee & tea provided) & dining, great toilets & showers, and was located in amsterdam’s famous jordan district. its a diverse happening place, filled with fashion boutiques, interior decor shops, cheese, specialty food, dining, cafe & of course amsterdam’s famous coffeeshops, just a stroll from amsterdam central station along haarlemmerstraat linking into haarlemmerdijk. 🙂

we purchased the holland pass online, and i bought the 5 tickets pass for 49.50 euors (5% discounts online). it came with a free train connection from schipol airport to amsterdam central (4euros) & a free 24hr city bus ride (7euros). considering that i had used 2 gold tickets for keukenhof (15euros) & rijksmesuem (15euros), & 2 silvers for schipol-keukenhof return bus connection (9euros) & 100 highlights canal cruise (15.5euros), i would say it was well worth it.

we brought a huawei 3g/4g mifi with us (lent to us by my wife’s good friend) and bought a lebara 1gb sim card at schipol (it’s also available in shops around town). so we stayed connected throughout & my daughter became expert in google map guiding us to beulings & zazas (we took the trams) where we had made prior dinner reservations, and also during the waterland cycling trip. 🙂

we made some miscalculations & was not able to get the bikes at zaandan station to cycle at zaanse schans, but otherwise everything went smoothly. 🙂

10013673_10152323519504494_6804823620427160008_n 1902971_10152323519449494_7097930739955254532_n

cheese - really excellent cheese here

cheese – really excellent cheese here

we were slightly early on checking in. fortunately haarlemmerdijk had many cafes around every corner. 🙂  cheese shops too.

the cruise terminal next to amsterdam central

the cruise terminal next to amsterdam central

multi-storey bicycle park next to amsterdam central

multi-storey bicycle park next to amsterdam central

beautiful amsterdam central station opened in 1889 & handles 250,000 passengers/day

beautiful amsterdam central station opened in 1889 & handles 250,000 passengers/day

after visiting zaanse schans windmill country on my first day arrival on 13.4.2014, we went to holland international terminal in front of beautiful amsterdam central train station, & queued 45mins for the 100 highlights cruise.

rihksmeseum - taken using my samsung s4 4x magnification from tram

rihksmeseum – taken using my samsung s4 4x magnification from tram

i amsterdam in front of rijksmeseum

i amsterdam in front of rijksmeseum

nightwatch

night watch

an old woman reading

an old woman reading

after seeing the dazzling keukenhof gardens on 14.4.2014, we went to rijksmeseum, saw rembrandt’s night watch & an old woman reading, such incredible details. 🙂

city trams - we got quite used to taking them

city trams – we got quite used to taking them

we used the trams a lot to get from our apartment to amsterdam central & to get to the restaurants beulings & zazas, so made full use of the 24hr pass. 🙂

984046_10152323518404494_3481802143555449988_n

herons scavenging in the streets – on our way to zazas

we saw herons scavenging on the streets on our way to zazas on our second evening on 14.4.2014. flea market or something in the day?

735667_10152325891724494_4570746694261889291_o

dam square – on the left is madame tussaud’s

10013392_10152325891654494_1309945835150156419_o

dam square

1507264_10152325892694494_4208903154135087850_o

dam square

after 1/2 day cycling to waterland on 15.4.2014, we had some time to spare before dinner. wife & daughter went to madame tussaud’s at dam square to use up the last 2 holland pass tickets.

10258095_10152325891104494_3343446793847690332_o

down the road from dam square toward de wallen, the red light district

1926082_10152325891984494_3429214607372308456_o

canal along oudezijds voorburgwal where de wallen is located

10257782_10152325892689494_8367830559762973898_o

canal along oudezijds voorburgwal where de wallen is located

178234_10152325892434494_2417389001128603557_o

canal along oudezijds voorburgwal where de wallen is located

hashish & marijuana meseum

hashish & marijuana meseum

10001170_10152325892024494_8475352937643523474_o

sex shops in de wallen

980270_10152325892529494_4230286064050472685_o

sex shops in de wallen

i took a stroll down towards the canal to see amsterdam famous de wallen red light district ( i was last here in 1980 after my final exams when studying in england). it was late afternoon so no activity only sex shops & weed museum…haha. 🙂

1961778_10152325891174494_125731678959208820_o

back to dam square

walked back to dam square. was walking across the road & tripped & fall mid way.  had a cut at the brow & bled, broke the frame of  my new specs (fortunately i brought spares), and had 2 balukus (swellings) on my chin & below the eye. fortunately it was just a shallow cut and only thing that was badly bruised was my ego. passersby were very helpful & a shopkeeper gave me tissues & let me cleaned up in his toilet. getting clumsy too soon. sigh!

c.h.e.f andy

The Dazzling Keukenhof Gardens on 14Apr2014

Posted on by

10010694_10152324154439494_1968114574386018393_o

2 things wife wanted to do was to cycle in amsterdam & see the tulips at keukenhof gardens, hence the “detour” from the initial vacation plan of lake como & cinque terre. 🙂

we had the holland pass so we used the gold pass for entry to keukenhof gardens (cost 15euros). we used a silver pass for the bus return from schipol airport to keukenhof (cost 9euros). for the journey from amsterdam central to schipol we had to pay 4euros as it was not covered by the holland pass. if you do not have holland pass, you can get a combi ticket here including return from amsterdam central & entry to keukenhof for 28euros.

keukenhof is located in lisse and used to be the part of the the estate of teylingen castle.  games were hunted & food collected for the kitchens of the castle, hence keukenhof or kitchen courtyard in dutch. in 1857 the same architect who designed vondelpark, redesigned the castle gardens in english landscape style, the basis for keukenhof today. there is wifi throughout the gardens & you can download the map here.

1491404_10152324154584494_1619558432335781847_o10001141_10152324154609494_6870061805670920859_o 10003841_10152324154699494_8980318293973010180_o

10003936_10152324208294494_844549599903163559_n 10010156_10152324154879494_2861123729725982064_o 10258868_10152324154884494_6720150756093696445_o

tulips galore! 🙂

10001060_10152324155119494_6349223419015359546_o 739980_10152324155124494_136405312973249447_o 10271389_10152324155224494_842057631764006474_o 1614236_10152324155484494_7706630115468208641_o 10012075_10152324155469494_711312121734909555_o 1116126_10152324156019494_2387449843793534145_o 1502891_10152324156069494_2888144509955405673_o1973952_10152324156379494_3657093105507262807_o10011808_10152324156484494_1527914064701039584_o 10257431_10152324156629494_474461201624268161_o 1398123_10152324157074494_9053284647028024686_o 1973400_10152324157174494_712403490240528705_o 1956877_10152324157324494_4390928423311559882_o 10013482_10152324157469494_4812909756787090674_o

flowers were mostly in full bloom and it was a wonderful stroll through the garden. very pleasant indeed. 🙂

1979962_10152324157449494_1470062341815761313_o 1796905_10152324158314494_3956684801797591382_o 1980081_10152324208059494_6344168547851811484_o 1973781_10152324208129494_4626466393959763582_o

floral art. 🙂

10264070_10152324157564494_9007116004039798518_o 1277752_10152324157789494_6230438069410845159_o 1801140_10152324157774494_7266530276112006582_o 10258680_10152324158289494_4960030152666608316_o

sakuras. quite pretty these, but of course nothing could compare with seeing sakuras in kyoto or tokyo. 🙂

1116160_10152324158774494_1336341812136941219_o 10264231_10152324159229494_721334408663903420_o 10264170_10152324159194494_1508266347786034865_o

10265440_10152324160299494_8054472473679887779_o 1980081_10152324208059494_6344168547851811484_o 1979290_10152324161264494_4694955522168463893_o 10269303_10152324161324494_8483296566816762400_o

there was an animal pen.

10256670_10152324161424494_7264271184260834671_o 10269047_10152324161569494_21218678877618617_o 10256614_10152324161614494_2750283464990532671_o 920018_10152324161654494_5984812188920496513_o 10269201_10152324162229494_4879311589163227092_o 1966174_10152324162339494_668193052270916864_o 736144_10152324162239494_491995898939640256_o 10014129_10152324162824494_8489715076114964709_o 1974102_10152324162819494_3135737160635632888_o 1597049_10152324162829494_8552048483693300192_o

fun time for the children, and adults too!

10001157_10152324163029494_1894278971887202253_o 1493354_10152324163054494_2388286247868304531_o 10003823_10152324163049494_191249325642484268_o

such beauty! 🙂

1962143_10152324163339494_7719732654879106286_o 1556445_10152324163379494_9173515927126708875_o 1836634_10152324163374494_5763490590371558691_o 10010670_10152324163824494_1109040333191114391_o

keukenhof was really beautiful. a very enjoyable day. we visited villa carlotta later when we visited tremezzo in lake como, and that was extremely beautiful too, and villa carlotta gardens was in a landscaped natural terrain setting, not garden plots, so it had added attraction. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy