A lot of pictures from Amsterdam!

We spent only one day in Amsterdam - but we walked a lot and saw a lot, and we took a canal boat ride and visited a museum, and yeah... so I have a lot of pictures of the crazy city. Here you go - enjoy! The cultural capital of the Kingdom.





Let's start with the royal palace, shall we? This is how it looked in the 17th century (a painting from the Louvre)...

...and this is how it looks now. As you can see, it didn't change much. The beautiful gothic church on the right was as impressive inside, as it is outside.

There were all kind of performers on the square, each doing what they can to attract the tourists and extract their money...

City views from land...

...and from water. The city is literally built on water, some buildings are just standing in it. The canals are used as streets, and there as many boats parked along the banks, as cars parked on the streets.

The famous narrow houses with gables facing the street. I already mentioned before that some of them are leaning sideways because of the shifting soil so much, that they look drunk.

Th gables with the furniture hooks.


This full-size replica of a medieval schooner is docked in the port. It was built by the unemployed, and is now used as a shelter.

This bridge looks a lot like one in Saint Petersburg. Our guide said it was influenced by the style of the famous Russian city.

Dutch are famous for their tulipmania. In 17th century, they say, tulip trade and prices reached astronomical proportions and then subsided, becoming merely a passion. We didn't catch the famous fields of tulips, but here is a market of bulbs - most impressive!

Cheese is another "typical" Dutch thing. Judging by the amount of cows and sheep we saw while passing through the countryside, there should be plenty of milk to make cheese. And yes, there are a lot of diffferent cheeses available even in a regular supermarket, leave alone in specialized cheese stores like the one below. My cousin recommended the famous "Old Amsterdam" variety, and boy, was it delicious!

The royal museum in Amsterdam houses some very interesting collections, Rembrandt masterpieces among them. Not too far from the museum at the Rembrandt square there is a statue of the famous artist and one of his most beloved works - The Night Watch - in 3D.

Some random curious shots, like this "cry of the soul" on the wall...

Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam, which makes it a Mecca for the fun-seeking youth from nearby more conservative countries, like UK. Sometimes things could get a little out of hand, so boundaries are established where necessary - like in this cafe we visited for a cup of tea.

In Amsterdam, there are bicycles everywhere. There are more bikes than people in Netherlands (according to a book I bought). Everybody rides bicycles, regardless of age, sex, religious beliefs of body shape :)

Dutch seem to love their cats. There were fat, shiny, content cats everywhere we looked, even in shop windows!

And yes, the clogs! They don't wear them anymore, at least not daily - but they are in every souvenir shop, and sometimes - in front of them, too.

Amsterdam at night is even more beautiful, with lights reflecting in canal waters, and steeples outlined in sunset skies.