Monthly Archives: May 2018

Anne Frank House, canal tour of Amsterdam, Gay Pride and Homomonument, Lindberg Tour of Bruges

The Ramblers explore Amsterdam on their own with mixed results!

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We were to board our ship the Uniworld River Queen in three days. During that time, we hoped to tour Bruges  and visit the Anne Frank House. The second night we would have to move from the Grand Amrath (the Shipping House) to the more ordinary Marriott Renaissance Amsterdam. Then, the next morning, a Uniworld bus would take us to the River Queen, docked not far away on the Rhine. Our activities were quite well planned, I thought,  but as it turned out, the best laid plans often get messed up.

The River Queen, unlike most Uniworld boats, she had the look of an old-time steamboat.

One of the most famous museums in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank House and it is always crowded with tourists. The concierge at the Amrath told me that the best way to buy a ticket for a tour was to go to the website .www.annefrank.org/  There it was possible to buy tickets for our preferred day and time as soon as they became available, two months ahead of time. This seemed like good advice as if you don’t buy your ticket in advance, you will have to stand in a long line of hopeful ticket buyers the day of your visit.

On the date we had chosen, we waited patiently tickets in hand in line with crowds of people swirling around us. What we didn’t know then was that the day we picked to visit the AFH was also the day of Amsterdam’s huge Gay Pride Parade. The participants were already assembling by the Gay Pride Memorial the Homomonument,  which is quite near the AFH, when we arrived for our tour. More about this later.

Already, a crowd of people were waiting around the Anne Frank House when we arrived.

You may have noticed in some of my photos that the historic center of Amsterdam is populated with thousands of very tall narrow houses built wall to wall. Up til our visit to the AFH, we had never been in one.  We did’nt realize that they did not have elevators and that in order to get to the top one had to climb stairs which became ladder like as one reached the top floor.  Thus most of these old houses have a hook and cable attached to the roof by which they move furnishing in and out.  Unfortunately similar stairways in the AFH would almost be our downfall.

Here is a photo from the AFH website, wish I had seen it before I bought our tickets. There is yet a steeper set. No photography inside so I had to use theirs.

For some reason, I didn’t even consider that the Anne Frank House might not be handicap accessible, especially after reading a number of glowing reviews. My mistake.  Of course the old house was not built as a museum. Having now been through it, the Ramblers could see that  there is really no space to add an elevator, and so we strongly recommend that if you have trouble with stairs, you only visit the modern museum attached to it. What made visiting the old house even worse was that people took an overlong time looking at the displays yet even more people kept entering at 15 minute intervals. If you are claustrophobic, this can also be an issue as the rooms are small and crowded. You can’t go back after you climb the first set of stairs, so we grimly kept going to the top. Going down was even worse but we survived without any mishaps. We didn’t enjoy our visit, and tired and sweaty, we were happy to step outside into the fresh air.

As we found out, there were lots of people marching in the parade.

There was another surprise awaiting the Ramblers.  We found  that we were trapped at the Anne Frank House Complex because all the streets had been blocked off for the Gay Pride Parade. Those crowds we had seen swirling around the house, had come for the parade. From  what we saw, it was a great parade, lots of people of all kinds having a fine time. Some of their costumes were both amazing and startling but I didn’t take any photos, except from a distance as many were very X-Rated.

Amsterdam’s Homomonument, the world’s first, is located quite close to the AFH, next to the nearby canal. Of course it was the starting point for the Amsterdam Pride parade, which was held on July 30 in 2017, the day we visited the Anne Frank House. As much as we might have enjoyed watching the parade, we were hungry and tired and simply wanted to take a taxi back to the Amrath. But not only were there no taxis available,  it seemed we couldn’t escape from the AFT area until the parade was over as all exits except the canal were blocked and they don’t have water taxis in Amsterdam that we knew about.

One view of the Homomonument which was built next to the canal. It is a memorial to persecuted gays and lesbians all over the world.

Then the senior Rambler had a brilliant idea…he suggested we join the parade until we got to a place where we might find a taxi. After all, not everyone was wearing a costume or waving a flag. Since our only other option was waiting until the end of the parade, we decided it was a good idea and started marching along. It was a friendly group and no one seemed to mind as we slowly edged our way to the other side of the throng and then slipped out when we reached a likely intersection. At last I flagged down a taxi and we were on our way to the Amrath for a well-earned rest. Later on we walked to the canal and watched a variety of boats motor through in a watery traffic jam.

An absolutely loaded boat waiting to clear a lock on a canal near the Amrath.

The next day was our trip to Bruges, highly recommended as a beautiful medieval city by our youngest son. I booked a day trip though Viator, a subsidiary of Trip Adviser. We had good luck with them in the past but not this time. Lindbergh Tours was the vendor and we had to get to their office, according to their directions, at least 15 minutes early. We found their office near the Damrak which seems to be a general meeting spot, checked in and were given a group color. Although we were early, we found to our dismay that others had come even earlier and there were already three full bus groups waiting for their guides. The office manager assured us that there would be another bus for our group and I guess there was, but the Ramblers never saw it. The young man who was to take us to the bus headed off at a very  brisk pace and we soon fell behind. Unfortunately the senior Rambler is not a fast walker. I told him I’d try to catch up with the group and tell them to slow down. But it was a lost cause.

By this time, I was already behind and the bus seemed to be  quite a long distance away, evidently on the other side of the Centraal station. When I finally reached the Station I could see the group  disappearing out the other side, and in my haste, tripped on some marble steps and fell on my face. Some nice British tourists helped me up and I assured them that I was OK, but now, not only had I lost the tour group which was probably headed for Bruges by now, but I had lost the senior Rambler. This was not a good feeling.  I  slowly retraced my steps through the station, noticing that I might have a few bruises the next day, but he wasn’t there. Well, I thought, if he wasn’t inside, he must be outside, and so he was. We slowly walked back to the Lindbergh Office to tell them what had happened.

The interior of our tour boat, Plexiglas everywhere, and it got quite warm too.

Needless to say, we didn’t make it to Bruges, but we did get the money we had paid for the tour refunded. They told us to keep the vouchers for the canal tour that came along with it and so after lunch we headed for the Dam Square again where we would board our tour boat. The senior Rambler does enjoy boats and so despite our miserable morning, we had fun on the tour. There are many companies that offer canal tours in Amsterdam. I don’t remember which one was our bonus boat ride, but I think it was the Blue Boats. If you are thinking of taking a canal tour, the Ramblers recommend spending a little more for a tour boat with open windows. The Plexiglas windows on our boat made taking decent photos almost impossible. That was a shame because there was much to see.

This lady was hanging her laundry to dry. Many people live on canal boats, even with small children. Unfortunately I got some Plexiglas reflections on an otherwise good photo.

The next morning, after enjoying a nice breakfast at the Amrath, we checked out and headed to the Renaissance Marriott by taxi. We were glad to leave the slippery front steps of the Amrath behind, although we loved the maritime atmosphere of the place. On a map, the two hotels aren’t far apart, but the Ramblers were not willing to brave cobblestones, bicyclists and scooters, while dragging our luggage with us. Again we were able to check in early at the Marriott, which left us with a pleasant afternoon to explore the area around the hotel.

Another photo ruined by the windows but I couldn’t resist including this one of intrepid kayakers braving the canal traffic.
Amsterdam, Centraal Station, Sail Amsterdam, Schipol Airport

The Ramblers head to Amsterdam for another cruise on the Rhine.

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In Spring,  2017,  the rivers of Europe were calling again; of course,the Rambler heeded their call. This time, she told the senior Rambler, they were going to try something different. They would arrive in Amsterdam a few days early and spend some time exploring the city. The Ramblers had been to Amsterdam several times but only because Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport was a convenient place to fly into and out of, especially if you live in Atlanta.

A view of the traffic in the river during Sail Amsterdam

The last time we flew into Schipol, we didn’t see much of the city as it was the week of Sail Amsterdam. This is a tall ships sailboat festival held every 5 years.  Because it is such  a special event, it draws crowds from all over Europe.  After we boarded, our captain told us  that the river and canals were too crowded for our ship to dock in its usual spot. Looking at photos of the event later, it was pretty much wall to wall boats on the water, with rows of people lining the banks. Thus we didn’t get to see much of Amsterdam in 2015; this time it would be different.

The sun was just coming up over the canals and ocean that surrounded Schipol when our plane touched down. Even after disembarking and locating our luggage, nothing much was open. I had booked a shuttle that would take us to our hotel, but when we got to the office, it too was closed. Sometimes the early bird doesn’t get the worm.  The shuttle office finally opened, we got our passes and found that the stop was only a short walk. The tricky part was to find the correct shuttle as  all the shuttle busses in Amsterdam seemed to stop here.

The Grand Amrath on a cloudy day.

Finally the right mini-bus appeared and we were on our way to the Grand Hotel Amrath. When we booked our cruise, it included a AAA promotion of one free night in Amsterdam before the cruise. At the time, our stay was at the Grand Hotel Amrath, so I booked two additional nights  for our Amsterdam experience.  Later the free night was changed to the Marriott Renaissance Amsterdam; I could have changed the booking but didn’t so we would have to change hotels on our last night in Amsterdam. On the map, they seemed close to each other, so it wasn’t a big deal at the time.

The Amrath was truly grand in appearance but it had one failing as far as the Ramblers were concerned. Its somewhat slick front steps were steep and had no railing. Although the friendly Doorman was willing to lend a hand, I would have much preferred a railing. This entrance is the ONLY way to enter or exit the Amrath, so keep this in mind, before booking there  if you have balance issues.  Of course we had arrived well before check-in time and expected a wait but the front desk clerk said it was possible to check in early and led us to our room.

The Grand Amrath is a large hotel and the shipping house is one of the 100 most important Amsterdam landmarks.

Needless to say, we were tired and a bit jet-lagged and  happy to check into our room. We had stretched out on the comfortable beds and were just dozing off WHEN we were startled by the sound of construction right outside our window. To our dismay we saw that a large building was under construction adjacent to our room.  It was obvious that the work would go on all day, and probably start fairly early the next morning. We learned that it would be a 5 story addition to the Amrath.

The Rambler was not happy about this; she had booked a 5 star hotel, not a room near a construction site. Making her way back to the front desk, she asked kindly but firmly for a different room. Fortunately the front desk was willing to change our room to one on the other side of the hotel but we would have to wait until it was ready. We readily agreed and eventually found ourselves in a pleasant room with a canal view, far away from the construction noise. We recommend booking a room with a canal view in Amsterdam, as it is a lot of fun to watch boats of all shapes and sizes cruise past.

The canal view from our room, always something going on.

Too bad I missed several Trip Adviser posts about construction noise at the Amrath before we left home. I usually read the most recent posts and the posts about construction were dated a few months earlier.  If something like this happens to you, the Ramblers hope you are lucky enough to get your room changed. I think it helped that we checked in so early, latecomers might not be so lucky.

Despite the steps and the noise, the Amrath is a majestic place. It was built in 1916 for 6  shipping companies in an Art Noveau, but distinctly Amsterdam style, thus its Dutch name, the Scheepvaarthuis or shipping house. Much of its decor has  a nautical theme, and  carved oak and paneling line the halls.  When the shipping business declined, the massive building  was sold to the City of Amsterdam and for a time, housed the municipal transit company. During this period, it was modernized but not in a good way. In 1998, the City put the building up for sale. Fortunately it was rescued by a property developer who had a vision of turning it into a hotel. Architect Ray Kentie successfully turned this vision into reality and in 2007, the Grand Amrath opened to rave reviews. Many of the original decorations were refurbished and more were added as all signs of its post-war modernization were removed. Despite a few glitches, we would enjoy our stay in this historic landmark.

The always busy Centraal Station, a short walk from our hotel.

By late afternoon, the Ramblers decided it was time for something to eat.  We took a brief walk to explore our options and settled on a small restaurant serving traditional Dutch food and hamburgers. Although it was still cloudy , the weather was warm enough to enjoy our meal outside so we could watch the urban scene that unfolded before our eyes. You may guess who had the traditional pea soup and who had the hamburger…

The Ramblers at a traditional Dutch restaurant, me having Dutch pea soup (very good) and the senior Rambler, a burger.

Amsterdam is a city that pulses with life. There is constant traffic, on foot and  bicycle, as well by car and tram. We quickly learned to watch out for the ever-present bicyclists who seemed to stop for no-one, sometimes not even traffic lights. The Amrath was  close to the Grand Centraal Station which teemed with activity, it is a huge place with many shops and restaurants as well as trains. It was also a popular tram stop and meeting place.

Although Amsterdam is certainly a walk-able city, the Ramblers found getting around somewhat daunting mainly because of the large number of pedestrians and bicyclists, in particular as well as motor scooters. Not realizing how difficult it would be for us to get around in Amsterdam, I had scheduled two tours, on the two days before we boarded our ship. After much research, I had booked a Viator Tour to Bruges as we had enjoyed our tours in Provence and also got tickets for the Anne Frank house. Both of these excursions would not turn out quite as the Ramblers expected.