Roger and Stephen in Singapore

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Amsterdam

The warm weather continued on our holiday which made Amsterdam a lively city with many restaurants busy with alfresco diners soaking up the sun after a late cold winter.
Getting away from the tourist masses in the Kalverstraart area we were taken by the many beautiful houses and interesting shops along the canals. Everywhere we looked we would see beautiful restored houses each one different with decorative features such as gables and cornices. Some retained wall plaques that were used to identify the houses before street numbering was introduced. Also noticeable was the tilts the houses had due to the houses foundations sinking. Some houses facades also tilted forward but many were built like this for the purpose of the windows being protected when goods were winched up to the attic.
Copenhagen prepared us for the bikes and bike paths and we joined the locals by hiring bikes and riding the various streets and lanes around the canal. We also did a few laps of the large inner city park called Vondelpark which was crowded with joggers, picnickers and dog walkers.
We spent an enjoyable afternoon at the recently reopened and renovated Rijksmuseum as well as watching a free concert for Liberation Day in which members of the Royal family were in attendance.

Houses along the canal

Boats lining the canal

Tilting house

Boats on the canal

Wall plaques

More houses ( some facades tilting forward )

Sint- Nicolaaskerk church ( Patron of Seafarers )

View of the Waag (weigh house )

Bandstand at Vondelpark

King Willem - Alexander , Princess Beatrix and Queen Máxima at the concert

Crowds at the Liberation Day concert

Concert goers listening to the concert on the canal

Rijksmuseum

Koninklijk Paleis ( Royal Palace )

The InterContinental Amstel hotel

Saturday, 18 May 2013

Copenhagen

Our first view of Copenhagen was the large quantity of wind turbines in the ocean as our plane approached the airport. Copenhagen is a mixture of beautiful old buildings and crisp lines of new architecture and we were staying in a relative new suburb called Orestad. This suburb is a green suburb with many of the buildings designed to save energy.
We certainly weren't prepared for the amount of bikes in Copenhagen and had a few near misses crossing the bike paths next to the the footpaths.
At first glance we found it hard to get our bearings in the city centre due to lack of English signs for tourists. We decided that a tour on the sightseeing bus would give us a quick insight into the city and then we could go back and spend more time at the sites we wanted.
After getting some knowledge of the layout of the city it was easy to get around by walking as Copenhagen is a relatively flat city and also the city had a good transport system.
Locals had told us that we were lucky with the weather and although sunny, the cold winds made it chilly when out of the sun.
We watched the Changing of the Guard at Amalienborg Slot which is the official Royal residence and it seemed so different from London as you stood in the quadrangle rather than behind a fence when you watch the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.
The area called Nyhavn was particularly beautiful with the canal lined both sides with colourful houses which now contain bustling restaurants with alfresco dinning and a great place to try Denmark's love of herring in one of its many forms. This area was also where Hans Christian Anderson lived for a period.