So this morning I got up bright and early at around 5:40am, giving me enough time to re-pack up my suitcase, shower, get a quick breakfast, and down to the train station to make it in time to get the 7:00am train to Amersfoort, and then after to Amsterdam.
The train trips to both cities were pretty uneventful. I have to say, the seats on Dutch trains are a lot more comfortable than those on german ones (i.e. my butt wasn't sore like after the train from berlin to the netherlands)...
I got to Amsterdam around 9:30 in the morning. At the train station I put my bags in a locker, to keep them safe until I checked into my hotel. Walking outside of the train station, I found a tourist information desk and promptly went in to get a city map. While inside, I saw posters advertising an "I AMsterdam" card, which could be used for 1, 2 or 3 days (for increments of 38 euros). This card would give the holder free access to all museums and churches (the churches here pretty much are museums), access to one of the canal cruise lines (which act like water-taxis with narration about where you are in the city), as well as free use of the public transportation (busses, trams, and amazingly a subway).
The card was only 38 euros, and seemed like a good deal. Plus it comes with a free city map. With that I was sold.
After leaving the tourist office, I went to go see what was around the train station, namely to buy some sunscreen (it was supposed to be in the 80's with a lot of sun) and a recharge for my cell phone minutes. I found a store for the sun screen soon enough, but no luck on buying minutes. Instead I just got a 10 euro phone card that I could use from pay phones.
I walked around for about half an hour, and discovered how close the red light discrict is to the train station. Saw a few interesting stores (not going into details here...), and made my way over to de Nieuwe Kerk (the new church), which was one of the museums I could get into free. The church itself was incredibly beautiful. Inside there was a pipe organ that was over 100 feet tall, who's pipes were covered by painted panels. The panels could be opened by a hydraulic pump when the organist wanted to play.
After that I made my way up to de Oude Kerk (the old church), and checked it out as well. The inside was equally beautiful, with another impressive organ. Interestingly, this church hasn't actually been used as a church for centuries, but rather a venue for concerts.
Since it was nearing noon, I decided I should try and find my hotel and see if I could check in. Theoretically checkin wasn't until 2, but I didn't think it would to try earlier. It turned out that my hotel wasn't that far away, only a 10 minute walk from de Oude Kerk. I went to the front desk, and was able to check in and go see the room.
The room itself is on the top floor of the hotel (5th floor), and located on the very back of the building. I decided on a hotel instead of a hostel, as I decided now wasn't the time to see how safe hostels in amsterdam were...especially carrying my laptop, camera, as well as passport. The room was actually nicer than I was expecting, with a very comfortable bed, private tile bathroom, and a window that could open (it was hot!). I went after that to the train station to get my stuff and take it to the room.
After getting my stuff settled in, I decided to go explore the city. Over the course of the day, I walked over about half of the city, starting in the north-east part near the train station, and ending up pretty far south west, near to the Rijksmuseum (state museum) and the Concertgebouw (concert hall). I ended up going to quite a few museums as well, including the Van Gogh Museum, the Rembrandt House, The Old and New Churches, a photography exhibit of amsterdam in the 19th century, the Rijksmuseum, and eventually making it to the Concertgebouw. Here are some pics of the city as I walked around:
A Market near the Rembrandt House
A display of what Rembrandt's paints would have looked like
A larger canal with a church in the distance
A smaller canal
Near my hotel
The Rijksmuseum. Basically a good summary of what there is to see in Amsterdam: a lot of very cool old buildings, construction, green areas, and lots of tourists (it's actually packed here - see Market pic).
While walking around the Concertgebouw, I saw a sign for a concert tonight. I looked at the pieces and saw that one of my favorites, the Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 4 in G Major was going to be played! I went to the ticket office and asked if they still had any tickets (they did), and how much the cheapest one was. It turned out that they had 10 euro tickets for the center of the orchestra section, perfect for viewing the pianist's hands. Also, apparently the Concertgebouw has a deal with the public transportation company, as concert tickets can be used as train/bus/tram tickets for a few hours before and after a concert, ensuring that you can come to the concert and not have to pay extra for the train.
I had about an hour 45 minutes, enough time to go back to the hotel, shower, change, eat dinner, and come back to the Concertgebouw. Luckily enough, there was a tram that went directly from the concert house to my hotel (at least, the stop was about 100 feet away). It was about 15 minutes each way, so not bad on the timing either.
After showering, changing and heading back to the concert hall area, I went to find a place to have dinner. I ended up finding a little cafe-type place, and had some roast beef, a drink, and a bowl of fruit, all for about 4 euros - quite affordable.
I then headed back to the concert hall to find my seat. Walking through the building, I found an area where they were serving free drinks (namely REALLY good coffee and tea). I had a cup of coffee with cream and a strawberry tart before sitting down for the concert.
The concert opened with some Berlioz piece (something about a Carnival - not sure the tital), which was pretty good. Opening pieces are never really that exciting, as they are essentially filler pieces before the more important ones. Essentially giving later-arriving members of the audience to get there and still not miss the good stuff.
The second piece was the Beethoven Concerto. It was absolutely amazing! The pianist was incredible, and had a really good interpretation of the piece. Also, they had him playing a German Steinway (made in Hamburg) which has a slightly different key mechanism than the american ones, which was interesting to hear.
There was an intermission after that, where they served complementary red wine, white wine, a rosee, champagne, and of course more coffee.
After the intermission the orchestra proceeded to play the Tchaikovsky 1st Symphony, a piece I hadn't heard before. I actually liked it more than I thought I would (early Tchaikovsky isn't always my farovite). There were some parts of the piece that were absolutely jaw dropping, including a french horn feature in one movement, as well as a few lines in the flute part that required a tone quality on behalf of the flute player that I'd never heard before! It sounded very edgy, with a lot of overtones pushed into the sound. The sound itself had a shape to it that reminded me of a stainless-steel triangular prism (which is very different, considering flutes usually sound like round cylinders of butter or velvet (depends on the flute, really)).
After the concert, I headed back to the hotel, stopping at an internet cafe on the way to check email quickly (no wifi in the hotel).
Overall the day was really fun, and I got a good taste of some of the things Amsterdam has to offer. Of course, you can't cover amsterdam in a day, and I didn't even get to a third of the museums/historical/cool things to see. I also never got around to taking the canal cruise, so I'll have to leave those things for next time.
