May
2
2009
In the morning I took the bus back to the airport and met up with Peter who was nice enough to let me tag along with him to do some plane spotting at Schiphol. Early on we were able to catch a plenty of departures from Polderbaan east spot. It is located half way down the runway so the birds rotated right in front of us. Once again I wished I had a better camera especially with another two dozen people around me with telescopic lenses. Plane spotting is really big there, there were a few families out with kids and lawn chairs just enjoying the weather and watching airplanes.
After the morning departure rush we decided to go to another spot at Kaagbaan to catch some arrivals but by the time we got there, they switched the runway configuration once again and there were no more birds coming that way. Disappointed, Peter took me to the Aviation Megastore model store near by. And megastore it was - pretty much an entire warehouse filled with tons of models, aviation books, magazines, pilot supplies and so on.
We cooled down at the model store and went out to the east corner of the airport to watch the arrivals but once again they switched the configuration a few minutes after we got there. The planes were still pretty high at that point so I did not get any good pictures there. Soon we were heading over to a spot right next to the taxiway that goes to Polderbaan. There we were pretty much right next to the birds so the most of my good pictures came out of there. We spent a good chunk of time there shooting everything that came in - from Fokker 50s to a number of 747s. What really got me thou was that pretty much all the pilots taxiing by had their windows open and waving to the crowds taking the pictures or just watching there. I thought that was a really nice touch.
It was time to leave afterward Peter dropped me off at the terminal and I took the bus back to my hostel. I went out and shopped for some souvenirs and then met up with Gertjan, another couchsurfer. We had a quick dinner and unfortunately I could not join them for a party afterward since I was starting to feel pretty sick. I went back to the hostel and packed up. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Amsterdam, Amsterdam Schiphol, Couchsurfing, Holland
May
1
2009
Today was the time to do the normal touristy things. I started out by taking a stroll along the familiar path down to Museumplein. To my surprise, a lot of the trash from the day before was already gone but there was still a plenty of urine all over the place, but we digress. The Van Gogh museum was the first on my list. After waiting in line for half an hour I finally got in and started from the top floor as suggested.
There were not many Van Gogh pieces up there so I was pretty disappointed. There were more on the first floor and then I made my way to the special exhibit - Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night with my favorite painting, the Starry Night itself, on loan from New York’s Museum of Modern Art. There was also many other of his impressionism masterpieces there. In the end it was really worth the admission fee. Not sure if I would recommend it once the special exhibit is over though.
After grabbing a couple overpriced hot dogs by the museum I walked over to the original Heineken brewery. They no longer brew beer there, instead, it has been turned into a touristy spot completed with Brew U, a thrilling motion ride. Not really. Still it was much better than the “read all the stuff on the walls” so called tour at the Coor’s brewery in Golden, CO. I also ran into my hostel roommates - the five Italians and two Australians during the tour and we had a good time downing a couple cold ones at the end.
In the evening I went on the Red Light District Exposed tour. It was a lot of fun and our guide was very lively and knowledgeable and we felt pretty safe during the tour. At the end we stopped by for our free shot and continued to hang out there with a couple American guys that were studying in Spain and a couple American girls that were studying in France. Eventually we got out of there, grabbed some Chinese, and went on another tour of our own. Coincidently, it turned out that the girls stayed at a hostel right across from mine.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Amsterdam, Heineken Experience, Holland, Red Light District, Van Gogh Museum
