Along the Waterfront

You can do a lot worse than just wandering around Amsterdam. It does after all have a lot of water, and buildings reflected in water are rather nice. Its why people spend lots of money on houses with sea/canal/river views.

S this was a longish walk taking in the Amstel river and then the waterfront proper.

 This walk took me past the Hermitage Museum again, to the left below.

 Nearby are the Botanical Gardens - don't worry there is more of them in a later entry. This was just a brush with the flora.

And finally to the seafront. This is the VOC Ship, sat next to the Maritime Museum.

And this extraordinary building is the science centre NEMO. Built to look a bit like the hull of a ;large ship, and with something akin to a beach on its sloping roof.

 

 

Down a side canal is the Montelbaanstoren. part of the City's old fortifications.

This quite extraordinary edifice is the Scheepvaarthuis which once organised a global fleet but has now been turned into a hotel 0 the Gand Hotel Amrath.

Cafe VOC

 Amsterdam is rather odd in that on a walk along the Waterfront all the best views are away from "the water", but back inside along the canals.

 Also rather strangely the waterfront is where the train station was built, thereby obscuring the seaward view. It is a grand station along the lines of St Pancras, a big Victorian Gothic statement.