Day 3 - work and then some....

so i started my day this morning at 7am, shaved with just soap and water (forgot to bring shaving cream) and then hopped into the shower (which felt amazing). i rushed onto a bus to take me to central station. bus cost me 1.60 euro ($2) one way (though it is technically unlimited in that you can ride the same bus as much as you want within an hour).

i arrived at central station (see above) and bought my ticket on the metro, round trip (4.50 euro, $6).the trains are interesting. they are not as large as ny subways but are often riddled with colorful graffiti.

i took the train straight to biljmer, where the old ING headquarters is located. now this company is rather amazing. they are one of the most well loved companies in amsterdam and go well out of their way to support the arts. they have the largest art collection in the country and their buildings always make a statement. here is a pic of it from the outside, they call it the ING sand castle:

inside, this amazing facade incorporates an assortment of various shapes. in fact, when it was built some 20+ years ago, it was designed for the purpose of NOT using standard rectangular rooms in order to make a more harmonious atmosphere. it definitely worked because anywhere you go, the place is beautiful. there are dozens of lounges, paintings all over the walls, sculptures, plants, you name it... in order to give all work sectors windows, they built these courtyards inside the building, each of them is unique.

during my lunch break i went for a walk outside and saw another beautiful piece of sculpture that i thought had a lot of class.



this next picture is of my desk at ING. work went very well today. oh yea, thre i am...

i went to my second restaurant today. the woman i am living with has provided with me with very limited access to her refrigerator (i can only fit a drink) so until the kid whose room i will take moves out, i dont get one. i have some groceries but i am obviously limited. this dinner was actually pretty good and it cost me 17 euro ($21). i had beef medium rare in a cognac sauce, with potatoes.

here is christianity's mark on central amsterdam. it was a nice place and another picture of my favorite tower, the south tower....

aite,till tomorrow...

Day 2 - the neighborhood

Here is the map of amsterdam with the important spots mentioned thus far, and a little red rectangle indicating the neighborhood in which i took the photos

this is the seaportmuseam that i mentioned is across the street from my place. the dutch,as most of you probably dont know, were some of the, and continue to be, the greatest sailors in history. they controlled exclusively many of the trade routes to china back in the day.

this place is called nemo. supposedly it is some sort of amusement park for kids. when the weather is nice, people crowd on top and sun bathe. it looks like a piece of an old tanker ship.

as i mentioned in the last post, amsterdam is full of these man made canals. here is a pretty nice picture of one right next to my place. the tower off into the distance is called the south tower. west of it lies the RLD.

now i am a fan of architecture. amsterdam has some beautiful buildings, and then some weird one. this one i thought was particularly interesting because the walls were riddled with carvings of faces... (keep in mind you can click on pick for a closeup)

here is a beautiful street i walked down. it seems like every block you turn has places that look like this. that probably explains the housing shortage Amsterdam is facing. in fact, there is a 15 year waiting list to live inside central amsterdam (to be provided housing via the government program, you can always buy your way in).

when i decided to take this picture, the black cat was facing me. as i reached into my bag to whip out the camera, she turned her back to me. do you think she knew she was about to be violated by a bright flash by some tourist?















this i thought was pretty cool. so the housing shortage i mentioned above has caused people to resort to desperate measures. which include living in their cars and on boats along the canals. i wouldnt mind cruising europe in one of these.


here is a boat going through one of the hundreds of bridges all over amsterdam. i think they have tollmen to collect money to do this. i like the little mini crane

here is a closeup of the south tower which i thought looked nice. next to it is an interesting picture of people using a pulley device to lower a desk. supposedly, every house in amsterdam back in the day was required to have one of these hooks near their roof (take a closer look). so as you walk down neighborhoods, you can still see that most houses have them. i guess the idea was so that people could easily carry furniture up and down, but i dont see why they would make a law of it...

here is a picture of me at a chinese restaurant. it was my first meal in amsterdam (yes, i know, but i had to go with something i could trust... so i had dim sum). and this was my first meal. it cost me 14 euros (like 18 dollars) and it was more than enough for me to have leftovers...

thats it for day two, which was yesterday. i have more photos of today, whih i may or may not post tonight.... holla