{"id":981,"date":"2025-07-03T06:16:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T06:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/?p=981"},"modified":"2025-07-03T06:16:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T06:16:53","slug":"aiamsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2025\/07\/03\/aiamsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"AIAmsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today started slightly earlier than previous days but for good reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop was the Anne Frank House. We timed it perfectly and after a short wait were second inside for the day. This meant the whole experience was unrushed, quiet and cool (as in temperature). It was a sombre journey through the two years of the family’s hiding from the Nazi’s and of course the tragic end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the day turned out very different to what he had expected as plan B turned into Plan C turned into Plan D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had hoped to get the ‘Instagram’ famous Rudi’s Stroopwwaffel’ but after walking the full length of the Albert Cuyp street market and half way back again we finally found his stall with a note saying he would not be open today. What the aborted mission did do was get us to the market and that was worth it and we enjoyed walking amongst the various stalls and still had a stroopwaffel, albeit from a less famous stall, and left with some mementos of our time in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our plan was then to make our way about an hour and a half south of Amsterdam to a Nazi concentration camp. But it seemed that the quoted train ticket price we had received for the train trip was for one person… one way! And there was still an additional bus trip thereafter not factored in. That spooked us a little so after consulting our various lists of things to do and suggestions from friends we had stored, we decided to take a short train ride to Haarlem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the intense craziness that is Amsterdam, Haarlem was the perfect antidote. A short walk along the picturesque streets and we found the main square. We decided to ask ChatGPT for a short itinerary for our afternoon in Haarlem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First up was a visit to St Bavokerk an impressive church built in 1307. As an added bonus the organist was practicing while we were there. The organ pipes stand nearly 30m high and it’s one of the world’s most historically significant organs. Many famous musicians have played this organ, including Mendelssohn, H\u00e4ndel and a 10-year-old Mozart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then took a walk along the canals to the Molen De Adriaan. While waiting for our tour of the mill to start, we had a quick look around a nearby 37m domed ex-prison now arts hub Koepelgevangenis<\/em>, what a fascinating use of this space, it even has an art film cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mill tour was both engaging and educational, especially in revealing the many ways the power generated by the sails was used. So more than just turn the millstones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our leisurely search for dinner was interrupted by a predicted but still sudden thunderstorm so we decided to cut our losses and make our way back ‘home’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just like that, another great day drew to a close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Anne Frank House <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stroopwaffel at Albert Cuyp Market<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Haarlem’s St Bavokerk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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St Bavokerks 30m high organ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cannonball from the eighty years war<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Meandering through Haarlem’s canals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Koepelgevangis, a prison reimagined<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Molen De Adriaan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Haarlem Canal life <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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So many quaint little streets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Amsterdamse Poort Haarlem’s last remaining city gate built in 1355<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Chilling after another full day <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today started slightly earlier than previous days but for good reason. Our first stop was the Anne Frank House. We timed it perfectly and after a short wait were second inside for the day. This meant the whole experience was unrushed, quiet and cool (as in temperature). It was a sombre journey through the two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[93,9],"tags":[68,94],"class_list":["post-981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amsterdam","category-royandnikki","tag-amsterdam","tag-haarlem"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2740.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ocy4-fP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":533,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2019\/06\/30\/biking-around-amsterdam\/","url_meta":{"origin":981,"position":0},"title":"Biking around Amsterdam","author":"Collette","date":"10 months ago","format":"video","excerpt":"Amsterdam is a busy city. There are so many people and so many bikes. You have to be so careful walking around and have to check in all directions for any bicycles before crossing any street. This morning we did a bicycle tour around the streets and canals. 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It started by catching our local tram (Nikki's favourite mode of transport) and a short walk around the central Amsterdam before catching a ferry to Amsterdam Noord for a bike tour. We did make a brief pitstop for some bitterballen. 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Leaving Berlin before 8am, we only arrived here after 4pm. The hotel we are staying in is amazing. Once we had settled in, we set out for an evening visit to Amsterdam city centre. 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Today it hit 36 degrees Celsius! No complaints though we know what we had left behind in Cape Town. If yesterday had been exploring the lesser known\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Amsterdam"","block_context":{"text":"Amsterdam","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/category\/travelogues\/royandnikki\/amsterdam\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2696-1-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2696-1-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2696-1-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/img_2696-1-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":577,"url":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/travel\/2019\/07\/01\/royals-and-artists\/","url_meta":{"origin":981,"position":4},"title":"Royals and artists","author":"Collette","date":"10 months ago","format":"video","excerpt":"It was so nice to have a little lie in this morning and not have to rush out. 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Those always start with at least a touch of dread. Making our way to the airport nice and early meant no stress, even after we hit a small road(rail)block. 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