Blitz Amsterdam. Part 1.
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The tour is short - only 5 days, with two overnight trips, but the program is designed in such a way that in each city we have 10 hours of time.
This is more than enough not only for a sightseeing tour, museums, walking, eating, but also for shopping.
Three main cities: Dresden, Amsterdam and Berlin. But with the successful passage of the border, they promise to make it to Polish Wroclaw as well.
We were lucky - both borders were passed in 3 hours and we managed to get to Wroclaw. The distance from Lviv to Wroclaw is 600 km.
Wroclaw is one of the largest and one of the most ancient cities in Poland, the historical capital of Silesia.
Wroclaw
Beautiful Polish City: City of Dwarfs and Channels.
As elsewhere, in the center of the city there is a market square,
Wroclaw, Market Square
There is a town hall building on it.
Wroclaw, clock on the Town Hall
The old center is small, modern buildings come very close.
Wroclaw streets
Many parks,
Wroclaw, square near the children's theater
channels, flower beds.
Wroclaw, a fountain in the square near the theater
There are several huge churches.
Wroclaw, church
We walked around Wroclaw on our own, 3 hours was enough time to see the main sights and find a dozen cute gnomes.
Sleeping Gnome
The figurines of dwarfs appeared in the early 2000s as a symbol of the opposition movement of the 1980s "Orange Alternative". However, they are so fond of the townspeople, who believe that these little creatures bring prosperity to the city, that every year there are more and more gnomes, so much so that now there are more than 300 of them. Each gnome even has its own name.
Biker Dwarf
According to legend, gnomes have always lived in Wroclaw, they just hid from people.
And even now it is not so easy to find them, they are made of bronze, their size is only 20-30 cm, and they can be in the most unexpected places - on the ground, on pillars, on walls, on window sills, in fountains etc.
Wrocł aw even sells special gnome-hunting kits, which include soft slippers to keep the gnomes from frightening away, a magnifying glass to get a better look at them, and a back ointment to alleviate the suffering of tourists hunched over all day looking for gnomes.
We have not specifically searched, but still often met these funny figures on the way, sometimes in completely unexpected places.
The nearest hotel on our route in the city of Legnica is only 75 km away. Too bad we don't have time for it during the day. The clock on the city hall counts every hour very melodicly all night long. I would like to stay there, but we have a departure at 8 in the morning, we are going to Dresden, which is still 200 km away. Having dozed off on the bus, by 11 am we arrive in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, and immediately on a sightseeing tour.
The city meets us with a gloomy sky and a temperature of +16 (July 26! ). But, thank God, it hasn't rained yet.
Dresden
As a rule, Algol has very good guides. We are so captivated by Irina's story, her "Odessa" flavor, that an hour and a half fly by unnoticed.
Dresden
Next on the program visit to the Dresden gallery "Old Masters"
Dresden, entrance to the Zwinger
And here, museum worker Irina Yan talks so interestingly about the masterpieces in the museum's collection, and draws the group's attention to such interesting details that we ourselves would not have noticed it. As a rule, people know for sure that the Sistine Madonna by Raphael is located in the Dresden Gallery.
From Irina's story, we learned that the name of this painting has nothing to do with the Sistine Chapel, that the painting was originally called "Victory", for which two pretty angels at the bottom of the canvas were added later, as well as interesting theories about the "six fingers" of Pope Sixtus II.
Dresden Gallery
But it turns out that we saw many of the exhibited masterpieces on postcards, stamps and magazines, but did not even know that they were all from the collection of the gallery in Dresden.
Sculpture Hall in the Dresden Gallery
The Old Masters Gallery is located in the Royal Palace - Zwinger. The palace is now a complex of three museums.
Zwinger courtyard
But the territory of the palace itself is so beautiful that you want to walk around it for hours.
Zwinger, courtyard
There is also a Nymphs' Bath fountain in the Zwinger.
Zwinger, bath of the nymphs
The structure is made in the Baroque style, decorated with 6 figures of nymphs and a figure of a dolphin pouring water. And above the Zwinger, along its entire perimeter, walking galleries with beautiful statues were built.
Galleries around the perimeter of the Zwinger
You can imagine how ladies in crinolines and parasols stroll through these galleries.
walking galleries in the Zwinger, Dresden
At this time, the sky slowly begins to get wet. It's time to visit other Zwinger museums. The price of a ticket to the gallery of "Old Masters" includes 2 more museums: Museum of Mathematics and Physics
Dresden, Museum of Mathematics
and the Porcelain Museum.
Dresden, Porcelain Museum
Both of these museums are very interesting for their expositions and very unusual. The Museum of Mathematics exhibits the mirrors of Archimedes and the first telescopes,
Exhibits of the Museum of Mathematics
Exhibits of the Museum of Mathematics
and in the Museum of Meissen Porcelain there are things so finely made,
Dresden, Porcelain Museum
what amazes you how it was possible to create something like this in 1749!
Dresden, Porcelain Museum. How could such beauty be made in 1749?
This inscription was preserved at the exit of the museum
Historical inscription
World War II.
The Germans remember history well, and are very grateful to that person. So much so that they even restore the inscription so that the surname is visible again.
The rain is already pouring like a bucket! We again fell into the field of some cyclone, and we still have three hours to walk! Walking around the city becomes simply impossible, and we find a shopping center with discounts in stores, where we meet almost our entire group. We have a good time: we try the Dresden sausage, drink coffee and shop. The bus picks us up at 21:00. And we have a night transfer to Amsterdam, and this is... 735 km.
sleep sitting in the bus is difficult, but, apparently, we treat the number of those people who love to sleep sitting, and also in the company 40 strangers.
On the other hand, at 8 am we are in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam meets us
The city is still clean and deserted, and our guide Tatyana is simply charming, in love with Amsterdam.
In addition to an interesting tour, she immediately orientated us where we should eat Amsterdam herring, where are grocery stores, where are clothing stores and where is a free toilet, which is important for a budget tourist.
Amsterdam is a very expensive city. Entrance to the Rijksmuseum there costs 17.50 euros, to Madame Tussauds - 20 euros.
Amsterdam, Madame Tussauds
Even a cup of regular espresso costs 2.50 euros there.
But Amsterdam is a very unusual city. This amazing architecture: tilted houses,
Tilted houses
Big windows and small doors! Beams on each house so that furniture and other bulky items can be lifted into the apartments through the windows!
Amsterdam residents are very touching about their historical past, they cherish all the old houses.
There is a special commission that examines these houses. The condition of the support beams (and they are also wooden, like in Venice, because the city stands on swampy soils) is measured with special devices and, if, God forbid, one of them is rotten, they lift the whole house with special machines and change this beam. In the course of numerous restorations, such signs are removed from houses and preserved,
Previously, such plates were on houses instead of numbering
which, while there was no numbering, indicated to passers-by whose house it was.
And Amsterdam amazes our man with the number of cyclists on the streets.
Cycyclists are the main road users in Amsterdam
They create full-fledged traffic and you better not get in their way!
They often honk not in advance, but already almost running into a pedestrian, while the pedestrian himself is to blame, because he was standing on their bike path.
According to their traffic rules, pedestrians must let cyclists pass, and not vice versa. And there are thousands of cyclists in dense traffic! And if you run into them, the police will take their side, and you will also pay a fine for a bent wheel, while no one will pity you for a broken knee.
There are a lot of electric cars in the city and few cars with gasoline engines. And I must say honestly that the air in the city is excellent.
Beautiful channels
It is easy to breathe there, unlike other capitals of the world.
So slowly, exploring the beauties of the city, we get to the Reiks Museum and to the inscription "I amsterdam" beloved by tourists.
As part of a sightseeing tour, we visit a diamond factory.
Amsterdam Diamond Factory
The most inexpensive pebble starts from 240 euros and its weight is not even measured in carats! After a short master class on diamond processing, our group is taken to a separate room, where they take out a variety of pebbles, both separately and in products. Some products are quite affordable: for example, a watch with one small diamond costs 100 euros. But the best part, especially for women, is that all jewelry is measured, no matter how much money you have in your pocket. Such is the publicity stunt! Our group has really hung out there! Many, it turns out, like to measure!
Jewellery can be measured at the diamond factory
The factory also has a gift shop.
How to be in Amsterdam and not take a boat trip along the narrow picturesque canals! .
The city looks beautiful from the water
As soon as two such ships diverge there?
The narrow canals of Amsterdam
In addition, floating houses are moored along the banks of the canals, which also take the width of the canal. This is now luxury real estate. A boat ride in Amsterdam is a must. The city looks great from the water.
Port of Amsterdam
Despite the fact that it is already July 27, the leaves on the trees are somehow barely opened, as in April.
The greenery in the city is still April
The weather is considered good, around 19 degrees. If there is no wind, then you even want to take off your blouse, but if it blows, you also want to put on a jacket.
After a boat trip, we started free time in the city.
Walking around the city, we go to the Beguinage.
Amsterdam, Beguinok Monastery - Beguinage
