Amsterdam and The Hauge

Apr 6-12, 2023
AC159 YYZ-YYC, AC136 YYC-YYZ, AC808 YYZ-AMS, AC809 AMS-YYZ, AC159 YYZ-YYC, AC156 YYC-YYZ

Sometimes our travel destinations are chosen by us, and sometimes Air Canada makes the decision for us. With KLM starting new direct flights to Alberta with aggressive business class pricing, Air Canada decided to match their pricing. The flights connected in Toronto, so we ended up doing two roundtrips to Calgary to complete our Amsterdam journey, but very much enjoyed being in the Netherlands for Tulip season and visiting a few new towns along the way.

Apr 7

After staying overnight by the Calgary airport, we made it back to Toronto in time for dinner and Champagne at the Air Canada Signature Suite before the overnight flight to Amsterdam.

Apr 8

After a pretty restful flight, we were able to check in early to our hotel and get refreshed before heading out into Amsterdam.

Kind of cool that Netherlands kids get to play with a canal set

Moses and Aaron Church

Spinoza Monument - Statue of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza

Zwanenburgwal Canal and Amstel River Intersection

Staalmeestersbrug Bridge

Gronenburgwal Canal with 17th Century Zuiderkerk in the background, captured from the birdge

Houseboat living

Muziekgebouw concert hall

New pedestrian bridge around the harbour

Rijksmuseum Gardens

Museumplein Fountain

First signs of the tulip season

Museumplein Fountain and the Rijksmuseum

Bird relaxing in Vondelpark

Looking along the Singelgracht towards the Hard Hotel with turret

National Slavery Memorial in Oosterpark

De Titaantjes (Little Titans) also in Oosterpark

The Bokkenrijder (Buckriders)

Statue Bolgewas

With 10s of thousands of steps under our belts, it was time to head back to the hotel club for some snack and drinks and to turn in for the evening.

Apr 9

Having covered Amsterdam in detail, we headed out on the train for the day, going to Leiden and The Hague, and also a nice walking tour of Utrecht. Each city had its own charms and reminded me of our first visit to the Netherlands in 2004.

Molenmuseum de Valk in Leiden

Up close with the windmill mechanism of Molen De Put

Rijn river through Leiden

Rembrandtplaats commemorating Rembrandt's early creative years in Leiden

Leiden University Gardens

Gothic Pieterskerk

13th Century Gravensteen, monument in Gerecht square Leiden

New Rhine River through Leiden

Looking back on town as we climb The Burcht van Leiden

Interior of the The Burcht which was an 11th century shell keep

14th century gothic Hooglandse Church

Looking back up to The Burcht

Kinderweeshuis 16th century orphanage

Moving on to the Hague - Mauritshuis Art Museum

Court Chapel, former chapel now used for Senate workspaces

Looking the opposite direction from the Court Chapel

Peace Palace the site of the UN International Court of Justice

Tivoli Vredenburg, outside Utrecht's train station

Walking along the Oudegracht in Utrecht

One of many statues in Neude square

Uniquely designed Utrecht town hall extension

Statue on exterior of Domkerk

Statue of Jan van Nassau who was the founder of Utrecht

Utrecht University Hall

Looking up the canal to Utrecht Stadhuis (city hall)

We took the train back from Utrecht, and were back in Amsterdam and into our hotel for the evening club lounge service before turning in for the day.

Apr 10

Since we were in the Netherlands during tulip season, we could not skip Keukenhof, which is tulip Mecca, with crowds coming from all across the country and the world to view the flowers in bloom. We picked up a rental car in Amsterdam to drive to the fields and then to our airport hotel. Since we were back in the area, we also took the opportunity to visit the Windmill Museum in Leidel.

Starting with a daffodil before we hit the tulips

First of many tulip patches of Kuekenhof

A tulip variant in one of 10s of different colour combinations on display

The crowd of tulip fans

Tulips with some purple surroundings

Another unique tulip colour combination

More crowd context

Proof that tulips come in many shapes

Riverside bed

Walking across water

Some Canadian colours

Flower art

Unique tulip variety

Yet another tulip variety

Another colour palette

One of the inside greenhouses in the garden complex

Fields where flowers are cultivated for sale

Local Keukenhof windmill

Floating flower field tours

Tulips, windmills and crowds a nice summary of the day

Our last view of the gardens before heading to the car as the skies opened up with rain

Back in Leidel at the Windmill Museum

Windmill grinding mechanism in the Museum

Checking out the windmill rotation mechanism at the museum

Windmill rotating mechanics

Exploring more of the workings

Weight balances

Spare parts

Having completed our touring, we returned the car to the airport and took a shuttle to our hotel, where we caught up on dinner and rested before our long day of travel.

Apr 11

After breakfast, we headed to the airport and made our way back to Canada. However, since our trip to Amsterdam actually started in Calgary, we spent the day going from Amsterdam to Toronto to Calgary, before taking the redeye flight back to Toronto, with an early morning arrival and back to work.