Wandering in Amsterdam, part 1.. Travel to the capital of the Netherlands

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Rita and I we left for Amsterdam from Malpensa May 6, 2010 with Easyjet (euro 115 round trip for 2 people), we had prepared in consultation with the many travel diaries on the internet for the search of the hotel and restaurant (all with site internet).
On arrival we take the train to Centraal Station using the vending machine that accepts some cards and coins. (7.6 to 2 pers.).
We arrived in Amsterdam in 20 minutes, buy the station in strippen caart (7.65 euro) a ticket for multiple use public transport even more people, then we go at the tourist office opposite the station and buy the "I Amsterdam card "to travel 72 hours of the endorsement on all means of transport, to visit museums, churches, do the tour of the canals by boat, various discounts etc. .. We were very uncertain about purchasing, but it has proved a good choice, especially since public transportation is convenient, fast and frequent, and the entry is paid everywhere, and then considered the rainy weather, you can jump on a tram could freely comfortable doing .
We arrive at the Hotel Nadia, centrally located, very near to Wester Kerk, the stairs are very steep, our room, overlooking the Kaisergracht, is a bit 'small but with everything, tv (no Italian channels), safe, free wi-fi, full breakfast in room with canal view, coffee maker, bathroom normal (100 euro per night).
We settle and start the visit, we see the cyclists whizzing on the lanes, we are surprised that the sidewalks along the canals are used for parking cars and bikes, forcing us to walk on the side of buildings, however the roads and sidewalks are often littered with piles of garbage bags, often broken, paper everywhere, even in central areas, I would never have thought of.
We start with a walk on the Prinsengracht, the channel's most popular then let's see the Dam, then to dinner at the Argentinian restaurant near the Damrak (found randomly), we were very satisfied, we paid about 32 euro in two.
Friday-May 7: start wandering around the city, focusing on the Wester Kerk, a symbol of the city, but it is closed (always will), then we see only the outside, we head to Dam Square, the main square of the city is very great, on it stands the Royal Palace, currently under renovation, the center of the square, the obelisk that commemorates the liberation from Nazism.
A side is the Nieuwe Kerk, in the Gothic style of the fifteenth century, used as an exhibition hall, the interior is rather plain, wooden vaults, the 75 large stained glass windows with religious scenes, making it very bright, large pulpit inlaid with precious wood and the golden gate.
We see the Magna Plaza shopping center in a large mock Renaissance style, with designer stores within the museum and Madame Toussaud.
So we go with a comfortable tram to the Van Gogh Museum, there is also a temporary exhibit with works by Gauguin and other impressionists, who went on to visit Van Gogh, among the 300 works on display as the disturbing quote famous Wheatfield with crows, the works are on display in large rooms, arranged in nearly chronological order to follow their lives through the works (do not miss).
Within a good self-service restaurant with a menu of pastries, sandwiches, soups and some other hot dish, we paid about 14 euro each.
Then we head towards the center, along a stretch of the Herengracht, to visit the Begijnhof, the famous residence of lay sisters, let us go and we are in a lovely garden with statues of a religious nature, in a classic Dutch-style buildings are adorned with tulips and flowers in two side chapels, one Protestant and one Catholic (working) in the Catholic Church are interesting stained-glass windows and paintings with scenes of the miracle of Amsterdam, overlooking the courtyard buildings also common in homes.
In the evening dinner at the restaurant on the Prinsengracht Van Puffelen, nice and elegant local halfway between a pub and a restaurant, young and middle-class, good food, we made a risotto with mushrooms, mozzarella and bacon, soup of the day, chest duck with cabbage, leeks, bacon and cheese sauce, pineapple with chocolate sauce and vanilla, coffee and beer spending about 40 Euros in total.
Ferny Forner
Rita Risoli