Jaunted

Tags: Literary Travel / Tourist Traps / YouTube / Amsterdam Travel / → All Tags

The Anne Frank House Joins YouTube With New Footage

A museum's newest treasure has become an international sensation thanks to the magic of Web 2.0. The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam has already strengthened its international profile in 2009 by sending a traveling exhibit called "Anne Frank - A History For Today" all around the world, from San Antonio to Soweto.

Last week, the museum—commemorating the teenage girl whose wartime diary chronicled her family's attempts to avoid the Nazis by hiding in the attic of an office building—took its subject to your home. Yes, you, sitting right there in front of that computer; the museum launched its own YouTube channel. The centerpiece is not a chat with Nelson Mandela or the testimony of diary finder Miep Gies, but instead a recently discovered bit of footage of Anne herself, the only such known moving image of her in the world.

more ›

Tags: Gay Travel / Amsterdam Travel / Tourism Boards / Tourism Campaigns / → All Tags

Gay or Straight, You're Gay in Amsterdam

Remember, back in the day, when "gay" was just a synonym for happy? The tourist board Amsterdam is harking back to those times a bit with their new Everyone's Gay in Amsterdam campaign. The main target is LGBT travelers, but it goes deeper; they want to:

promote the city’s unique sense of openness and inclusivity that resonates with any visitor to Holland.

Print ads, half-hour travel specials and co-hosted events make up most of the campaign, plus a beautifully-designed website full of people looking really happy. In fact, it takes a bit of digging on the website to find anything specifically aimed at the LGBT target group, but there is a list of gay-friendly pubs and clubs if you look hard enough.

more ›

Tags: Travel Technology / Smartphones / Guides / iPhones / Technology / → All Tags

Amsterdam Gets First Look at Augmented Reality Guides

If you’re the kind of tech-minded traveler who rushed to replace your guidebooks with podcast tours, and erased your podcasts to make room for iPhone travel apps, then it’s time to start getting excited about the newest in travel technology: augmented reality.

Start-up company Layar is preparing to introduce the world’s first augmented reality browser—a sort of virtual guidebook that projects data onto the world in front of you. The technology is currently getting a test run in Amsterdam, where people can download a free Layar application to their smartphones. Then, holding the phone up in front of you, you’re shown information about restaurants and ATMs in your sightline, projected right onto the screen.

more ›

Tags: Musuems / Art Galleries / Art / Amsterdam Travel / → All Tags

The Hermitage Amsterdam Looks Pretty But Needs a Better Opening Exhibit

You know how when someone tells you they’re going to Amsterdam you give them a knowing look and think “I know what you’ll be up to, you dissolute human being”? Well you’d better stop doing that because this summer the 'Dam is all about the culture.

The Stedelijk Museum is running a mobile exhibition round town while it’s under refurbishment, the Royal Palace in Dam Square has just reopened, and on June 20, the Hermitage Museum of St Petersburg, no less, opened up a branch in a 17th-century building that used to be an old folks’ home.

more ›

Tags: Amsterdam Travel / Art Galleries / Museums / Exhibitions / → All Tags

Vincent van Gogh's Letters To His Brother Will Be On Display in Amsterdam

Be careful what letters (or emails) you write: if you become famous, like Vincent van Gogh, the letters might end up on display for thousands of people to see. That's what's about to happen at the impressive Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, with a new exhibition including 120 letters written by van Gogh opening in October this year.

Most of the letters are from van Gogh to his younger brother, and it sounds like they give you some insight into his mental illness and his passion for art. The hundred odd letters they've picked will be displayed next to artwork that they refer to; in fact, there are another 800 letters around and many of them are about to be published in a book.

You can get into the Van Gogh Museum every day between 10am and 6pm – or until 10pm on Fridays – and at the moment the adult entry fee is €12.50 ($17.50). The letters – sensitive as they are – will only be on display for three months so don't leave your planning too long. Whether or not the letters solve the cutting-off-his-ear mystery is something we're keeping secret.

Related Stories:
· Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam [Official Site]
· Van Gogh Letters To Go On Display in Amsterdam [AFP]
· Amsterdam Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Van Gogh Museum]

Tags: Beer Travel / Beer / Beer Bike / Drinking / Dangerous Travel / Amsterdam / → All Tags

Amsterdam Beer Bikes: Possibly Dangerous, Definitely Dorky

The tolerance of Amsterdam residents is legendary, but the beer bike may have stretched it to the breaking point. For those who don't know, the beer bike is a self-propelled, ten- to twenty-person contraption that pedals around town while all but its driver quaff beers. Popular with stag and hen parties (what we Yanks call bachelor and bachelorette parties), the bikes are a fixture in the city center, with revelers howling and singing as they enjoy the booze-soaked ride. But according to Reuters, two accidents involving the bikes since April have caused the city councilor responsible for transport to reconsider how many beer bikes ought to be allowed in the city at any one time, and what measures can be taken to ensure their safety. Could this spell the end of the beer bike?

more ›

Tags: Amsterdam Travel / Art Galleries / Art / Netherlands / Amsterdam / → All Tags

Russian Art Branches Out To Amsterdam

Who says the Russians aren't good at sharing? A little to our surprise, the Hermitage Amsterdam is opening next month in a new art gallery in an old seventeenth century building which is basically a branch of the famous and original Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia. They've been running minor exhibits in another building for a few years, but now the real Hermitage Amsterdam is ready to thrill.

We've had a couple of trips to the Russian version and always been dazzled by the suggestions it would take a lifetime to view every piece of art there – and only if they rotated their display in time with your visits. The opening of the Amsterdam branch means there's another place for the Hermitage to exhibit some of their vast number of art treasures, and we're excited about that.

more ›

Tags: iPhone / iPhone Travel Apps / Amsterdam Travel / → All Tags

Amsterdam iPhone App Will Guide You Through Your Coffee Shop Haze

Whether you're using your iPhone for fun distraction on your trips or tracking your travel plans, for many of us they're becoming an indispensable part of getting away from home. We always keep an eye out for new apps and one for those headed to Amsterdam caught our attention – not least of all because it's come from the Netherlands Board of Tourism and we figure they should know just a bit about their capital city.

The Amsterdam Mobile Guide is free (very nice), and available both for iPhones and its rivals. It includes details of around 200 popular Amsterdam venues, and you can directly phone, email or Google map them. There are also a few itineraries if you need hints for your Amsterdam stay, ranging from 8-hour stopovers to three-day trips.

You can also use this app to quickly get an idea of what places are within walking distance from where you are at that moment. It all looks pretty – the tulip logo isn't even too kitschy – and includes quite handy photos so you can really figure out that you're in the right place. Above all, if you don't have to pay for it, you can't really go wrong. Right?

Related Stories:
· Amsterdam Mobile Guide [Official Site]
· One iPhone Travel App To (Almost) Rule Them All [Jaunted]
· The Five Best iPhone Apps For Your Next Trip [Jaunted]

Tags: Bars / Drinking / Amsterdam Travel / → All Tags

Amsterdam Has the Key To Your Private Mini Bar

Picture this: you're out for an evening in Amsterdam with a few friends, intent on experiencing the city through much wandering and even more drinking, when you get handed a key to your very own, private mini-bar. Thanks to a new bar concept freshly arrived in the "Venice of the north," Amsterdam's late-night, laid-back folk can help themselves to a little bit of whatever is in stock.

The spot, simply and aptly called "Minibar," is set up thus: check in with the Minibar concierge, turn over an ID or credit card for a key to a personal minibar stocked with everything from beer to sodas to champagne, pop open whatever your heart desires, and pay on the way out.

more ›

Tags: Tragedy / Turkish Airlines / Disasters / AMS / Chesley Sullenberger / → All Tags

Turkish Airlines Jet Crashes Outside Schiphol Airport

A Turkish Airlines 737 carrying 134 passengers from Istanbul crashed into a field outside Amsterdam Schiphol Airport today.

After initial reports that all of the passengers and the crew survived comes the news that nine people have died in the crash. Twenty people are also reported to be seriously injured. From the NY Times:

Candan Karlitekin, the chairman of Turkish Airlines, said most of the injured were seated at the back of the plane. “There was nothing extraordinary about the weather conditions, vision capability was 4,500 meters. Around 500 meters away from the landing strip, the plane landed in a field. The plane was broken into three parts, as you all saw in pictures.” ”

No one is sure yet as to why the plane crashed with Turkish Airlines saying the pilot was one of their most experienced pilots on staff. Investigations are obviously underway to determine what could have brought the plane down just three miles away from the airport runway.

Further shaking our faith in the aviation industry is Flight 1549 hero Capt. Sully who told U.S. Congress yesterday that the best airline pilots are quitting the commercial aviation industry because their pay and pensions have been slashed. We can't have that so let's pray that 2009 begins to turn around for airlines...quick.

Related Stories:
· 9 Dead as Turkish Plane Crashes in Amsterdam [NY Times]
· Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger Says A Good Pilot's Getting Hard to Find [WNYC]

Tags: We'll Drink To That / Museums / Heineken Experience / → All Tags

A Toast To The Re-Opened Heineken Experience

In 2006, one of the highlights of our Amsterdam coverage was our trip to the Heineken Experience, from its recycled drums to its three, count 'em, three free drinks. The house that beer built was closed for renovation for most of 2008, but it reopened November 3, which is good because we were just getting thirsty.

The new Heineken Experience, open seven days a week, only includes two drinks with your €15 ($20) ticket, but has added karaoke booths and a kiosk that puts you into its James Bond-themed ads. (But can you choose to be a beer-lovin' Eva Green or the object of Olga Kurylenko's lust?) Originally included in the new Experience, but currently closed, is the opportunity to visit with the Heineken Shire horses--they couldn't get past a city construction site in front of the museum, apparently.

In honor of the new and improved Experience, Heineken's giving away a free trip, including flight and hotel, if you can figure out a series of clues in their new video. It may cost, as one Flickr user pointed out, more than the Van Gogh Museum, but what can we say? We like beer.

How to get there: Municipal tram lines 16, 24, 25 (all from Central Station) or 7 or 10 from Leidseplein. A one-day ticket on the tram is €6.40 ($8.64).

Related Stories:
· Heineken "Experience" Reopens in Amsterdam [AP, via AJC]
· From 2006: We Always Enjoy A Good Heine... Heineken That Is [Jaunted]
· Mosaic Music Hits Singapore [Jaunted]

[Photo: Luciana Martinez Betti]

Tags: World's Best Vegetarian Restaurants / World's-Best-Vegetarian-Restaurants / Food Travel / Restaurants / → All Tags

Dare To Vary In Amsterdam

Are you ready to expand your palate? Put down that steak and look beyond the salad plate at the world's best vegetarian restaurants.

It's true that De Waaghals means "the Daredevil" in Dutch. But this vegetarian restaurant in southern Amsterdam (outside the canal belt) is far from a risk--it's a proven stop for tourists and locals alike.

The organic ingredients (down to the beers and wines) are definitely a draw, but for DepressedMetabolism.com, it's De Waaghals' variety, with four different foods included in a classic plate, that sets it apart from other neighborhood joints. The current Classic, for example, features a spinach and goat cheese soufflé roll, polenta fritters, oven-roasted fennel and roasted portobello mushrooms. And HappyCow.net commenters mention that most dishes can be made vegan on request, in case you need that extra flexibility.

Just don't go Mondays, or you won't risk anything: The kitchen's closed.

Want to see your favorite joint featured? Tip us off.

Related Stories:
· The International Guide to Great Vegetarian Restaurants [DepressedMetabolism.com]
· Green Is Good in Boulder [Jaunted]

[Photo: Veggieplaces.co.uk]