Part IV: Central Europe in .NET framework

Generator Code 128 Code Set A in .NET framework Part IV: Central Europe

Holland (The Netherlands)

Zaanse Enkhuizen Alkmaar Schans Hoorn Zaandijk Edam Marken Koog aan de Zaan Lelystad Zaandam Broek in Waterland Volendam Zandvoort Monnickendam

train If convenience is your priority, the easiest way to transport yourself and your luggage from the airport to your hotel is to hail a taxi for a steep 35 ($40)

Trains from Brussels, Paris, several German cities, Italy, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe arrive in Amsterdam at Centraal Station, built on an artificial island in the Ij River bounding the city s north edge The square in

front of the station has the city s main tourist office and tram terminal You can take a tram to your hotel, or pick up a taxi from the taxi stand outside the station

Infiltrated by canals of water, Amsterdam is like Venice On a map, it looks like half of a spider web, with the canals as the threads radiating out from the center in tight, concentric arcs Here, you must think in terms of the canals and six major squares as opposed to addresses, compass directions, and streets

Try to remember a few street names, starting with Damrak Think of the Damrak as the backbone of the City Center, a neighborhood made up of a few straight canals and a tangle of medieval streets Damrak runs from the Centraal Station at the north end of town straight down to Dam Square, the heart of the city and where the first dam was built across the Amstel River (hence the name Amstelledamme, later to become Amsterdam) Out the other end of Dam Square, the name of Damrak changes to Rokin, which curves down to the square and transportation hub of Muntplein East of Muntplein, on the City Center s southeast corner, is Waterlooplein, home to one of the city s premier music halls and a flea market Next is the Canal Zone, wrapped around the City Center in a big arc This zone is a series of six concentric canals laid out with 17th-century regularity The irregular canal Singelgracht bounds this neighborhood To the south lies the Museumplein, where you find the city s greatest art museums, the finest shopping, and some of the best small hotels On the other side of the Canal Zone southwest of Muntplein is Leidseplein, the bustling, throbbing center of Amsterdam s liveliest quarter of restaurants, nightclubs, and theaters Nearby is P C Hoofstraat, Amsterdam s most fashionable shopping area The arc of the Singel Canal/Amstel River/Oude Schans surrounds the city and runs from the Centraal Station south to Muntplein, with Dam Square in the middle This is where you can find the Red-Light District The most upscale residential district (of interest to upwardly mobile Amsterdammers but not to visitors) is Amsterdam South The Jordaan, a grid of small streets between two canals at the northeastern end of the Canal Zone, is a neighborhood that is growing increasingly fashionable with several good restaurants Amsterdam East, east of the City Center, is the fairly pleasant, residential, working-class and immigrant neighborhood with attractions such as the zoo and the tropical museum

In the Netherlands, tourist offices are indicated by VVV (usually in a blue-and-white triangle) Amsterdam s most comprehensive VVV office is just outside the Centraal train station at Stationsplein 10 You also find a small desk in the station itself at platform 2b, and a branch in the heart of town at Leidseplein 1 Call for tourist info at % 020-201-8800, or use the Web site wwwvisitamsterdamnl You can find an information desk covering all the Netherlands in Schiphol Plaza at the airport

Amsterdam s efficient trains, trams, and buses make getting around the city exceedingly simple Don t drive in Amsterdam, for several reasons The city is a jumble of one-way streets, narrow bridges, and trams and cyclists darting every which way Tough measures are in place to make driving as difficult as possible No-parking zones are rigorously enforced and the limited parking spaces are expensive And if all that s not bad enough, car break-ins are common Outside the city, however, driving is a different story; you may want to rent a car to see the nearby countryside