It’s possible to get almost anywhere in Amsterdam by foot, tram, bus, and, of course, the trusty Dutch bicycle. Since 2003, the city, recognizing a need for speedier transit, has been digging for a subway. In a city lined with canals and soggy earth, a dig of this sort presents some unique challenges.  

Yesterday’s Boston Globe had an interesting look at the logistics. Let’s just say that Amsterdam is a “city in motion”…

Most of Amsterdam is supported by a system of underground wooden poles and pilings, and the land itself tends to shift and sink a couple millimeters a year. And if digging wasn’t a big enough problem, large, rumbling trains could affect this delicate balancing act once the subway’s up and running.

Best of luck with your dig, Amsterdam. We wish you stability.

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Last week, Paris’ office of tourism announced that 69 million tourists visited the city’s attractions in 2006. Yowsa. And what were the most popular sights?

• First place: Notre Dame — 13.5 million visitors graced the cathedral, up from 13 million in 2005.
• Second place: Basilica de Sacre Coeur in Montmartre — 10 million visits, up from 8 million in 2005.
• Third place: The Louvre — 8.3 million visits, up 10.3 % from 2005.
• Honorable mention: Musee d’Orsey, the 20-year old museum of 19th and 20th Century art, placed seventh with 3 million visits, its highest number ever.

But who are these visitors? The New York Times reports today that the country is aware of the foreign-born demographic packing its museums (occasionally turning the Louvre into a “crowded railroad station”).

President Sarkozy’s government is considering ways to bring the French back into their own cultural institutions, including free admission for les francais. Just don’t bump Mona…

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Paris’ cool (and green) mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, just got even cooler (and greener) when he launched Vélib’, a massive public biking initiative on Sunday.

Under the plan, bikers may borrow a bike from one of 750 pick-up spots around town and drop it off at any other center within 30 minutes. (If you need more time to get there, you’re charged by the half hour thereafter.) Joining the program is super cheap: €1 a day, € 5 a week, or €29 a year.

The intention is to get more people biking, and do something about congestion in the city center. Bravo!

We liked Katrin Bennhold’s piece in the International Herald Tribune. (It also appeared with a couple of edits in yesterday’s NY Times.)

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Photo by lucid283

President Bush is in Prague today (June 7, 2007) and will later head to Germany, selling his plan for radar and missile sites in the two countries. While the EuroCheapo blog tries not to get political, we were interested to note where the President and the first lady visited on their trip through the city.

Of course, President Bush got the tour and lunch option at Prague Castle—obviously one of the most popular destinations for anyone going to the city—but the respective first lady, joined by Czech First Lady Livia Klausova, paid a visit to the Strahov Monastery. The monastery, founded in 1120, is one of the most enjoyable sites in Mala Strana. It boasts orchards and an incredible view of the Prague skyline outside, and baroque flourishes inside. Plus, even if you’re not a First Lady, admission to the monastery is still less than a dollar.

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House prices have shot up in Dublin in recent years, and real estate aftershocks can still be felt in the rental market. For students and young professionals, this altered housing context has engendered real financial stresses. Those in the know use Daft to ease the pain.

Daft, you say? Daft is Ireland’s biggest property site, with over 60,000 properties available for sale or to let at any given time. With categories including Lettings (rental), Short Term (rentals of just a few weeks or months), and Sharing (search for renters or owners who need roommates) the site is very helpful, to say the least. Visitors to Dublin might take an especially close look at the Short Term rental option.

Forums such as Moving to Ireland and Renting Questions also make it easy for those just arriving in Dublin to find their bearings, and email alerts allow prospective renters know the minute something suitable comes on the market for them.

So don’t be daft when it comes to finding a rental in Dublin—or rather, do.

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Photo by Milda Palilionyte

One of these neighborhood gatherings is not like the other: block party, garage sale, open house at the corner bordello.

Amsterdam’s sex workers participated in a meet and greet with visitors last Saturday in the second annual open house sponsored by Amsterdam’s Prostitutie Informatie Centrum (or Prostitution Information Center, PIC). For six hours, hundreds of spectators were invited to enter dimly-lit sex clubs and peep shows during daylight hours. Open doors offered a free look inside the city’s famed Red Light District dens.

From breitbart.com we found the following quote. “Last year, I noticed that there were a lot of female visitors,” noted Mariska Majoor from PIC, former prostitute and organizer of the open day. “So we asked for men prepared to prostitute themselves to be in the windows for one day. It is only the second time in the history of Amsterdam that men are offering themselves to women…in the windows like their female colleagues.”

On the heels of the open house, a bronze statue dedicated to ladies of the night (see above) was unveiled to the public on the Oudekerksplein—in front of the Old Church—in the heart of the Red Light District. Els Rijerse’s sculpture represents a female member of the oldest profession standing on a doorstep, sporting a self-assured stance, hands on hips, looking towards the stars.

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Photo by Pont-TERV

According to local historians, the origin of April Fools jokes goes back to 1623 and a Hungarian court jester, Miklós Móka, who encouraged peasants to play little tricks on the nobility. For years it was common to send young children off to the shops to buy mosquito fat, umbrella seeds, or violin keyboards. Today, mild jokes are the norm.

Sometimes, of course, the jokes fall flat. This year (2007), a journalist in Somogy County caused panic when he wrote an “April Fools” article about a new bridge set to open tomorrow. According to the article, the bridge, which was constructed over a wide valley, had collapsed in the middle. As an extra punch-line, he included a doctored photo.

Today, he’s being threatened with court action. Alas, who will get the last laugh?

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photograph courtesy of ois_photos

Miracles have been known to happen on Ebay. When it comes to finding a loving new home for outdated guide books, classic maps of the former Yugoslavia, or the stray Eiffel Tower dish towel, the site is heaven sent.

But when it comes to selling stolen art or relics of Jesus Christ, well, most faithful converts to the church of the online auction house have a sixth sense of what can be sold and what will land one in jail.

In 2007, for example, few online auctioneers would try to sell water out of the Pope’s hose.

Tell it to the judge. Three unidentified men armed with lemonade bottles tried to merge stolen art, Christ, and commerce. They hit up Pope Benedict’s garden hose in Bavaria for holy water with the intention of auctioning it off on Ebay. They were followed by a German journalist named Hubertus Wiendl, who videotaped the entire scene. Wiendl was fined €100 by local police after he filmed the heinous crime.

Jan Bockemuehl, Wiendl’s attorney, wanted to call in the Pope as a witness. His grounds for such a request? “I was sure the Pope wouldn’t have wanted my client to be punished.”

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If off-beat news sources are any indication, a bizarre air stream hit Europe near the end of last week. The resultant hurricane of oddities just isn’t letting up.

Last Thursday morning Swiss troops accidentally invaded Liechtenstein. Whoops! Their bad. Thankfully, the brothers in the principality were all cool with it.

On Saturday, parents in Bari, Italy intentionally beat up a grade school principal and made no apologies for their actions.

On Sunday, Dutch nudists let off a little steam at a gym in Heteren.

On Monday morning, Maria Delores Ramos, a 77-year-old mother of seven, got run over by a train in northern Portugal. She suffered no injuries and lived to tell the story.

What’s next?

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News stories have broken across the UK about “faulty fuel” being pumped at petrol stations. Thousands of motorists claim to have been affected by contaminated or faulty petrol, their cars functioning improperly and even breaking down. According to the BBC, Tesco and Morrisons have not found any fault with their petrol after carrying out tests. Independent oil company Greenergy supplies both Tesco and Morrisons with their petrol, again according to the BBC.

Anyway, keep an eye out if you’re driving a rented vehicle. For the latest news on “faulty fuel,” keep an eye on the BBC’s coverage.

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