|
Slice
of Life 2004 Location
|
The
Netherlands:
Amsterdam & Leiden
This
year Slice of Life will be held in
two locations in the
Netherlands. The pre-workshop
portion of the conference will be
held in Amsterdam
at the Academic
Medical Center at the University of
Amsterdam from June 28 - 30,
2004. The main portion of the
conference will be held in Leiden
at the Leiden
University Medical Center from July 1 - 3, 2004. It will take
approximately 30 minutes to travel
to Leiden from Amsterdam by
train.
Click
here for more information regarding
transportation while in the
Netherlands and
airport information...
|
|
Amsterdam
Amsterdam,
the capital of the Netherlands, calls itself 'Capital
of Inspiration'. And indeed it is an inspiring destination:
at one moment the visitor feels himself transported to
the 17th century, at another moment he is in the hustle
and bustle of a modern city. Compact, traditionally cosmopolitan
and solidly rooted in its past, but with a strongly international
and forward-looking attitude. It is a true Gateway to
Europe, thanks to its seaport and the nearby presence
of one of the continent's busiest airports. Most of Amsterdam's
inhabitants are multilingual. The city itself houses the
world's most beautiful works of art, has more canals than
Venice, more bridges than Paris, 7,000 historic monuments
and scores of ultramodern buildings. A melting pot of
cultures, Amsterdam offers art forms and architecture
from ancient to avant-garde. The city's waterways offer
unique forms of transport.
To learn more about the Netherlands click here...
Leiden
A
visit to Leiden is in the nature of
a pilgrimage (pardon the pun) for
Americans, for it was here that the
Pilgrim Fathers found refuge during
the long years they waited to sail
to a fresh beginning in the New
World. Their sojourn was, however,
but one small incident in Leiden's
long history.
With
14 museums, ranging from those for Antiquities, Natural
History, and Anatomy, to those for Clay Pipes and Coins,
this canal-side town seems perfectly justified in calling
itself the Museumstad (Museum Town).
Click
here
for more information about Leiden...
Click
here for more information about Leiden University
Medical Center...
To learn more about the
Netherlands click here...
Click here
for more tourist information about South Holland.
Language
Just
about everyone speaks English in
Amsterdam, and is proud of the fact.
Many speak German and French too. If
you are English speaking, speak
English (unless you speak Dutch
too): you are more likely to offend
than do anyone a favor by trying out
your French or German.
A
few keys phrases: Yes: Ja (Yah);
No: Nee (Nay); Thanks: Bedankt (B'dunked);
Please: Graag (hkrahk -- pronounce the hk
as if you are trying to pronounce an h at the
same time as a k, the sort of sound a child says
when saying yecchh!); Sorry: sorry (sorry,
with rolled r's); excuse me: pardon (parDON).
Currency
The
currency used in the Netherlands is
the Euro
expressed as EUR or €. Click
here
for a currency converter.
Credit
cards are not as widely accepted in the Netherlands as
in many other lands, but it's getting steadily better.
Always enquire first if you intend to pay by credit card.
If you have an ATM card (a card for getting money out
of a machine in the wall) it will most likely work in
the Netherlands (indeed throughout Europe), so you don't
need to take traveler's checks. Check with your bank before
leaving though. Such cards, certainly if they have a Maestro
logo on them, can often also be used for direct debit
payments in shops (shops that display the blue "PIN"
sign, which is almost all shops).
Click here
for a currency converter.
Tipping
All
prices in the Netherlands by law include tax and tips:
the price you see is the price you pay. Normal Dutch practice
in restaurants is to round up to some whole number of
euros, so that the tip is about 5%.
Electricity
Dutch
Electricity was 220 volts, and then moved at a rate of
1 volt per year to the European standard 230 volts. You
can buy voltage and plug converters at Aurora, on the
Vijzelstraat at the end of the Flower Market, near the
Munt Tower.
Click
here
for an electricity guide.
Food
You
can find all types of International
food in the Netherlands as well as
traditional Dutch food. Click here
for an idea of traditional Dutch
dishes.
top |
