Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Winter art exhibit at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Art, ,

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has a lot going for it.

Besides being just 20 minutes from downtown Amsterdam, the airport is just a fun place to hang around.

Amsterdan Schiphol play area for kids

There are really fun play areas for kids, a casino for adults, a short-stay Yotel hotel perfect for napping and refreshing up, lounge chairs, a library and some really great artwork.

The airport is also home to a branch of Amsterdam’s infamous Rijksmuseum.

Loocated on Holland Boulevard, post-security, between Piers E and F, the museum is open every day and there is no admission fee charged.

The museum has a permanent exhibition of ten works by Dutch masters of the Golden Age as well as temporary exhibitions that change several times a year.

The current special exhibition, ‘Dutch Winters,’ will be up through March 2011.

Isaac Israëls, Two Girls in the Snow, ca. 1890-94

Traveling Art exhibition at Schiphol Airport

Air Travel, Art, Baggage, Exhibits, Fun Stuff, Layover, Openings, ,

Traveling art show at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has a new Traveling Art exhibition space devoted to the work of Dutch artists and designers.  The work displayed will change every three months, but right now the exhibit cases include “Flexible Volume” bags designed Gonnie Janssen.

For example, the Harmonica Bag has a flexible bottom that can be adjusted to its contents.

Harmonica Bag

And the senz° umbrella, which seems to be both stylish and, as a series of videos show, incredibly wind resistant.

I can’t wait to see what pops up next!

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has world’s first airport library

Airport guides, Airport shops, Alcohol, Exhibits, Layover,

Here’s a brilliant idea:

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has partnered with the Dutch Public Libraries to open the world’s first airport library.  The library is just past passport control, on Holland Boulevard, and offers passengers waiting for a flight a place to read books in 29 different languages, listen to music, watch films and download material free of charge.

This from an airport that already offers travelers a great collection of art, a casino, a seafood bar, a chocolate bar, a fun forest for kids, a branch of the Rijksmuseum and lots more.

Schiphol opens world's first airport library

Her Royal Highness Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands was on hand for the opening of the Schiphol Airport Library on Holland Boulevard

Now… when we will have library branches in US airports? 

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport upgrades departure gate experience

Layover, Museums, ,

I’m a big fan of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The amenities there – from the play areas and the first-class art collection to the plentiful lounge chairs, the casino and floating branch of the Rijksmuseum – make long layovers more of an adventure than a chore.

Now they’ve turned their attention to the departure gate experience with a new waiting area intended to make the time passengers spend waiting for flights “as pleasant and inspirational as possible.”

Inspirational? That’s a tall order. But the first new-style gate area rolled out, which will be used first by Cathay Pacific, does look different and quite promising. The seating area looks more like a living room than a ‘holding area.’ And there’s a concierge desk, binoculars for plane spotting, water fountains, work desks and “daylight capturing devices” that will “change the lighting from ‘warm’ to cool’ during the boarding announcement in order to get people going.”

One problem: if these new gate are as nice they sound, it may be hard to get people to go!

Schiphol getting world’s first airport library

Air Travel, Airports, Delays, Entertainment, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Layover, Reading, , ,

Library at Strahov Monastery

(Strahov Monastery library, Prague. Photos courtesy Curious Expeditions , via Flickr)

Over the years I’ve heard from one or two US airports that were toying with the idea of letting their local library have a cart somewhere in the terminal where travelers could check out and return library books.

But so far, it seems nothing much has come of that.

Now comes word that, come July, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport will have the world’s first airport library, complete with books, films and music. According to Radio Netherlands:

As the airport library is a place where people will pass time and then leave on their flights, visitors will not be allowed to take books, DVDs or other items away. There will, however, be a separate ‘download room’. A new device will allow visitors to not only watch films, but also to download them to mobile phones.

A brilliant idea! Hopefully other airports will team up with local libraries and do the same.

And, for fun and inspiration, take a look at this Librophiliac Love Letter from Curious Expeditions – a round-up of some of the world’s most beautiful libraries. Schiphol’s new library may not end up looking like any of these, but I bet they’ll create something quite inviting.


Ash-delayed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport

Art, Exhibits, , , ,

Ash from Iceland’s volcano put the kabosh on a lot of flights yesterday and a lot of people spent a lot of time stuck at the airport.  Those, like me, that were lucky got to spend their time at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where there’s not only a branch of the Rijksmuseum, but a collection of art that includes some pretty impressive pieces, including a 13-foot long painting by M.C. Escher on loan from the post office in The Hague:

(Just part of Escher’s Metamorphosis)

And these giant snowmen (Sitting Men) by Tom Claassen:

Souvenir Sunday: treats from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Airport shops, Fun Stuff, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, , ,

Until my most recent visit, I’d spent much more time at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport than I had in the city itself.

That was fine with me.  Schiphol, with its wide array of art, entertainment, services and amenities, is a great place to spend a few hours.  In addition to hundreds of lounge chairs, there’s a casino,  seafood bars, the bite-size branch of the Rijksmuseum (more on all that later in the week), and plenty of opportunities for shopping.

The shopping is especially fruitful for Souvenir Sunday, when Stuck at The Airport focuses on fun stuff for sale at airports for about $10.

Here are some of my classic finds:

In among the real (very expensive) and knock-off Delft-ware, there are these cute cow creamers:

Tulips (and some other flowers) are everywhere, of course,  but I’m not sure how fresh flowers would survive on a 10 hour plane trip;

A better choice: wooden flowers, which are colorful, easy to carry and, available singly or in bunches.

Have you found a great souvenir while you were stuck at the airport? If it’s around $10, fun, offbeat and “of” the city or region, please snap a photo and send it along.  It may be featured on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday.

Tidbits for travelers: Volcano underwear at Schiphol

Food, free Wi-Fi, Fun Stuff, Volcano, , ,

I spent a morning touring Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in search of new amenities and services to share.

Along the way my tour guide, Marianne de Bie (who reminded me that she’d been my tour guide almost ten years ago!) shared some stories about what the Schiphol staff did to try to make stranded people more comfortable during the “the ash cloud.”

The airport brought in shower trucks (the kind you see at festivals)  and after a few days asked the First and Business class lounges with on-site showers to open them to passengers; which they did.   Stranded passengers were also treated to sandwiches, free Wi-Fi, movies and offered toothpaste, socks, and underwear that the airport had quickly purchased to hand out.

“We have dollar stores like anyplace else,” de Bie told me, “But the underwear supplier made a mistake and included 500 pairs of expensive brand-name boxer shorts for men.  Those turned out to be very popular.”

Landmarks, hotels & airports turning off lights for Earth Hour

Events, , , ,

(courtesy: Jorge Sierra / WWF-Spain)

Attention travelers and aliens assigned to monitor our planet from outer space: you may notice major landmarks, tourist attractions, and large areas of many cities and towns around the world going dark for an hour on March 27.

Do not be alarmed. It’s just Earth Hour, a rolling, global black-out designed to draw attention to climate change. First organized in Sydney, Australia back in 2007, during last year’s Earth Hour there were voluntary lights-out events in 87 countries. This year, millions of people, more than 115 countries, thousands of cities and hundreds of major attractions and landmarks worldwide have pledged to switch off the lights for an hour as well.

My msnbc.com column this week, Lights out for climate change, lists just some of the landmarks and attractions participating in the carefully choreographed event that kicks off Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. local time in New Zealand’s Chatham Islands and then follow time zones around the globe, ending with an hour of darkness in the South Pacific island of Samoa almost 25 hours later.  You can see the complete list on the Earth Hour website,  but some of the places that will go dark include the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, UN Headquarters in NY, Seattle’s Space Needle and the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C.

(courtesy WWF / Maverick Photo Agency)

Some people think the whole Earth Hour project is silly.  But no matter where you stand on the issue of global warming or the ability of a single, simple event to make a difference, it will be impressive to see so many usually-lit places go dark, if just for an hour.

Many hotels around the world are participating in Earth Hour by turning off lights in public areas and offering candlelit dinners.  In England, though, when five Starwood hotels turn off their lights, hotel staff will begin pedaling special bicycles that will generate enough power to light up the hotel lobbies.

Several airports are also joining in Earth Hour as well, turning off lights that are not essential for safety or security.  You’ll notice lights out at airports in Toronto, Calgary, Amsterdam, London (Luton), Singapore, and Los Angeles, where the iconic, colorful, 100-foot-tall LAX Gateway pylons that stand at the airport’s entrance will glow a steady, solid green between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. and then turn off completely between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

(courtesy Los Angeles International Airport)

Tidbits for travelers: art & massages at Schiphol, more music in Austin

Art, Events, Exhibits, Museums, Music, , ,

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has more than 100 shops, an equal number of cafes, pubs and restaurants, casinos, a Yotel, a great art collection and a branch of the Rijksmuseum that’s currently showing the Sunny Skies exhibition, featuring nine works by Dutch 17th century landscape artists inspired by the Italian landscape.

Speaking of inspiration, Schiphol’s Cone Bar, in Lounge 2 (post-security) recently installed these specially-designed Massage-O-Matic (MOM) chairs that offer eight minutes of privacy and Shiatsu massage for about $5.50.

More music at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

If you’re heading to Austin for the SXSW Music Festival, don’t rush out of the airport when you land.  The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport offers live music in the terminal year-round, but during the SXSW festival, the airport is an official showcase venue. And since you can’t spit in Austin without hitting a Grammy-winner, it’s a sure bet that even if you haven’t heard of the band, you’ll enjoy one of the free shows.

The airport’s SXSW showcase kicked off yesterday with an appearance by Ray Benson (of Asleep at the Wheel) with the Marshall Ford Swing Band.  Here’s a link to the other performances you can see at the airport this month.