Amsterdam is often the first stop for people on a GAP year, and there is a real young vibe to the city. Where we live, the bars are well frequented by young people drinking and socialising well into the night. There is the faint smell of something else sometimes in the air when strolling the streets too. Amsterdam, is a city, known for its tolerance.
It's also called 'The Venice of the North' due to the many canals. It is quite picturesque. Apparently, we have arrived in the first bit of good weather they have had in months; its rained for like five months. People were enjoying the sun, the parks were packed, and the restaurants and bars were doing a brisk trade. The place had a great atmosphere.
It is popular for tourists to hop on a boat to explore the canals in Amsterdam. This is the canal at the end of our street. Some of the house boats are quite elaborate with modern minimalist designs. For a travel blogger, I'm a terrible tourist and didn't catch the boat, but walked along the canals to the Old City.
Notice many of the old houses are leaning, and it is not due to my bad photography. It happens in these cities like Amsterdam, and Venice.
Amsterdam is a city of museums, and there are some excellent ones here. The main attractions are as follows:
1. Rijksmuseum - with the big name artists. Well worth a visit.
2. Van Gogh Museum — Vincent van Gogh needs no introduction. This museum has the largest collection of his work.
3. Anne Frank House — the Jewish girl who kept a diary who hid in rooms from the Nazis.
If your only in Amsterdam for a short time you should probably focus on the top three and add a boat ride around the canals, and a walk around the Old City. For all the relevant information on Amsterdam just visit http://www.iamsterdam.com/
However, there are like 40 museums in Amsterdam, so there to see and do. If you really want to you can go to one of the infamous Coffee shops, but I'm sure you can source it cheaper at your local pub, or so I've heard.
I know I keep going on about the bikes, which I think is great, because certainly it keeps everyone fit, and is bettter for the environment, but I'm amazed at the cargo bikes (pictured above). There is another type with a cargo bucket at the front, where you can actually fit two kids with little seat belts. Some have little steeering wheels so the kids can pretend they are driving, so cute!
Anyway, needless to say I did nothing touristy today, except a stroll to the Old City. As you probably guessed eating out is much more expensive. I'm still on Spain time, so I'm used to eating late, but here they eat earlier around 6pm. I don't think the Dutch are renowned for their cuisine, which has been described as rustic, however, due to immigration there are foreign restaurants, which are hard to find in Spain. I did have a magnificent six course meal at a Japanese restaurant on Albert Cuypstraat called Izakaya. They have a good high end bar if you want to drink. (details below). The waffles are tasty here, and is something you should try.
The restaurant just happened to be in the better part of the Red Light district of Amsterdam. It's not considered polite to take photographs of the ladies of the night, so to speak. Well, basically it's just what you have heard that scantily lad ladies stand in a full length glass window to show that she is available. When the curtain is drawn she is not. I did notice one actually talking on her mobile phone, and the others just looked bored. I've heard that Bangkok makes this look lame, which it is, and just a little disrespectful to women.
Having said all that, I think that everyone needs to check Amsterdam off on the list, and admittedly I didn't see or do much. For me though, Venice does the whole canal thing better, plus there is better food, and is perhaps a more romantic location. Maybe I'm just missing the sunny skies of Spain instead of the grey skies of Northern Europe.
TRAVEL INFO:
Best travel website on Amsterdam - http://www.iamsterdam.com/
Izakaya restaurant
http://www.izakaya-amsterdam.com/home.html
Albert Cuypstraat 2-6 1072 CT Amsterdam The Netherlands
+31 20 305NoSkype 3090
Redlight district - a little lame.
TRAVEL TIPS:
- Taxis are expensive in Amsterdam, the flag fall is 7.5 Euros, so walk or catch the tram or rent a bike.
- Catch the tram all day for 7.5 Euros instead, or just walk. It's really not that far, and of course it's all flat.
- watch out for the bikes.
