The WiFi code at our hotel was: Amsterdamrocks!
This pretty much sums it up!
We, three gallivanting goldies, friends of close to 40 years from Law School days, have just spent 4 glorious days in Amsterdam and it rocks, even for us goldies!
Canals, Van Gogh, Coffeeshops, Fried Chips, Cafes, Banksy, Bicycles, Cheese and Beer – we wandered around this vibrant city for 4 marvelous days.
we saw most of the tourist sites and did most of the touristy things:-
The Dam Square, the center of the city. Great place to sit and watch the world go by. We sat at the corner cafe and people watched. The Royal Palace on Dam Square is housed in what used to be the City Hall – it is an elegant yet not overly lavish Palace. Well worth going inside.
The Magna Plaza situated just behind the Royal Palace is a magnificent 19th century building.It used to be the Amsterdam Post Office – today it is an indoor shopping mall. The facade and the interior of the building are stunning. We popped in to take a look and weren’t disappointed.
Kalverstraat, one of the main shopping streets leading off from Dam Square. This a pedestrian shopping street and is on your left when standing looking at the Royal Palace. Here are most of the chain stores that one finds in all of the big cities. At the end of the street there is a shopping mall with a restaurant called Blue situated on the top floor, supposedly famous for the view. Don’t bother – nothing to write home about!
Coffeeshops – all coffee shops spelled as one word: coffeeshop, are definitely not your regular cafe. Coffeeshops are stores selling cannabis legally . None of us goldies are smokers, tobacco or otherwise, yet two of us visited The Original Dampkring Coffeeshop. We bought the weakest joint and joined the masses in one of Amsterdam’s most well known attractions. Take note of the facade of this coffeeshop. The interior too, with their resident doped cat, is something to see.
Begijnhof – so much hype about this place and honestly don’t know why. This is an enclosed community of several buildings with a garden (not a great one at that) in the middle, which is home to a semi monastic community. To get to it you turn off Kalverstraat to the west. Can definitely skip this.
De 9 Straatjes (The 9 Streets) – a great walk around this neighborhood which is between the Prinsengracht and Herengracht Canals. The area is known for its’ cute coffee shops and fashion shops.
Leiden Square – we spent an evening here having dinner. Nice vibe, like everywhere else in Amsterdam. The square is famous for the Bulldog coffeeshop which was once a police station!
Jordaan Neighbourhood – a charming pretty neighborhood. The canals here are smaller, lush and leafy. Towards the end of the neighborhood, not too far from Anne Frank House, on the opposite side of the Prinsengracht (the canal) you will see the Tulip Museum with a gift store facing the canal. It is situated at 116 Prinsengracht. If you want to take tulip bulbs home, I suggest popping into the gift store here where they will also advise you on which to buy and how and when to plant them.
Canal Cruise – a great way of getting a different perspective of the City. Recommend doing a cruise on an open boat with a live guide and not an audio guide. We did a 75 minute cruise with Open Boat Tours near the Central Station, 4 Damrak.
Amsterdam Centraal – the main railway station housed in a magnificent gothic building.
Red Light District – Rossebuurt – seeing women touting for business – a disturbing and very uncomfortable sight and what sadly is considered to be one of Amsterdam’s top tourist attractions. This is one of the oldest traditional districts reminiscent of 14th cent. layout of streets and canals.
Floating Flower Market – this is no floating market. Stalls built on the side of the Singel Canal and one big tourist trap. If you want to buy tulip bulbs suggest you do so from the Tulip Museum.
De Oude Pijp with Albert Cuyp Market – this has to be one of the quietest markets I have been to. Actually apart from the cheese stalls, from which we bought Dutch Yellow Cheese, nothing spectacular.
Moco Museum with the Banksy Exhibition – a small but very lovely modern contemporary museum. It was full and sometimes rather problematic to see everything but bearable and worthwhile
Van Gogh Museum – one of the many museums situated around the Museumplein. One has to book online and stipulate a time slot. We did and very much looked forward to visiting the museum. In anticipation I even reread Irving Stone’s Lust for Life. The building is lovely and the exhibition looks well presented and curated. However the masses of people visiting the museum listening to audio guides made this a most unpleasant and frustrating experience. To see a painting one had to peek over and sometimes under other people. The time-slots allocated proved to be meaningless. We did manage to see some of his many self portraits. Van Gogh is surely the father of selfies.
Vondelpark – a lovely park to stroll around in. We had a simple but good breakfast at Vondelpark 3, an outdoors restaurant in a great location at the top of the northern side of the park.
Fried Chips and Cheese – two of the most well known foods associated with Amsterdam. Leave the calorie counter at home and indulge. Two of us did – the third well she has enormous self discipline! If you want to buy yellow cheese to take home you can buy it from one of the many cheese stores all around Amsterdam or at the Albert Cuyp Market. Make sure that you get it vacuum packed.
we walked amsterdam:-
After reading the above one could easily come to the conclusion that nice but not brilliant, touristy and not that much fun. So what made our trip so absolutely amazing?
We walked Amsterdam.
We felt the vibe, the friendliness, the ambiance of this wonderful city.
We walked the streets, the canals and the lanes. It doesn’t really matter where you walk, what your route is, as wherever you walk in Amsterdam you feel the vibe. We were very lucky – we had superb weather, blue skies, sunshine and shimmering canals. Wherever we walked there was a sense of joy, of relaxation, of serenity, of calmness together with a vibrant fun atmosphere. Although most of the people around could not be classed as gallivanting goldies, Amsterdam is for everyone, young and old.
On one of our walks we stumbled upon Toastable, on Singel Canal. Highly recommend this delightful cosy cafe for wonderful toasties.
While you wander take a look at the buildings. The buildings in the center and older part of Amsterdam are very narrow as taxes were determined by the width of the building. On top of the buildings, in the middle, take note of the the hook used to lift things up into the Apartments!
The Bicycles:-
With so many bicycles around there are not that many cars and we never saw buses. Everything is quieter and somehow cleaner. The tram service is excellent. Frequent and user friendly. The bicycles however are definitely masters of the roads – so beware – look in all directions when crossing the roads which can, at times, be rather challenging.
There are bicycles everywhere. On the roads, parked along the canals and just about wherever you go. Most of the bicycles are city bikes, not state of the art, with no gears or fancy accessories . They are simply a means to get around and ridden by all ages. The contraptions added on for shlepping babies and shopping are simple and practical. We rarely saw cyclists wearing helmets. There are loads of stores renting bicycles.
tips:-
Buy a GVB card for all public transport – remember to scan it upon entering and exiting the tram;
Tap water is drinkable actually Holland is known to have exceptional water, so don’t bother to buy bottled water;
Comfortable shoes for walking the cobbled streets.
All the photos are mine taken with my iPhone and iPad.