The Netherlands

Going Dutch

by Christine Salins on November 27, 2009

Published in TradeSmart, issue 3.

From one extreme to the other, both a city of eccentrics and a city of culture, Amsterdam is a vibrant, exciting destination for those wanting to experience European culture and history mixed with a spirited dash of contemporary and alternative experiences.

Since the glory days of the Renaissance when Amsterdam led the world in free thinking, intellectual activity and pragmatic business success, this small city of 800,000 people has welcomed visitors and outsiders with open arms.

The 17th century canals, lined with stunningly beautiful historic mansions and warehouses, are a testimony to the Golden Age of Amsterdam, when it was home base to traders and explorers who travelled to the far corners of the globe, bringing wealth along with spices, tulips and other exotic wonders to the city.

Some of Amsterdam’s grand buildings have been converted into fine tourist accommodation, such as the Pulitzer Hotel which is housed in 25 restored canal houses, or the Grand Hotel Krasnopolsky, in the heart of Dam Square, facing the Queen’s Palace. If you can’t afford to stay there, you can always drink a strong Dutch coffee or a glass of jenever on the hotel terrace, and hope for a glimpse of Queen Beatrix or her family.

Other fine buildings now house outstanding museums, including the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Rembrandt House Museum, attractions not to be missed for their wonderful collections of art. The Rijksmuseum is world-renowned for its enormous collection of works by Dutch masters such as Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Vermeer and Rembrandt, as well as its porcelain, silver, furniture and dollhouses.

You will also want to join the queue to visit the Van Gogh Museum which houses the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world. Hire some earphones and enjoy viewing the collection at your own pace.

A more poignant experience, and one embedded in more recent history, is the Anne Frank House. This stark reminder of the dark days and inhumanity of World War Two brings to life the story of Anne Frank and her family. Anne wrote her famous diary while her family hid in this house from the Nazis. She died in a concentration camp shortly before her 16th birthday. For many tourists, the house is an unforgettable highlight of their time in Amsterdam.

Amongst the culture and the history of this beautiful city, there is also a vivid contemporary culture ranging from high fashion and pop art to music, dance and counter-culture. The famous red-light district, de Wallen, is an attraction even for those not wishing to avail themselves of its services. Providing you take the same precautions as anywhere, it is generally safe to walk around, but definitely don’t take photographs or you could regret it.

There’s a very popular Sex Museum here, one of many off-beat museums in the city. Others include a toilet museum, moneybox museum and museums on cats, coffee and tea, eyeglasses, and the Bible. Centred around de Wallen, but also elsewhere in the city, coffee shops sell cannabis. This is not completely legal but is tolerated when small quantities of cannabis are involved. Also an experience are the “brown cafés”, so named because they are brown with age and cigarette smoke.

Beer lovers will enjoy the Heineken Experience at the original Heineken brewery where you learn about the art of brewing, take a virtual ride through Amsterdam on a beer delivery truck and get to try some beers for yourself. Be dazzled by diamonds at the Gasson diamond factory, where you can take a free guided tour and watch the diamond cutters and polishers at work.

Amsterdam is flat and compact, so walking is the best way to savour its lively atmosphere. Rings of canals wind their way through the city, and you can follow the Herengracht (the grand canal) and the Prinsengracht to discover curious little shops, cafés and bars.

Consider hiring a bike or taking a walking tour to delve into the city’s alley ways and hidden courtyards. If time is short and you want a quick overview of the city, a canal tour by boat is the way to go. Departing from Central Station, the cruises provide a great view of the bustling city by day, and a pretty view at night when the bridges are lit up.

Short trips can be made from Amsterdam by the very convenient and efficient train service to nearby cities such as Delft, the home of the famous blue porcelain, the cheese markets of Alkmaar, and the stately political capital, The Hague.

The bulb fields of Keukenhof explode into colour between March and May, while Zaanse Schaans is a traditional Dutch village that has much to do and see, including a cheese making factory and clog factory, within easy reach of Amsterdam.

© Christine Salins

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Amsterdam

by Christine Salins on June 27, 2007

Published in From The Bridge, issue 11, Autumn 2007.

Amsterdam is an enigma, with dollhouse-like houses, cobblestone streets and pretty bridges and canals within metres of cannabis cafes, squatter art and a flourishing red light district. Which makes it all the more interesting for travellers on one of the many river cruises that make the capital of The Netherlands their port of call.

The cruises dock within walking distance of the city centre, in an area known as Eastern Docklands. This long-neglected area once thrived on shipping and when the ships were diverted elsewhere, became home to prostitutes, squatters and drug dealers. It’s a great example of urban rejuvenation.

Although the rows of apartments are spankingly modern, they have been designed to look like canal houses, while the bridges are quirky versions of the old ones elsewhere. Restaurants, cafes and landscaped communal areas add to the urban village feel.

It’s a short walk from here to Central Station, the Royal Palace and Dam Square, which is a great spot for people-watching and street entertainment. From here, rings of canals wind their way through the city. Follow the Herengracht (the grand canal) and the Prinsengracht to discover curious little shops, cafés, bars and quaint houses dating from the 17th century when Holland enjoyed its Golden Age thanks to its maritime success in the East Indies.

Walking is the best way to savour the lively atmosphere of this flat and compact city. Even the organized tours which cruise companies offer usually include a walking component. For a city with a population of just over 700,000, Amsterdam is flush with museums, art galleries, theatres and concert halls.

Bus tours take in some of the wider city area, including Rembrandt’s Mill on the Amstel River. The 1680 windmill offers a classic Dutch vignette but actually its only connection with Rembrandt is that it is near a statue of the artist.

For an insight into Rembrandt’s life, visit the house in Jodenbreestraat where he lived and painted for nearly 20 years until he went bankrupt in 1656. The neighbourhood has many of the city’s most interesting shops, galleries and “brown cafés”, so named because they are brown with age and cigarette smoke.

Rembrandt’s house doesn’t have any of his oil paintings. For those you’ll have to go to the Rijksmuseum, which also has an enormous collection of works by other Dutch masters, along with porcelain, silver, furniture and dollhouses. Around the corner, the Van Gogh Museum has the world’s biggest collection of Van Gogh paintings, including his famous works The Potato Eaters and The Sunflowers.

Almost all cruise itineraries include a boat trip on the city’s canals. Sadly the plastic roofs on some of the boats could do with some upgrading to improve visibility. Nevertheless, you’ll glean snippets of interesting information such as how dykes allow the city to be situated below sea level without being flooded.

You’ll pass houseboats galore, many of them with well-established gardens on deck, and you’ll have a greater appreciation of the fine patrician houses that were built during the Golden Age. One of the houses on the Prinsengracht is the Anne Frank House, a museum that is likely to move you more than any you have seen.

Anne Frank wrote her famous diary while her family hid in this house from the Nazis. She died in a concentration camp shortly before her 16th birthday. Climb the stairs behind the bookcase that concealed the secret annex, see Anne’s pictures of Ava Gardner and the English princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, on the walls and view the original diaries in a gallery downstairs.

For light relief, the flower market reaffirms the Dutch love of flowers, though it is a tourist haunt as much as it caters for locals. So too the Gasson diamond factory, where if you can’t afford to buy the precious gems, you can still be dazzled by their beauty and watch the diamond cutters and polishers at work.

Beer lovers will enjoy the Heineken Experience at the original Heineken brewery where you learn about the art of brewing, take a virtual ride through Amsterdam on a beer delivery truck and get to try some beers for yourself.

As well as being famous for their sweet treats such as poffertjes (little pancakes), the Dutch love their herring. Jonk’s herring cart, at Spui, is an Amsterdam institution. Rijstafel, a legacy of The Netherlands’ colonial rule in Indonesia, is an experience not to be missed. Countless restaurants in Amsterdam offer the banquet of Indonesian dishes but two worth looking out for are Idrapura and Kantjil.

One of Amsterdam’s most talked about restaurants is in the Eastern Docklands, close to where your cruise ship docks. Fifteen, an offshoot of Jamie Oliver’s London flagship, is in a huge warehouse on the waterfront, with a trattoria next door offering a cheaper version.

One striking building to look out for while you are strolling around this area is NEMO, the giant green National Centre for Science and Technology, shaped like the bow of a ship. It has a rooftop terrace where the locals go sunbaking. And in a country where it drizzles more often than it is sunny, that’s an enigma too.

© Christine Salins

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