A trip round Amsterdam

Amsterdam has been nicknamed “The Venice of the North”. Why is it compared with St. Mark’s Square and the Grand Canal? The answer lies in the city’s architecture: as the city had to be reclaimed from marshland all the buildings, even the canal banks, had to be built on wooden stilts. Amsterdam – an underwater forest! However in contrast to St. Mark’s Square here the stilts are protected against rot as an ingenious irrigation system ensures that the wood is kept permanently under water and does not decay. Venezia olandese – we can only hope that this Dutch jewel with so much to offer will be around for a long time yet.

For many visitors the square in front of the Central Station is the starting point for a sightseeing tour. The tourist information office, VVV, is also here in a large pavilion on the harbour edge. Here visitors can get useful tips before embarking on their Amsterdam adventure.

We, too, will begin our tour at the Central Station, Centraal Station, and wander a little way along the lively Damrak, over the Oudebrugsteegs bridge to the Oude Kerk, the oldest church in the city. In 1577 this hall church with its three naves was consecrated amidst much pomp yet nowadays it leads a rather pitiful existence surrounded by sex shops and pornographic cinemas. Here we are in the red light district “De Walletjes”: five thousand registered prostitutes work in Amsterdam. Many of them sit by the small windows in the houses offering their services and the presence of the drug dealers and pimps leaves you under no illusions: the prostitution business is at least as sordid as it always has been. Amsterdam – the city of tolerance – has a lot to offer human weaknesses, sometimes perhaps a little too much!

Across the Oudezijds Achterburgwal and the Molensteeg we come to the Nieuwmarkt where the city weighbridge Waag, which used to serve as city gate under the name of “St. Antoniespoort”, reaches up to heaven with its five pointed roofs. Nearby this tower, liquorice fans will be in seventh heaven: the 200 year old shop of Jacob Hooy at Kloveniersburgwal 10–12, the oldest drugstore in Amsterdam, has a particularly large selection of this sticky, blackish-brown sweet stuff!

Going down St. Antoniesbreestraat we come to the Jodenbreestraat. Before the Second World War most of the 100 000 Amsterdam Jews lived in this district only a few of whom survived the Shoah. Right at the beginning of the street (number 4-6) is the Rembrandthuis, which served as the famous artist’s home and studio from 1639–58.

Round the corner on the nearby Waterlooplein is the buzzing Amsterdam flea market. You can have fun rummaging around for old hats and new jewellery even if the brightly coloured market stalls are overshadowed by the huge musical theatre complex Stopera. This giant modern Town Hall and Opera House dominates the Waterlooplein and the whole district – in sharp contrast to the tranquil canal landscape all around where the Blauwbrug takes you over the Amstel and you can glimpse the framework of the famous drawbridge Magere Brug.

The nearby Rembrandtplein – with its memorial to the famous painter – is a favourite meeting place with its many restaurants and pubs. The terrace of the famous Grand Café Opéra is the ideal spot to sit and watch the lively goings on through which the Amsterdamers express their zest for life and sociability!

We carry on to the Muntplein and from the bridge over the Singel we can glimpse the first stalls of the floating flower market, whose bright carpet of flowers stretches as far as the bridge on the Koningsplein. A short way along the Leidsestraat to the Herengracht the magnificent houses in the “Golden Bay” recall the city’s heyday in the 17^th century. The different shapes of the gables such as stepped, neck, prow, bell or wooden with their white painted decorations look like gingerbread houses dusted with icing sugar.

However, in the middle of the Spui we are reminded of all cheeky young rascals, as we are greeted by the “Lieverdje”, the memorial to Amsterdam’s urchins. Their rather more mature fellow citizens prefer to while away their time over a kopje koffie or a glass of genever in the traditional Café Hoppe, opposite the little chap.

Now we step into a different world! A narrow alleyway turning off the busy Kalverstraat shopping street takes us into the Begijnhof, where time seems to have stood still. The charming little houses and lovingly tended gardens make you leave all thoughts of the noisy streets and hectic city life far behind.

Next door in the History Museum the old paintings, maps, books, model ships and countless other objects tell of the everyday life of the city’s past.

We can even have lunch in the midst of this historical atmosphere: right by the entrance in the former stables is a restaurant which is well worth a visit.

With our energy restored we can wander down the Kalverstraat to one of the best loved and liveliest squares in Europe, the Dam, in the middle of which stands the national monument to the liberation from German Occupation in the Second World War. Dating from earlier times is the Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace), with all its splendour it is a symbol of the power and wealth of the merchants who commissioned it to be built in the 17^th century as the Town Hall.

A further example of the architecture of this period can be found as we go from the Dam across the Raadhuisstraat to the Herengracht: the Bartolottihuis, which today houses the Amsterdam Theatre Museum. Strolling along the elm-lined canal we come to the Herenmarkt. If you are still suffering from shopping fever you can enjoy yourself in the Nieuwendijk shopping district which leads back in a wide arc to the Dam.