Personal Interests - Travelling To Amsterdam

 
 

If you've heard the "Dutch Mountains" from "Nits" then you already know that there are no mountains in Holland. You can make a full round of the country by bicycle... Anyway, by bicycle you can go everywhere in Holland. As in many other things, Dutch people have strong environmental concerns. Spending a few days there really makes you think that Holland is a country near to "ideal society". At least that I thought ...
 

What about Amsterdam?
 

Amsterdam is one of my favorites cities all over the world. As it usually happens with the big capitals, Amsterdam it's a different story from the rest of the country. Canals are really innumerable but beautiful!! Some people say that there's a distinctive funny smell from the canals, but personally I didn't smell something strange...maybe it's the same people that they say the same thing about Venetia's canals so maybe they have something generally against canals... Amsterdam - among other things - is full of museums. So you definitely have to visit some of them. The majority of the population of the city is under 40 -and that's something you can tell just walking around in the streets. Everyone in Amsterdam has... (guess what...) YES, A BICYCLE !!! You can find millions of bicycles in Amsterdam, so it's the best way to see the town. Arriving in train station from Schiphol Airport there is no need to worry: you can find there everything you ask for, from a hotel to stay to week-transportation cards. Sure you must buy yourself an event guide because in Amsterdam things are happening almost everyday. Amsterdam is really a "Metropolitan city" where you can find a mixture of cultures. You can find restaurants from any ethnic cuisine you like too. I think that there's no "traditional Dutch cuisine" because as colonial state Holland took basic elements from his colonies and incorporate them in its own culture. So you can say that "traditional Dutch cuisine" is Thai or Chinese food. As a good tourist you have to pay a visit to Red Light District: show windows with prostitutes trying to convince you to go in, sex shops with every sex gadget you can (or you cannot) imagine, strip clubs, erotic museums etc... The whole setting is picturesque in its own strange way, but it's something that you have to judge it by yourself. Personally I was thinking that beyond this "tourist sex" setting many personal stories of miserable lives were hidden, considering that the vast majority of these women is coming from eastern European countries and 99,999% maybe they haven't freely choose to be there, doing that... But then I maybe wrong... I don't really know...
 

Amsterdam is the capital of the country?
 

No. The capital is The Hague. Comparing to Amsterdam, I got bored in The Hague: all houses exactly the same style, same size and same colors, clean cut people in the perfectly clean streets, families with exactly the same pattern (young father, young mother, baby and dog - of course parents diplomats or lawyers), too "proper" for me I think... Scheveningen is almost the same city with The Hague - it's The Hague's seafront in a way. I could say that it's in the same style exactly. There's an impressive beach - only if you look at it from 500 meters distance. If you come closer you will find out that the color of the water is muddy brown and on the beach there are some monstrous constructions, completely destroyable for the whole picture... So generally, you can skip The Hague and Scheveningen without great loss.

 

What about drugs in Amsterdam? Is everything legal?

 

Don't make this mistake!! Legal is only the use of cannabis and marijuana but any other drug is illegal like everywhere else. In Netherlands the situation about drugs is as it should be in every place in the world: free use of "soft" drugs, illegal "hard" drugs. But it's something more than this in Holland. Drugs as problem has the dimension that should have: no one is getting hysteric about it and everyone know what is really dangerous and what not. Cannabis and marijuana are not more harmful than alcohol and tobacco - things that you find free everywhere in the world. Only the Dutch state was the first that had the guts to legalize their use.
Coffee shops of Amsterdam are legendary. I suggest avoiding the world wide famous "Bulldog" because it's the equivalent of McDonald's for coffee shops.

My opinion is that the best are "Dutch Flowers" (small interior but with great view in a quiet corner point to Spui area - many awards for its products), "La Tertulia" (an elegant cafe in Prisengracht - better with good weather so you can seat outside by the canal), "Kadinsky" (in Spui area too, friendly and modern) and above all "Rokerij" (you have to see the gothic interior decoration and paint jobs to the 4 Rokerij shops in Amsterdam. Their web site too, it's a piece of art). If you interested about high qualities of cannabis you have to visit "Sensi Seeds" - you can't have coffee here, but their products are the most awarded in cannabis festivals. If you want to know everything about legal drugs in Amsterdam you have to take a look to "High Times" - a well-known magazine about alternative cultures in Netherlands. Apart from coffee shops in Amsterdam you can find Magic Mushroom Galleries. Mainly in these shops you can find many different varieties of mushrooms, cultivated in artificial conditions. I agree that, "all of these plants are powerful hallucinogens similar in effect to LSD. They are usually sold fresh and can be eaten raw, cooked or brewed as tea although heating does reduce their potency. If you are new to psychedelic drugs and have not had a trip (hallucinations, giggling, etc.) before, then please do ask the advice of the shop's staff before experimenting" (quoted from Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory). I have to add that if you are new to psychedelic drugs, generally think about it twice, and not count so much on the shop's stuff advices, because experiences in psychedelics, can be totally different from one person to another. Anyway, visiting Amsterdam without pay a visit to a coffee shop is a serious omission, but a visit to Mushroom Galleries - if you're not used to this kind of experiences - it's something that you can skip.

What about weather?
 

You can have it all in this life... if Holland had the weather of Greece it would be the ideal country by far. But this isn't happening. Weather from October till April-May is cold and wet. Sometimes it's extremely cold and the atmosphere is humid (reasonably due to the canals...). But from May till September you may have more days with good weather, and then it's like paradise. Especially if you are lucky enough to be in Amsterdam with sunny weather you will see a completely different city, than the usual "moody weather Amsterdam's landscape".

 

What about money?
 

Being in Holland isn't the cheapest thing that you can do, but it's not so expensive either. Hotels are usually expensive, so you must be careful. Anyway, I think that with a little search you can find something that fits your budget. The prices in transportation, food and museums tickets are reasonable.

 

How's life generally in Holland?
 

I think that Amsterdam proves how smart the Dutch people are: they turned all the taboos of the western civilization into tourist attractions (free sex for tourists, free drugs for tourists) and - above all - without any guilt about it!! Everything that is forbidden in other western countries is legal in Holland and given on a noble scale to tourists. Dutch people have a strong communitarian spirit, political and environmental concerns and generally they hold very progressive views on many social matters. They simply adore their Queen Beatrice, who - strangely for royals - keeps a low profile. You can't say that Dutch are warm or too hospitable people, but you can say that they are straight, with strong communitarian spirit and not conservative at all.
 

In summary, what is the "15 Things To Do" in Amsterdam?
 

1. In Amsterdam it's not so easy to find your way around, because the structure of the city follows the canals flow, so it's a bit complicated. If you're new to town start your navigation efforts, from the Central Station. It's easier. In the area near the Station - or even in the same Station's building - you can change your money, find somewhere to stay, issue your personal transportation card and information about anything is going on to the city while you stay there.

2. Visit the Van Gogh Museum. Definitely it's something that you mustn't miss it. Van Gogh's painting is really breathtaking and the museum is perfectly organized. Learn about painter's life, his art periods but above all, let yourself loose into these almost color-sculptured extraordinary paintings.

3. Visit Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam. One of the most significant modern arts museums all over the world.

4. Visit Rijks Museum in Amsterdam. Learn about the "great masters" of Dutch painting and take a mind trip looking at Rembrandt's "Nightwatch" or Vermeer's "Kitchen Maid".


5. Visit Artis, the Amsterdam Zoo. It's better if you have visit before the nearest coffeshop or mushroom gallery. The Artis Aquarium after this, it's a whole different experience.


6. Visit Troppenmuseum. It's a museum mainly dedicated to tropical cultures. The exhibitions are well organized and there's a really good kid's section in the museum.


7. Visit Anne Frank's House. I believe that we all know the story...


8. Visit "Rembrandthuis"- meaning the house that the "great master" used to live in Amsterdam. There's a wonderful square there, in which you can have a coffee if the weather is good - especially in nighttime.


9. Visit "Dutch Flowers", "Kadinsky", and "La Tertulia" coffee shops. Relax and enjoy a good cup of coffee together with the best cannabis varieties you can find in town.


10. Visit "Rokerij". My favorite was the smallest one ("Rokerij III), the one in Amstel steet by the canal. Watch carefully the paintwork on the walls. From the main window, you can see just opposite "Rokerij III" the "Hotel Europa" which belongs to Heineken family - one of the most elegant and most expensive hotels in Amsterdam. When the night falls in this area, it's magic...


11. Visit Leidseplein. The whole situation over there sometimes reminds a circus. Colors everywhere: in people, in clothes, in shops, everywhere. Especially late spring or summer when the weather is good, Leidseplein is the most vivid square in Amsterdam. Meeting point of young people - and that means, meeting point of the whole population of the city. Take a walk to the narrow streets nearby the square and choose different ethnic restaurant every day to eat. Also you have to pay a visit to the historical "MelkWeg" Club (that means "milky way"). It's quiet possible to see some famous rock group in concert to the Melk Weg's stage.


12. Visit Dam Square. It's the biggest square in Amsterdam. You can find Madam Tissaud's museum too if you're interested.


13. Visit Red Light District. Just to see what it's all about. Don't buy any drugs on the street in this area. It's a touristic place but not completely safe - especially for this kind of activity.


14. Visit Jordan area. It's not so far away from the center and there are some really good restaurants in this area.


15. Visit Rembrandplein and the flower market near there.

Anyway in Amsterdam, there are not only "15 things" that you have to do but also hundreds. So be prepared to extend your visit, if your plan is to stay in Amsterdam "just for a couple of days".