Amsterdam - From Van Gogh Museum to Red Light District

Gassan Diamonds. Photo by sihhan

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Photo by pigeonpoo


Photo by Laura Charlotte

During the Dutch Golden Age, the city was one of the world's most important port cities, being a major transit point for diamonds as well as a leading financial center. The city remains the cultural and financial capital of the country, with the headquarters of most large Dutch companies and banks being located in the downtown area of the city. The Dutch stock exchange, Euronext is also sited in the city center. Historic attractions in the city include its well known canals and the Van Gogh Museum, helping the city to bring in over 4 million tourists a year.

This is a city which will charm you instantly. The city has a storybook feel, thanks in part to its 1,200 bridges festooned with lights. Other than the canals and bridges, the city boasts a wealth of bookstores, brown cafes (bruin cafes; the Dutch version of neighborhood bars) and many Museums. Tourists will find that most Amsterdamers speak fluent English and are friendly and welcoming to visitors.

As of the latest count, the city had a population of approximately 750,000.

Amsterdam Canal Parade

Photo by gayplaces

The spectacular Canal Parade is the highlight of the Amsterdam Pride celebrations and is watched by up to 350,000 people as it passes down the city's main canals each year.The parade sets off from the Westerdok and goes along the Prinsengracht canal to the Amstel. It then goes past the places before finishing at the Oosterdok via Oude Schans. The best places to watch it from are the bridges over the Prinsengracht and the Amstel.

Comedytrain International Festival

The Comedytrain International Festival takes over the Toomler Comedy Club in Amsterdam for six weeks every summer, showcasing the finest English-speaking acts from a number of countries.The comedy from many countires join.

Prinsengracht Concert

Photo by Photochiel

"Renowned soloists perform classical music from a pontoon stage floating in front of the Pulitzer Hotel on the Prinsengracht Canal, with fairy lights decorating the canal sides and buildings.The concert is the highlight of the city's nine-day Canal Festival and a hugely popular event. Arrive early if you want a good seat, as the event usually attracts around 20,000 people."

Uitmarkt Amsterdam

At the end of August, the new season of culture commences with shows on outdoor and indoor stages at Dam, Nieuwmarkt, Waterlooplein and other places around the city.There is enormous variety on offer, with previews of theatre, cabaret, dance, pop and classical music, opera, mime, children's theatre, street theatre and film. All performances are free, so it is no surprise that you find up to half a million people milling about attending a choice of shows.

1e Klas

Photo by Andrew B47

The dining room in the station's circa-1881 first-class waiting room.Despite high ceilings, wood paneling, tall windows, chandeliers, painted pilaster columns, and potted plants. Drop by for just a coffee or a beer, and you'll sit at a table along the wall; for a meal, you get a table in the central dining area. The soup of the day is usually good and quick, as is the club sandwich.

Aphrodite

"Its single room is modern, restrained in its decor, and softly lit. The specialties-lamb cubes in coriander-and-wine sauce, oven-baked lamb, and others are not much different in principle from those of other local Greek restaurants but are generally better prepared and served which, after all, is difference enough."

Atrium

"The menu mixes standard Dutch fare like salads and pea-and-ham soup with exotic influences like filled Indonesian bami (noodle) and nasi (rice) croquettes that have themselves become Dutch standards.An added value is the nature of the place, which makes it easy to share tables and strike up conversations."

De Balie

Photo by De Balie

Simple but fine meals are served in a restaurant upstairs, which has an ever-changing menu that's short on choice but long enough on taste. There's invariably a vegetarian plate, maybe something like the Mediterranean-style De Balie is well placed for a dinner before or after a visit to its own theater.

Golden Temple

"The first thing you notice when you enter is that you can actually see the place decorative flourishes. The menu livens things up, though, with its unlikely roster of Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mexican dishes.The food is delicately spiced, and evidently prepared by loving hands.The homemade ice cream is a finger-licking good way finish."

Walem

"Walem may have many seat on two wonderful terraces: one outside beside the canal and the other at the rear in a sheltered, quiet garden patio. The space between them isn't bad either with small tables in front of and beside the long bar, where daily newspapers are provided. Menu items include pasta specialties, steak, chicken, and salads."

Vertigo

Hence the portraits of screen legends on the walls and the classic scenes of movie dining on the menu. On summer evenings, you might even be able to take in an open-air movie. At other times, enjoy the south-Europe cuisine in an intimate indoor candle-lit setting. The menu, which changes every 6 to 8 weeks, lists fish, meat, and vegetarian options, plus some fresh pasta varieties.

Rose's Cantina

A meal starting with tortilla chips and salsa, followed by a plato mixto or fried gallinas (roast hen with fries and red peppers), and accompanied by a Mexican beer should hit the spot. The tables are oak, the service is decent but slow -- the basic rate of continental drift is a good comparison -- and the atmosphere is Latin American and buzzing with cheer.

Haesje Claes

"Dutch food at moderate prices, try this inviting place. Lots of nooks and crannies decorated with wood-paneling, Delftware, wooden barrels, brocaded benches, and traditional Dutch hanging lamps with fringed covers create an intimate, comfortable setting. The menu covers a lot of ground, from canapés to caviar, but you'll have the most luck with Dutch stalwarts ranging from omelets to tournedos. Take in hutspot (stew), stampot (mashed potatoes and cabbage), and various fish stews, including those with IJsselmeer paling (eel), along the way."

Lof

"Oysters are a regular feature among two or three starters; then choose from three main courses: meat, fish, or vegetarian and finish with a torte. You dine on one of two levels, at plain tables in a cozy setting with bare brick walls, or with a view of proceedings in the open kitchen."

Hermitage Amsterdam

Hermitage, Amsterdam
Photo by DaveLevy

A visit to Amsterdam can now offer you some of the experiences of a trip to St. Petersburg. Opened in 2004 in the neoclassical Amstelhof, the Amsterdam branch of Russia's renowned State Hermitage museum recalls links between the two canal-threaded cities that date back centuries. Exhibits in Amsterdam change twice a year, at first in six galleries on the two floors of the modernized Neerlandia Building, which was built next to the Amstelhof in 1888 as a home.

NEMO Science Center

NEMO is housed in a swooping modern building in the Eastern Dock, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. The center is a hands-on experience, through games, experiments, and demonstrations.You'll learn how to steer a supertanker safely into port, boost your earnings on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, execute a complicated surgical procedure, blow a soap bubble large enough to stand inside, boil potatoes, and play the drums.

Madame Tussaud's

Photo by redpolkadot

If you like your celebrities with a waxen stare, don't miss the Amsterdam version of the famous London attraction. It has its own cast of Dutch characters (Rembrandt, Queen Beatrix, Mata Hari), among a parade of international favorites (Churchill, Kennedy, Gandhi). Exhibits bring you face to face with waxwork images of the powerful and famous and allow you to step into the times, events, and moments that made them so.

Van Gogh Museum

More than 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh (1853-90), along with nearly every sketch, print, etching, and piece of correspondence the artist ever produced have been housed here since the museum opened in 1973.You can trace this great artist's artistic and psychological development -- or decline -- by viewing the paintings displayed in chronological order according to the seven distinct periods and places of residence that defined his short career. (He painted for only 10 years and was on the threshold of success when he committed suicide at age 37).

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Photo by lydia mann

Only one of van Gogh's paintings sold during his lifetime Beurs van Berlage (Berlage Exchange) A massive edifice of colored brick and stone enclosing three arcades with glass-and-iron roofs, the Koopmansbeurs (Merchants' Exchange, or Stock Exchange), as it was originally known, represented a revolutionary break with 19th-century Dutch architecture. Designed by Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934), the father of modern Dutch architecture and a Frank Lloyd Wright admirer, the old exchange's refined style illustrates Berlage's theories advocating a return to simplicity of form and clarity of line and structure. It's well worth visiting as an architectural masterpiece and a prime inspiration for the Amsterdam School of Architecture.You can climb the 156 steps (there's no elevator) of the Beurs tower for a fine view of Old Amsterdam.

Artis Zoo

Photo by wYnand!

If you're at a loss for what to do with the kids, Artis is a safe bet -- 1.2 million visitors a year agree. Established in 1838, the oldest zoo in the Netherlands houses more than 6,000 animals from 1,400 species. Of course, you find the usual tigers, lions, giraffes, wolves, leopards, elephants, camels, monkeys, penguins, and peacocks

Hash Marihuana Hemp Museum

"This museum will teach you everything you ever wanted to know, and much you didn't, about hash, marijuana, and related products. Some exhibits shed light on cannabis's medicinal use, while others focus on hemp's use as a natural fiber. Among several notable artworks in the museum's collection is one from which the museum takes a proprietary satisfaction:"

Photo by Max Kueng