NETHERLANDS: Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the biggest city in The Netherlands with a population of about 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. It derived its name from "The Dam on the River Amstel". 

It is the capitol of the country, however, the government is located in The Hague. 

Amsterdam is a port city and the principal commercial and financial centre of the country.

It is about an hour by train for us to get there from our home-base in The Hague, so it is easy for us to have day jaunts.

The city has a network of canals that divide it into about 90 "islands" that are connected by over 1,300 bridges and viaducts. 

The Theatre

I am very thankful for google maps and a good battery on my cell phone. I can't imagine getting around without either one of them and would not want to get lost, especially at night.

One of the greatest Dutch artists of the 17th century is Rembrandt van Rijn. He was born in Leiden in 1606. His ambition and talent took him to Amsterdam. 

His famous paintings are in galleries around the world, but between 1639 and 1658, Rembrandt lived in this house in Amsterdam. 

His home also contained his studio and art dealership where he displayed his paintings demonstrating his scope of talent.

His studio contained many different objects that he could study to learn more for his paintings. 

He had studio spaces by the windows where he could capture the light. He could have different projects on the go and mentor students.

Amsterdam is where Anne Frank and her family hid during WW2. There is an excellent museum in the actual warehouse where they hid. No pictures are allowed inside to respect the family.

The National Holocaust Names Memorial is a labyrinth of passageways flanked by two-metre-tall brick walls with 102,000 names, date of birth, and age of death. 

It commemorates the approximately 102,000 Jewish victims from the Netherlands who were arrested by the Nazi regime during the German occupation of the country (1940-1945), deported, and mostly murdered in the Auschwitz and Sobibor death camps.

The layout of the walls mimics the Hebrew characters meaning "In Memoriam". 

The Rijksmuseum is an iconic museum in the heart of Amsterdam. The building itself is beautiful. It houses more than 8,000 works of art from Dutch and European history, including masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh.

John's favourite Vermeer

A Rembrandt pendant of a husband and wife. Zoom in for the details. 

And then we have the seedier side of Amsterdam. Specifically, the Red Light District. The district is known for its trendy coffee shops, bars, clubs, sex shops, sex theatres, peep shows, and a sex museum, amongst other "attractions".

The history of the area dates all the way back to the 16th century, as the Catholic government was being overthrown by Protestants. The district was transformed, making way for nightlife and entertainment for the many sailors and travellers passing through Amsterdam. At the time, the harbour in Amsterdam was one of Europe’s most important trade centres.

The district consists of a network of alleys containing approximately 300 one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their "services" from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights and blacklight.

The area is one of the oldest and most beautiful parts of the city with its long winding narrow, cobbled streets and charming 14th-century architecture. It formerly contained many distilleries, mainly catering to sailors. 

Smack dab in the middle is the gothic Oude Kerk, or Old Church. 

There are efforts to clean up the area, specifically because of poor behaviour from tourists.

 

Also in The Red Light Distirct there is a cannabis museum, and a number of coffee shops offering various cannabis products.

Which brings me to another interesting topic. Cannabis is legal in the Netherlands, and "Coffee Shops" do not sell coffee. They sell legal cannabis products.

John and I are boring old Grey Nomads and have not partaken in the "seedier" side of Amsterdam. Instead we bought a MuseumKaart and spend our time in the museums and galleries. Basically.

Siiiiigh..... to be young again.