Amsterdam is well established as a popular weekend destination from the UK. It fits my criteria, too. Apart from its historical and cultural interest, it is in the Euro Zone and is a short hop by easyJet from Luton Airport. So, in October 2009, we found ourselves at Amsterdam Airport. It was straightforward to buy return train tickets to the centre, plus a strip card (no, not that sort of strip) for use on the buses and trams. We actually struggled to use the strip card, as our hotel was well-placed and the main attractions were within easy walking distance.
After the usual trawl through Tripadvisor, I booked the Owl Hotel - pre-ash, so we booked hotel and flights separately. Incidentally, I don’t always take the Tripadvisor comments as gospel. They frequently show an American perspective on European hotels, which I do not necessarily share. But we were delighted with the hotel. It was clean, cosy and comfortable, and no more than a ten-minute walk into the city centre. The staff were pleasant and helpful, recommending sights and restaurants. We always enjoy a leisurely breakfast on these weekend trips, and the Owl did us proud. The outlook onto the garden would have been delightful in summer.
We tackled the major tourist sights, armed as usual with a Rough Guide. The Van Gogh Museum was a must see, although I found it a bit spartan inside and out. It would have been fascinating for a serious art student who wanted a lot of technical information on Van Gogh. The Rijksmuseum, one of the world’s great art museums, was more appealing to the all-rounder. When we were there, many rooms were shut for renovation but a ‘capsule collection’ was set out in the Philips Wing. Ideal! How often have you trailed round a huge museum, looking out for the one or two famous paintings while slowly losing the will to live? The twenty or so rooms had all the masterpieces, culminating with Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. This painting is well displayed and explained. An art teacher brought in his class with their clipboards, but my Dutch was not up to it. If you enjoyed the film The Girl with the Pearl Earring, you will be fascinated by the many Vermeers here.
The single most famous visitor attraction in Amsterdam must be Anne Frank’s house. I was apprehensive that it would be a catalogue of unremitting horror, but it definitely was not. All the background detail of the family’s hidden life was fascinating. Overall, there was a powerful sense of history, of being in the very place where those heartbreaking events unfolded. I was very glad that I overcame my squeamishness and I would recommend a visit to any secondary-age child. Anne Frank was Jewish, and the Jewish heritage of Amsterdam is extensive. We visited the Esnoga, the Portuguese Synagogue, which has served the Jewish community for over 400 years. When it was completed, it was one of the largest in the world; its proportions and magnificent decoration bear testament to its status. It was spared by the Nazis, mysteriously. More Jewish history is to be found in the Joods Historisch Museum, a complex of four adjacent synagogues. You can stroll round, admiring artefacts and reading posters. Or you can listen to headsets, documenting in detail – sometimes mundane, often horrific – the Nazi occupation.
On a more cheerful note, many Jews were diamond merchants. Purely in the interests of historical research, you understand, we went on a guided tour of Gassan Diamonds. This is a slick operation. Entrance is free, but it must be economically worth it when a visitor has the impulse to buy a piece of diamond jewellery. My husband did not succumb to that impulse during our tour. Make your own mind up. After seeing the machinery and the craftsmen at work, we were locked into a little room and shown a succession of sumptuous jewellery. Unless my ship comes in, that will be the only time I wear a diamond ring worth tens of thousands of pounds. A girl can dream…
We went to Boom Chicago, a semi-improvisational comedy club. We had good seats near the front, and made an evening of it, starting with an upmarket burger with all the trimmings, and enjoying reasonably priced drinks. The show was entertaining, the comedy a little broad perhaps, aimed at an English-speaking and international audience. Not the most subtle perhaps, but good fun.
The Albert Cuypstraat market is over a kilometre long, selling everything from tourist trinkets to local food and drink – including herring in every possible guise – and the usual market staples. At the other end of the retail spectrum, De Bijenkorf (the Beehive) lives up to its name as a hive of activity, while there are great views of the city from the café on the top floor of Metz &Co. And yes, you can buy and smoke cannabis in the famous ‘coffee shops’ – but not, of course, tobacco. That would be bad for your health… The flower market is touristy but gorgeous. Cheese shops are a major draw for me. I never met a cheese I didn’t like, and there’s a lot more to kaas than the familiar Edam and Gouda.
Food and drink present no surprises to the British visitor. We have met most of it before, in the form of Dutch butter, cheese, bacon, ham and beer (not forgetting Douwe Egberts coffee). It is no surprise that the Dutch are the tallest nation in the world, with their high-protein, dairy-heavy diet. Dutch traditional food is very comforting to the British palate. I asked a Dutch colleague what was the most typical dish and I was told ‘pea soup’. We ordered this one lunchtime, foolishly asking for a sandwich on the side. A vat of soup duly arrived, a small flotilla of sliced sausages bobbing about on top. I am so greedy that I finished the lot, but I am not proud of myself. The overseas speciality is the Indonesian rijstafel, a selection of spicy dishes which recollect Holland’s colonial past, much as curry recalls ours. Whatever its origins, it is delicious.
What about the famous Red Light district? We combined an afternoon walk through the ‘Wallen’ with a visit to a Catholic church hidden in an attic, as you do. It is quite possible to walk through the Red Light district, admiring its, ahem, establishments of various types, without feeling at all intimidated. It is strictly regulated, but still attracts groups of lads, joshing and egging each other on, as well as more purposeful punters.
And the bikes! You quickly develop an awareness of cyclists bearing down on you from the dedicated cycle lanes. They ride with what I can only describe as a sense of entitlement. I was very taken by the multi-storey cycle parks. Most bikes are the old ‘sit-up-and-beg’ style with a variety of child-carrying arrangements. Very picturesque, but the wheelbarrow styles of child carriers would just not be allowed in England. But then, in London, cyclists have a more adversarial relationship with other road users. There is nothing picturesque about London cycling.
Anyway, Amsterdam has something for everyone. It is not particularly cheap, but when you are used to London prices, they are not at all terrible. An hour or less from London, familiar but just foreign enough – I’ll be back.
Tot ziens!
First published in VISA 98 (Aug 2011)
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