Amsterdam — BombassBlog

And on to the Netherlands most famous city—Amsterdam. Beginning as a fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam rose to become a tremendous port and place of business through the middle ages. By the 17th century, it had become one of the world’s richest and most cultured cities. It was this worldly background combined with the Dutch mindset of tolerance and individuality that allowed for the rise of many of the vices that Amsterdam is known for today. The well-known red light district is lined with window prostitutes, coffeeshops (which sell weed), and smartshops (which sell a variety of barely-legal items like the lower part of the magic mushroom plant, which still contains the active chemical), and attracts as many as ten million visitors a year. Beyond this infamous piece of the city, Amsterdam is full of canals, lined by old houses and shops that vary between glamour and funky charm. It is worthy of a visit for anyone, though especially for those looking for a particularly good time.

I began my time in the city with my usual long walk from wherever I’ve landed to my hostel. This took me through the Red Light District (which wasn’t its usual self, given that it was about 3pm) and along various dirty streets and beautiful canals. Gay pride had just taken place that weekend, so the city was still recovering. That night I checked in at my hostel and got to know the staff a bit. They were already turning out to be super nice!

The next day, I set out from the hostel towards the main square for a walking tour. Amsterdam’s canals make for lovely walks about the central city, and I took the opportunity to enjoy the uncharacteristically sunny weather.

The tour began in Dam Square, and was led by a Canadian ex-pat who left behind the grim prospects of teaching the history of philosophy in academia to lead the tour. He was quite the professor type, and was filled to the brim with knowledge. He had a spasmodic quality to his speech that made him quite difficult to understand for non-native speakers, but I found it to be a bit fun actually.

He taught us a great deal of things about the history of the city and the Netherlands as a whole. In the photos below you’ll see the crown and triple-x logo, which is that of the city of Amsterdam. The x’s represent protection from fire, flood, and plague. These days, XXX is an apt logo for a city that is so accommodating of vice! You’ll also see a building that is tipping forward. This can apparently happen for two reasons. First, that all houses in Amsterdam are built on 100 ft wooden poles which are plunged into the muddy bog below (Amsterdam has no bedrock, only clay under a layer of mud) and over time these poles rot and sink. Second, that some of the forward lean was actually done on purpose, both for aesthetic purposes and to make moving furniture and goods into the top floors (via the hooks you’ll see on the top of the front of each building) easier. We also walked past the artist Rembrandt’s house and learned various scandalous stories about his life as a successful artist.

In the afternoon, I went to the Van Gogh museum. The museum did not allow pictures, so I’ve only got a few below. The museum laid out the story of Van Gogh’s life and his development as an artist, from his desire to paint country and common people to his desire to improve and distinguish his painting through the bold and emotive use of color. I found the majority of the paintings to be a bit boring, but that is to be expected given he was still in his development when he made them. It seems that most of Van Gogh’s most famous works were not held in the museum, but in prominent art collections around the world.

After the museum, I went for a walk through the park and along the canals on the way back to the hostel. That night I went out with a few friends I’d made to grab some dinner and sample one of the local coffeeshops.

The next day I met up with a couple of Canadians I met the night before for a trip to the Rijksmuseum. On the way in, I saw a fun little band that would play orchestral renditions of popular music, including the best performance of “Despacito” I’ve ever seen. This museum houses a tremendous collection of Dutch art, with a wide variety of the Renaissance period that I particularly like. I’ve included many photos of paintings I enjoyed below.

That night, I joined up with many of the friends I’d made at the hostel over the past few days to go out on a pub crawl. We were joined by many of the hostel’s amazing staff. You’ll see me below with Joey and Shea. We went to multiple fun bars before ending at a techno club, unsurprisingly DJ’d by two middle-aged, bald, white guys (every techno DJ looks like this).

After some well-deserved sleep and some quality petting of the hostel’s cat Joop, I met up with some friends from the night before to have a relaxing day of exploring the Jaarden, a neighborhood full of nice shops and cafes. We stopped in a few nice shops before settling at a cafe for lunch. We had open-faced sandwiches and bitterballen, a dutch delicacy that basically consists of a thick meat sauce that’s formed into a ball, breaded, and flash fried. After the cafe, we walked home to rest a bit before our activities in the evening.

In the evening we assembled a big crew to go out for dinner and a cruise along the river. We didn’t budget quite enough time so we burned through a peculiar all-vegan Indian restaurant where I ate the largest fried pancake thing that I’d ever been served. We then went out for a cruise along the canal. We picked just the perfect time, as the sun was setting for the duration of the ride. We moved through the part of the canals that is a UNESCO world heritage sight, and, as you might expect, is gorgeous.

After the cruise we went to a local bar for some live music. These musicians were excellent! They played funk and soul covers that were tight and great for dancing. We had a blast there for a few hours before getting schwarma and calling it a night. Also I learned that photos of motion on my iPhone in low light are a no-go.

The next day I spent mostly in the hostel, as the weather was poor and I needed to plan out my next stops and investigate my trip to Colombia. In the evening we went on a tour of the Red Light District which included a walk through the world’s first condom store, stories of the Red Light District’s origins, Amsterdam’s cultural of tolerance and openness towards all things, and walks through various areas with window prostitution. Surely something out of the ordinary! Amsterdam is quite the place.

The next day I decided to go explore a new area of the city, called the Noord. This only means “north”… the Dutch name everything quite literally. I took the metro to a ferry to get there, and must say that the subway in Amsterdam is the nicest I’ve ever been on. The ferry was great as well, it was short and free.

At first I walked through residential neighborhoods and found some nice places to take photos. This was en route to my lunch spot, which was a vegan, sustainable cafe.

The cafe was quite an impressive place, with quite good food and homemade kombucha. Every element of the establishment was made to be sustainable, with every piece recycled and re-used. This include office spaces made of old boats and specialized plants growing to pull the toxic substances out of the ground that were left there during the land’s previous incarnation as a chemical plant.

After lunch and pictures, I walked down to an area that used to be a shipyard but had been converted into restaurants, bars, and areas for street artists. There was a gritty, reclaimed vibe to the place, and appeared to be the host for various alternative parties and concerts.