Amsterdam is gorgeous, liberal, relaxed, windy and full of ‘blokes on a stag do’.
Houses on the canal.
Here is another case of a city that I didn’t have many expectations of; and the ones I did have were based on stereotypes. Pot smoking hippies, windmills, prostitutes at sex shows, tulips and clogs. Of course, as is usually the case of these stereotypes, they exist, but many only for the tourists’ enjoyment. Amsterdam is a beautiful city. Over the last 8 weeks, I’ve seen plenty of beautiful cities, but there is something about Amsterdam that makes it, much like her people, the best looking in the room. It has the canals of Venice, the easiness of Barcelona and the fashionable cafe culture of Paris. Yet Amsterdam has it’s own style, never needing to imitate others. There is something quite calm and relaxing about the city despite it being a capital city and home to 800,000 Dutch babes. People glide by on bikes, trams ding gently to let you know they are coming, the streets away from main attractions and squares are quiet and everyone is laid back about life. We have experienced some horrible weather while we have been here, all bar one day there has been constant rain coupled with cold, bitter winds. but no-one seems phased by it. As i’m cursing my umbrella for turning itself inside out with all the swears I can muster, the Dutch don’t seem to mind and casually flip their umbrellas in the right way and move on. Maybe I should take a leaf out of their book and stop sweating the small stuff.
Canals and bridges.
Sight seeing has taken us from one side on the city to the other. Getting lost down side streets, crossing over canals (which really are the basis of the structure of the city) and enjoying the relaxed lifestyle. There are quirky sights to enjoy, like the Katten Kabinet, a gallery dedicated entirely to images of cats. It had art by local hero Rembrandt and other big names like Picasso and Latrec all of cats of course. All upstairs at a little house, that had a man manically playing a piano while we walked through. It was weird and delightful. As far as galleries go it probably had the biggest range of styles, artists and eras I have seen so far in Europe. A church, called ‘new church’ that holds art exhibitions (Showing at the time of my visit was 2014 international photojournalism awards) was also a very different sight. Unlike the other churches we have seen, this one is not about religion, it is about art and creativity. You entered the church and it was set up like a proper gallery with space for audio visual works and the photos suspended in the air. A beautiful, old cinema and theatre called Tuschinski was another quirky sight, the cinema is a grand old theatre with detailed paintings, dress circle seating and an old mustard coloured curtain to cover the screen. It is so amazing on the inside that people will go see horrible Cameron Diaz films there just so they can then look around and take photos of the space when the film is over (yes, I did this). We saw live music. We went to an improv comedy show called ‘Boom Chicago’ an Amsterdam institution and a very funny night out. We also went on a 1 and a half hour canal cruise that featured pizza, all you can drink beers and tubs of ice cream. I feel this mildly whacky side matches really well with the wonderful Dutch people we have met who are kind and a little quirky themselves.
Inside the theatre.
That quirky side is not all cat museums, our hostel is right on the edge of the red light district, one of the more interesting places to spend an evening in Amsterdam. The streets are lined with windows with women of all different shapes and sizes inside them. They giggle, they dance and more often than not they bounce on the spot for the attention of passers-by and sell them 15 minutes of their time. It is the oldest of Amsterdam cliches. The district itself is an interesting mix of curious tourists, lonely old men and blokes out on boys’ nights out. As we were there on a Saturday night that parties were moving around the city for most of the day and finished in the red light district at night. Packs roam the streets, they make loud lewd comments but essentially it is all bravado for the benefit of their mates. Men (literally) push each other into strip clubs, sex shows and even into the sex worker’s windows. We saw one young man walk into the room behind the window and his large group of friends and several strangers cheered and applauded loudly as the woman drew the curtains. It all felt a bit fake and put on for the tourists (especially for those buck’s nights). But, this is these women’s livelihoods and they take it very seriously. If an exchange between one of the sex workers and a man who took her photo without her permission was anything to go by, very, very. seriously. I was uneasy about the testosterone, aggression and objectification, but the practice of women placed in windows like mannequins fascinated me no end. A Dutch man told me that they were looking to cut the red light district down, which meant getting rid of 2/3s of the windows and shutting down a large number of the city’s ‘coffee shops’, which of course sell very little coffee. This is a major shift, I think because of the tourism industry’s reliance on these stereotypes; right next to the clogs and tulips in the souvenir shops are umbrellas with marijuana leaves and mugs made in the shape of women’s naked bodies. Away from the red light district Amsterdam sells itself as a much different place. museums, galleries, cafes and culture are the main selling points and in the south of the city. It is full of public spaces to enjoy, like the lush Vondelpark, which would be a lovely refuge if the city wasn’t so relaxed already. Lakes, fountains and green rolling hills are enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. That is the interesting thing about this city. It is the sex and the sleaze, but it is also a place for great thinkers and beauty.
By night.
When I’ve been travelling, I have been trying to take the time to get to know the national heroes, interesting people and icons of the places I have visited. In The Netherlands, the famous Dutch people who have changed the country and the world: Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Anne Frank are prominent. Rembrandt’s house and square were comparatively quiet, when compared to the rest of the tourist attractions in the city. The Van Gogh gallery focused on how he honed his craft and developed as an artist. The gallery had his famous painting, ‘sunflowers’ which was truly beautiful, but I have to say when it comes to flowers, I love his ‘Irises’. Anne Frank Huis was excellent on many levels. A musuem, a tribute, a historical site all rolled into one. It was very emotional to see how she lived and to realise that she is a real person and all those things that you read she actually felt. Anne and her sister’s growth chart on the wall, Anne’s pictures of celebrities that decorated her wall are still stuck there and even the diary itself made her more real to me. I know that sounds strange, of course, I know she existed, but now she feels more like a real person than a narrator. It is a somber place. Most people barely spoke while we shuffled through the house en-masse. It was a place of reflection for most, including me. I think most of my time was spent thinking about how truly lucky I am. To be on this trip, to live a life free of persecution and to have the freedom to be me. These are luxuries members of the secret annex and the rest of the groups discriminated against by the Nazi regime did not have. The place is emotional, but it’s also quietly stoic. I guess a bit like Anne and her equally amazing father, Otto. He got the diary published, started the museum and ran campaigns to end discrimination up until his death.
A tribute to Anne Frank.
Amsterdam is beautiful, the buildings are gorgeous, the food is international and delicious and for the first time on this trip, it is a place I could see myself living. I adored it. The city is smart, sassy and a bit saucy. And I saw that there is so much more to it than sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll clichés.
Ali's adventure 