Amsterdammers have a zest for life that's evident in their bustling nightlife, their numerous museums, and their thousands of restaurants serving foods from all over the world. In summer Amsterdam's sidewalks and squares fill with tables and chairs as cafe sitters enjoy the warm air while sipping a Heineken or a coffee. In winter they strap on their skates and race down the frozen canals (if it gets cold enough which is rare). And at any time of year these health conscious people take to the streets and bridges on their bicycles. You'll find it impossible to visit Amsterdam without falling under its spell and joining Amsterdammers as they enjoy their lively city.
Amsterdam is also a city that takes pride in its history. Not only are there dozens of museums, but also the entire city center 'is one large historic district of restored buildings, most dating from Amsterdam's golden age in the 17th century. At that time Amsterdam was the world's most prosperous port, and the wealthy merchants built a beautiful city of elegant canal mansions that are preserved for all to enjoy. The preservation process continues today as young and energetic Amsterdammers restore the Jordaan neighborhood.
However, like all great cities, Amsterdam has its dark side. The streets and canals could be cleaner, there's a growing drug problem, and the Red Light District, long a sightseeing attraction, is no longer safe for strolling. However, Amsterdam is an exciting cosmopolitan city where you'll find plenty to see and do while staying within your budget.
A funny thing happened to Amsterdam on its way to the twenty first century: It became a playground for tourists and a city where almost anything went. Then the burghers had a change of heart. Among the things that went were drug zonked dropouts from all over the world, many drug dealers, and a live and let live municipal policy that had forced thousands of middle class city dwellers into suburban exile.
Amsterdam today is a cleaned up city, but still one that offers the raunchy life to those who seek it. They don't have to seek far. Given the city's history and its centuries old role as a major international port, it's not surprising that red lights twinkle and girls (and boys) wink. What the good burghers have insisted is that the twinkling and winking be confined to their traditional neighborhoods.
But even in the 1960s and late 1970s, when Amsterdam was a haven for the hapless, the hopeless, and the harpies, it continued to be a great commercial and financial center run by notably shrewd and businesslike people. Stolid? Perhaps, but, mainly in the view of those who don't know the city or the Dutch. Look at the Old Masters' paintings in the Rijksmuseum: the rubicund faces and ample figures are those of people who enjoy the good things of life.
Nobody knows who first called Amsterdam the Venice of the North. The appellation is simultaneously apt and inept. Like Venice, Amsterdam is intersected by canals, is rich in art and architecture, and was a pioneer of banking and international trade. It's hard, though, to carry comparisons further. Only by torturing parallels into artificially straight lines could one contend that Venice and Amsterdam today are cities to be measured by their resemblances rather than differences. Unlike Venice, Amsterdam is a great entrepot and banking center; those brisk North Sea winds, bitter in winter, keep hard Dutch heads clear of cobwebs. And though Amsterdam welcomes tourists, its real business is just that business.
Starting in the mid 1980s, Amsterdam redoubled its efforts to be known as the "Gateway to Europe." Other cities claim that title, but Amsterdammers cite their long history of trading worldwide. With typical Dutch vigor, they are developing the port area near the main station and building Teleport, an island of offices and homes northwest of the city.
Typically again, the Amsterdammers are open to ideas from abroad. They have sought the advice of planners of London's Docklands and have borrowed from the United States the so called "PPP system," privatepublic partnership. The city's planners are determined, too, not to repeat mistakes made elsewhere. Inner Amsterdam remains essentially a seventeenth century city; the new developments are of the twenty first rather than late twentieth century.
Efficiency isn't surprising, but speed is. Recently, Schiphol has been taking about 13 million passengers a year, and management is planning for 25 million in the 1990s. Buses and trains to Amsterdam leave every 15 minutes or so and cost a quarter of the taxi fare. Particularly during rush hours, public transport is often faster than private. However, at the other end you will have to find a taxi to take you from the Central Station drop-off point to your hotel, and that isn't always easy. Taxis don't queue up as neatly in Amsterdam as they do in London.
The typical Amsterdammer is strongly independent. one symbol of that independence: Unlike virtually all other Europeans, citizens refuse to carry an identity card. Though the Dutch are not great churchgoers, religious affiliations remain strong. Many educated people speak three or four languages as well as their own. One reason is, of course, that Dutch is spoken by relatively few people in Europe: the Dutch themselves and their Flemish neighbors in the northern provinces of Belgium, a total of only about 22 million people. Another reason is that Dutch is closely related to German and English, which makes those languages fairly easy for native Dutch speakers to learn. Undoubtedly, though, the main reason that so many people in Amsterdam speak English is that Dutch educators take languages seriously. So it probably isn't worth your time trying to pronounce a hotel name properly in Dutch when the cabbie is very likely to reply in near perfect English.
Amsterdam's street plan is dictated by the canals. Many of these are lined by buildings several hundred years old: tall, narrow fronted, elegant. With their brick facades, some of them bulging with age, the buildings of old Amsterdam offer little grandeur. What they do offer is the comfortable proximity of venerable neighbors, and the white lace curtains in the windows are a homey touch. There are no grand avenues, no spectacular perspectives, in the style of Paris. Amsterdam is a bourgeois city rather than a noble one.
Indeed, Amsterdam really is extraordinarily prosperous given the current economic climate, with exports steadily rising each year. Most of the country's large commercial firms, agencies, buying houses and advertising agencies are located here although the extent of trade is difficult to gauge because of its very diversity. Then again, the Dutch capital is not only the financial centre of The Netherlands, but is also an important international financial centre in its own right. The number of foreign shares (455) listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange is greater than on any other European exchange. It is the largest exchange in Europe for
American stocks.
Places to Stay
The last time anyone counted there were 50,000 hotel beds in Amsterdam.
All of which gives Amsterdam's hoteliers ample cause for celebration. Occupancy rates rarely slide below the 80 per cent mark, rising to nearer 100 per cent during the high season. Yet there are still discounts to be had the Amsterdam Tourist Office, for example, offers something called the Amsterdam Way package, available from November to March, which provides one to three nights' accommodation (weekends only) at five deluxe hotels or five first class hotels . The package also includes complimentary admittance to several museums, reductions on city tours, plus a welcome drink when you check in and a glass of wine with lunch or dinner.
Choosing a hotel is, as usual, largely a matter of personal taste. The Marriott (Stadhouderskade 19 21), the Hilton (Apollolaan 138 140) and the Okura (Ferdinand Bolstraat 175) are certainly the best of the new moderns, serving up luxury and five star comfort.
The Okura, a member of the Japanese owned chain of the same name and the only Okura property in Europe, was originally built as part of a scheme to combine a hotel with an Opera House. The hotel was built in 1971. The Opera House was not leaving a pocket of cleared land that is only recently being developed. Still, the breathtaking city view from the hotel's 23rd floor Ciel Bleu bar more than makes up for the unattractive building site next door.
The Hilton, on the other hand, is fronted by the boulevard like Apollolaan and edged by the Northern Amstel Canal.
One of the oldest purpose built hotels in Amsterdam, and probably the most elegant, is InterContinental's Amstel Hotel . This, according to the Tourist Board, is where royalty and international celebrities stay although the Amstel itself is much too discreet to say so. Each one of the Amstel's 118 rooms is different and all are exquisitely turned out in pale gold, peach or cream.
An honourable alternative to the Amstel, although no cheaper, is the Hotel de I'Europe (Nieuwe Doelenstraat 2 4), just off Rembrandtsplein. Built originally as a fortress to defend the city, the Hotel de I'Europe was completely rebuilt in 1895, renovated in 1985 and very nearly matches the Amstel for elegance and style. Its chief claim to fame, however, is its wine cellar which contains over 40,000 bottles, some of which have languished there for over 50 years.
The American Hotel's (Leidsekade 97) main attraction, on the other hand, is its art nouveau restaurant; a registered national monument, resplendent in original Jugendstil decoration. The Cafe Americain is Amsterdam's very own Champs Elysee everyone goes there sooner or later and if there's
one disappointing thing about the American, it's that the rest of the hotel is not decorated in the same style.
Because building space is at such a premium in the centre of Amsterdam, ingenious conversions are the order of the day as far as many hotels are concerned. Golden Tulip's Hotel Pulitzer (Prinsengracht 315 331) began life as 19 canal houses and is now a 200 room melange of modern day comfort and 19th century atmosphere. Floor layout is unconventional to say the least and room service is limited by the number of steps that has to be negotiated on each of the original, interconnected winding corridors (unsuitable, of course, for food trolleys. Similarly, the Sonesta (Kattengat 1) and the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky (Dam 9;) another Golden Tulip property were respectively a Lutheran church and a Polish coffee shop. Pulitzer: Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky: revive flagging spirits, not least because customers are required to take the first sip of their drink, glass on bar, hands behind back, with a maximum of slurping. The Wijnand Fockink is what is known in The Netherlands as a proeflokaal or tasting house and as such is stuffed with old liqueur bottles of varying sizes and shapes, small barrels and an endless supply of spirits. And nobody leaves here without first exchanging a few words with the jovial bartender (usually as the butt of one of his jokes).
Other tasting houses in a similar vein are Bols House of Liqueurs (36 Damstraat) and De Drie Fleshjes (Gravenstraat 18) behind the Nieuwe Kerk both within easy strolling distance of the Wijnand Fockink.
But, as most visitors to Amsterdam soon discover, the place for serious drinking is a Brown Cafe. Here it is that the ancient art of slicing the head off beer with a wet knife was begun. Here it is, too, that centuries of smoke and animated conversation cling doggedly to sombre coloured walls and unvarnished floors. Some of the oldest, brownest cafes remain exactly as they were in Rembrandt's time but even the relative newcomers (which for a Brown Cafe. means built at the end of the last century) bristle with atmosphere.
Cafe. Nol, in the Jordaan district, to the west of the city centre, is a typical example of a Brown Cafe. small, crowded, friendly and, in this case, kitsch to the extreme. De Wenteltrap , 'T Smalle and 'T Smackzeyl should all be included on any Cafe. crawl undertaken in this area, finishing, stamina permitting, by walking east to the Hoppe (Spui 18), a noisy, jolly affair, popular with tourists and locals alike.
Less atmospheric, perhaps, but growing in popularity particularly among the young are Amsterdam's new crop of white bars which look like they sound light, bright and airy, a total antithesis of Brown Cafe. Oblornov (Reguliersdwarsstraat 40) is something like a wine bar with a small restaurant and cocktail bar open in the evenings. Although not a 'gay bar', Oblomov is also popular with Amsterdam's extended gay community since Reguliersdwarsstraat has become very much a gay street, with several gay coffee shops Down Town, for example and disc
os.
Elsewhere, the gay scene tends to polarise around the Muntplein and those who would rather not unwittingly stumble upon gay life in full swing should simply keep an eye on who is going where.
Amsterdammers have a zest for life that's evident in their bustling nightlife, their numerous museums, and their thousands of restaurants serving foods from all over the world. In summer Amsterdam's sidewalks and squares fill with tables and chairs as cafe sitters enjoy the warm air while sipping a Heineken or a coffee. In winter they strap on their skates and race down the frozen canals (if it gets cold enough which is rare). And at any time of year these health conscious people take to the streets and bridges on their bicycles. You'll find it impossible to visit Amsterdam without falling under its spell and joining Amsterdammers as they enjoy their lively city.
Amsterdam is also a city that takes pride in its history. Not only are there dozens of museums, but also the entire city center 'is one large historic district of restored buildings, most dating from Amsterdam's golden age in the 17th century. At that time Amsterdam was the world's most prosperous port, and the wealthy merchants built a beautiful city of elegant canal mansions that are preserved for all to enjoy. The preservation process continues today as young and energetic Amsterdammers restore the Jordaan neighborhood.
A funny thing happened to Amsterdam on its way to the twenty first century: It became a playground for tourists and a city where almost anything went. Then the burghers had a change of heart. Among the things that went were drug zonked dropouts from all over the world, many drug dealers, and a live and let live municipal policy that had forced thousands of middle class city dwellers into suburban exile.
But even in the 1960s and late 1970s, when Amsterdam was a haven for the hapless, the hopeless, and the harpies, it continued to be a great commercial and financial center run by notably shrewd and businesslike people. Stolid? Perhaps, but, mainly in the view of those who don't know the city or the Dutch. Look at the Old Masters' paintings in the Rijksmuseum: the rubicund faces and ample figures are those of people who enjoy the good things of life.
Typically again, the Amsterdammers are open to ideas from abroad. They have sought the advice of planners of London's Docklands and have borrowed from the United States the so called "PPP system," privatepublic partnership. The city's planners are determined, too, not to repeat mistakes made elsewhere. Inner Amsterdam remains essentially a seventeenth century city; the new developments are of the twenty first rather than late twentieth century.
The typical Amsterdammer is strongly independent. one symbol of that independence: Unlike virtually all other Europeans, citizens refuse to carry an identity card. Though the Dutch are not great churchgoers, religious affiliations remain strong. Many educated people speak three or four languages as well as their own. One reason is, of course, that Dutch is spoken by relatively few people in Europe: the Dutch themselves and their Flemish neighbors in the northern provinces of Belgium, a total of only about 22 million people. Another reason is that Dutch is closely related to German and English, which makes those languages fairly easy for native Dutch speakers to learn. Undoubtedly, though, the main reason that so many people in Amsterdam speak English is that Dutch educators take languages seriously. So it probably isn't worth your time trying to pronounce a hotel name properly in Dutch when the cabbie is very likely to reply in near perfect English.
The last time anyone counted there were 50,000 hotel beds in Amsterdam.
All of which gives Amsterdam's hoteliers ample cause for celebration. Occupancy rates rarely slide below the 80 per cent mark, rising to nearer 100 per cent during the high season. Yet there are still discounts to be had the Amsterdam Tourist Office, for example, offers something called the Amsterdam Way package, available from November to March, which provides one to three nights' accommodation (weekends only) at five deluxe hotels or five first class hotels . The package also includes complimentary admittance to several museums, reductions on city tours, plus a welcome drink when you check in and a glass of wine with lunch or dinner.
An honourable alternative to the Amstel, although no cheaper, is the Hotel de I'Europe (Nieuwe Doelenstraat 2 4), just off Rembrandtsplein. Built originally as a fortress to defend the city, the Hotel de I'Europe was completely rebuilt in 1895, renovated in 1985 and very nearly matches the Amstel for elegance and style. Its chief claim to fame, however, is its wine cellar which contains over 40,000 bottles, some of which have languished there for over 50 years.
