Dam Good Times in Amsterdam

My relationship with Amsterdam up to this point consisted of pinning endless amounts of canal houses to my Pinterest board. Canal houses at sunrise, canal houses at sunset, canal houses in the rain, shine, and with or without the perfect bicycle in front. I love cozy things and places and people, and in my mind Amsterdam was the epitome of coziness.

Luckily, Amsterdam definitely lived up to those expectations.

I flew into the city with a few of my friends on Friday morning, and we stayed the weekend in an Airbnb near the canal belt. Looking back and listing out all the things we did actually makes it seem like we barely did anything, because most of our trip consisted of simply walking around. Nothing was lost from that experience though, because I got to see all those beautiful canal houses up close (at sunrise, sunset, and with a few bikes in between).

Outside of the beautiful canal belt, Amsterdam is very modern and modular, with sleek architecture that seems to both stand out from but integrate seamlessly into the surrounding environment. Amsterdam reminds me of a tiny version of Denver or San Francisco, both in its sustainable living and its chill vibes. I absolutely loved it.

Something that was stressed a lot on the walking tour I went on was Amsterdam’s emphasis on good business (as arguably the birthplace of modern capitalism). Business made the Dutch some of the wealthiest and most diplomatic peoples in the last few hundred years (think the Dutch East India Company), and this mentality spills over today with its legalization of prostitution and decriminalization of marijuana. Even religion is run like a business! I’m not sure how true this is, but a tour guide said that Amsterdam’s very open and tolerant way of life stems from the fact that excluding people or groups is ultimately bad for business. The Dutch are a no bullshit kind of people and I respect that.

This might come as a bit of a *shocker*, but I only went to ONE museum this time for less than an hour. I’ve become spoiled by London’s dozens of free museums! I definitely should have paid the 17 euro admissions price to the super famous Van Gogh Museum or Rijksmuseum, but I decided that I’d rather spend three days walking around in the sunny, cloudless weather. I did, however, go to the contemporary art Moco Museum because they had a Banksy exhibit. Banksy is a famous (but anonymous) street artist from Bristol, known for his spray paint stencil work that comments on various social issues such as war, peace, consumerism, and censorship. Although Banksy has nothing to do with Amsterdam, I really enjoyed the exhibit because I love his art and the irony that his anti-establishment works are displayed in a very established and official museum. Here’s some of his work:

Other than that, we took pictures in front of the “I AMsterdam” sign, walked through bloemenmarkt (a floating flower market), took a canal tour and a walking tour, visited a small museum about sustainable fashion, went on the Heineken tour (actually so worth it), and ate poffertjes (baby-sized pancakes), bitterballen (deep-fried meatballs), and many free cheese samples. We also met up with a friend from our program who was visiting his own friends here, Amsterdam locals. They were able to introduce us to Amsterdam’s rad nightlife/club scenes (be warned: they don’t start going out til at least 1 am). To say the least, I am very sleep-deprived and dozing off to sleep as I write this…  

Some tips I recommend while in Amsterdam:

• get a travel pass to save money and for ease of mind (26 euros includes transport to and from the airport and unlimited travel on trams, buses, metro, and ferries)
• take a FREE walking tour and a (not free, but cheap) canal tour
• visit smaller, unique museums (Moco, the Sexmuseum, the Cannibus Museum…)
• check out the bar scene (find some local friends to show you the best ones or visit iamsterdam.com or timeout.com/amsterdam)
• book Anne Frank House tickets way in advance (they’re currently sold out til April, for example)
• explore outside of Amsterdam to its windmills (which is a top thing to do, but one thing I wish I did)
• stand by the exit in the Heineken brewery tour bar so people will give you their extra drink tickets on their way out (score)
• don’t get hit by a bike!!!

One more thing: Although I have no educational knowledge of city planning, I’ve been recently thinking about my appreciation for traditional-style European cities. As opposed to hypertrophic cities, which are modern cities with skyscraper skylines meant to look majestic from a distance (most cities in America and Asia), traditional cities are much older, with pedestrian-friendly streets and small buildings meant to be appreciated up-close. Many traditional cities are turning into hypertrophic cities, like London with its blooming skyline that has cropped up in the last twenty years. Amsterdam, however, seems to have preserved much of its intimate charm, despite the thousands of tourists there at any given time. Let’s all go back to that style of living, please. 

While in Amsterdam, London wasn’t beckoning me back in quite the same way it did when I visited Paris. I hope to return to Amsterdam soon. My bucket list for Amsterdam round two (whenever that will be) is to suck it up and pay museum admission, and rent a bike when it’s warmer to visit surrounding fishing villages and tulip fields.  

And remember: when you hear the bell, run like hell!*

*when you hear a bike bell, you’d better get out of the way or else get run over. If you get hit, it’s automatically your fault. I had several close calls.