"Find your vibe in Amsterdam" a Amsterdam Travel Page by elPierro

Well there we are, Amsterdam. The capital of the Netherlands with it's owh so typical attitude.

Well yes and no. Amsterdam can give you everything you want. Do you want to see a pleasant old city full of history and culture?? That's Amsterdam.
Are you into smoking weed, seeing prostitutes at the red light districts, sex-shops and other funky stuff. That's Amsterdam
More into concerts, nightlife, events and shopping. That's Amsterdam too.

Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands, and used to be since it was founded. It's often reffered to as the Venice of the North (just as the Swedes do with Stockholm). That's because just like Venice there is a water struggle in Amsterdam. Lots of canals and all houses are build on wooden beams, otherwhise they would sink in the soft soil.

In older days it used to be the bustling center of trade, homebase of the Dutch Indish Company with it's large sailing fleet. At present time the harbor is still very large and trade is still running through the vains of the city, though it's more by Air than by Sea nowadays as Amsterdam has one of Europes largest airports.

Amsterdam is also very crowded, it's teh capital of one of the most densely populated countries in the world. So it's not strange the city is a bit busy as well, especially driving by car is not recommended. Cyclers rule the world however, no red-light or stop sign is safe for someone on a bike. As are pedestrians, so watch out!!

Amsterdam has a lot of faces and let me already warn you that the Amsterdam as many of you tourists know it, is not the real Amsterdam. Sure there is a red light district with real coffeeshops and real prostitutes, but it does not look reflect the netherlands. Forget about all that delftblue porcelain, wooden shoes (you don't truly believe we wear those huh?), coffeeshops and everything else that is english signposted. It's NOT a reflection of the rest of Amsterdam or the Netherlands. This is all here thanks to the tourists, prostitution and marihuana are "gedoogd" as we call it.

Anyways, whatever you do in Amsterdam, enjoy it. It is a city with many faces, modern, old, big, compact, very multicultural, very Un-Dutch and yet very Dutch.

1. Anne Frankhuis. Anne-Frank, you know here.. the girl from the diary she wrote during WW2 about her stay in the "achterhuis" to keep out the hands of the Germans. The house where she lived and wrote here famous diary is in Amsterdam. Go see it.
2. The Dam square, the imposing square of Amsterdam with the Royal Palace on one side and the freedom monument on the other side. And not to forget, the famous pigeons.
3. Kalverstraat.. well it's pretty grotty but this is the most well known street of Amsterdam, and also the most expensive street in the Monopoly game.
4. Canals, just stroll around them and watch the water, boats, bikes and houses.
5. Rijksmuseum, check out the paintworks of the Dutch masters. The most famous portrait of a Dutch painter.. "De nachtwacht" (The nightwatch) can be found here.
6. Central Station. A nice building, and once you walk out and continue towards the citycenter, you have the best entrance in Amsterdam you can get.
7. QUEENS DAY, the whole city turns Orange and bursts out it's boundaries as hundreds of thousands of tourists celebrate the queens birthday. Be prepared for a cultural shock accompanied by music, beer, festivals, flee markets and ORANGE!