A must see in Amsterdam and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Things to Do Tips

Historic Museum was very close to the hotel we stayed. After I bought my I Amsterdam card I made a schedule about places I wanted to see the most and I did not think much about this museum. In a cold and rainy day I visited to hotel room for a quick rest and remembered the Historic Museum. It wasn't very late but I wished to have more time to enjoy this museum.

The building had been used as an orphanage before. It has an inner court and the multistory building surrounds the court is like a labyrinth. First halls contain the oldest pieces of the city: Used shoes, spoons... Then the objects are getting more complicated and exciting. Some halls have objects and stories of people who actually live.
You can witness fragments of lives which lived in Amsterdam once. You can see a skull of a goat and read that it had been found by a child during the Hunger Winter. And you can imagine how precious it was with all the meat on it.

Using cameras is allowed in this museum.

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Phone: +31-20-5231822
Address: Kalverstraat 92
Website: http://www.ahm.nl

Flower market is the most atractive part of Amsterdam for me. All the colors and plants simply beautiful. If you like to grow plants, to cultivate, seed and seing them to grow, you'll love this place. You can find many types of tulip bulbs, amaryllis bulbs, seeds, cactuses...

People who work there were very kind. They answer your questions about planting.

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Address: Singel

It is a good choice to take a boat tour. If you have an I Amsterdam card, it is free.
I picked the one near to the Central Station. Its tour starts in front of the station and goes to the back side. You see Nemo, Stedelijk Museum,etc. Then the boat enters to the inner canals. You can listen to the recorded audio guide in many languages while you are watching the scene. Audio guide follows the route and fits to the speed of the boat.
You can learn something about the history of Amsterdam. Guide told about the names of the canals and we passed all the important ones. I learned that Amstel is a river and the only natural canal in this city.

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This place was very close to the hotel I stayed and I walked through in front of its door many times without knowing what is inside. After I realized, I walked around and find the gate. And the moment I stepped inside the courtyard, I felt how peaceful the place was.
It is forbidden to speak loud, take photos in the courtyard. Also big groups are not welcome.
The oldest and the last wooden house of Amsterdam is here and is open to visit in determined hours. Unfortunately my timing was bad, I couldn’t visit the house. But the courtyard itself is worth to see.

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Address: Catharinastraat 29
Directions: 1 minute walk from Spui
Website: http://www.begijnhofamsterdam.nl/

We did not visit this museum until our last day in Amsterdam. So, my newest memories about Amsterdam are about this museum.
Museum has a nice building and well-designed, big halls. It was crowded -I think it is normal for weekends- although we could stroll and see all of the paintings comfortably.
We were lucky to be there while "Vincent van Gogh and Expressionism" show was open. It can be seen until 4 of March. I had the chance of observing his impact on the German and Austrian artists like Egon Schiele, Max Pechstein, Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Kokoschka...

Being so close to paintings like Sunflowers, Potato Eaters, Almond Blossom, Irises and learning new ones like Gaugin's Chair, Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, Pieta, Butterflies and Poppies, Wheatfield with Crows is quite an experience.
Also, you can learn a rough biography of Van Gogh by visiting this museum. I impressed by his obsession to Gauguin.
Do not miss it.

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Phone: +31-20-5705252
Address: Paulus Potterstraat 7
Website: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl

I really impressed by the museums of Amsterdam. Thanks to my Iamsterdam card. If I did not have it I couldn’t see many of these museums.
I visited Jewish Historical Museum after Hortus. They are very close to each other.
The building had been a synagogue. I climbed the stairs and came into a big hall. There is a covered rectangular section in the middle of the hall. Objects of Jewish daily life were being presented there. On the walls there were video recordings of the WW II era. I mostly impressed by the arrangement of object-video-story combination in this hall. There were benches to sit and every bench has a touchpad TV and an object like a suitcase, a barrel, etc. After I sat the bench with the suitcase with a name in big letters on it, I learned its story. It was one of the suitcases that Jews had been allowed to bring with them to the concentration camps. On the TV you can watch a review with the owner of the object or a relative. I learned that the barrel had been used to store pickles of cabbage. It had been a famous product of Jewish District. On the TV set I watched an old man’s childhood memories about the pickles. He told that he’d used to buy pickles when he’d got money. This review had been recorded in the streets I’d walked before I came to this museum. He told that he was searching for years the secondhand objects in the open bazaar for the hope of finding something which belonged to his family.
The following hall has some painting of Jozef Israëls’. Also it tells the story of Jews in Amsterdam. The hall under this one has a collection about religious life and traditions of Jews. You can learn some details of marriage ceremonies, mourning, etc. in this hall. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay here as much as I wanted.
Then I'd a chance to see The Jewish Rembrandt exhibition here. Since 2006 was the Rembrandt’s 400th birthday, there had been many exhibitions with different themes. (I visited one of them in Istanbul Pera Museum.) I think this was the last exhibition of Rembrandt 400.

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Phone: +31-20-6269945
Address: Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 2-4
Website: http://www.jhm.nl

As a person who is very fond of planting, Hortus was the most important location for me when I was planning my trip. It is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. So I was expecting too much after I read many things about this place and after I saw many flowers all over Amsterdam. But unfortunately we were in February and Amsterdam was too cold. So the pools were frozen and outdoor plants were sleeping when I was visiting Hortus. Then I realized that Hortus has not only an outdoor garden, but also many greenhouses.
Here comes a warning: If it is cold outside, your camera can be foggy when you enter a greenhouse. There is a huge green house at your right after the main entrance. Its doors are strictly closed, because there are many tropical plants in there. The weather inside reminded me hammams of Turkey, because the plants need humidity, too. You can climb some stairs and wander around on a catwalk. This is a nice way to see the huge trees, but do not miss the small plants under them. This greenhouse is divided three different parts inside. They all have different temperature and humidity values. I've seen many plants that I've never seen before.
There is another greenhouse with many butterflies. They were flying around and feeding themselves from the plates full of orange slices. Also there are many cocoons hanging in a windowed partition.
I expected much from the shop of Hortus. I’d like to have seeds some of these amazing plants.
Entrance fee is 6 euro, but free with Iamsterdam card.

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Address: Plantage Middenlaan 2 (A)
Website: http://www.dehortus.nl

I've first seen this museum from the boat. But when I decided to visit it I realized knowing the location did not help me to find it. After a long walk on water (!) in a rainy day, I finally reached the building. It reminded me Istanbul Modern, our modern art museum in Istanbul: Same unpainted concrete walls, same cold interior, same high ceilings. But in Istanbul, you don't feel the same. There is nothing but old buildings in Amsterdam. After this historical ambiance, modern art could be a little bit strange.
I like to see new creations of new artists. Some of them are really impressive. I don't remember all of them but one of the video recordings is unforgettable. I'll tell the history, as could as I remember:
It is about a homeless man who lived in Paris. He was from a South American country. One day he moved to Paris and started to live there, in streets, of course. Then the story begins: Our man had wanted a cup of coffee from a shop, the owner rejected. Homeless man got undressed to protest him. They put him under control after this incident. After 1 year or a period like that, they released him. Then he went to same café to ask for a cup of coffee. The owner rejected. He got undressed and put in jail or something. This repeated too many times. And authorities decided to deport him. I am not sure but I remember that he died before got deported.

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Phone: +31-20-5732737
Address: Paulus Potterstraat 13
Website: http://www.stedelijk.nl

Amsterdam is famous with its canals. So any tourist takes one or two picture of canals from a bridge. I did take, too. Now I think they are the best views of Amsterdam.
I recommend you to find a bridge, beware of bicycles, take a good position and take the pictures of canales with the reflections of the boat houses, old houses and trees in the water.

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Amsterdam's houses are very special with their gable stones and architecture. But also some of them have beautifully decorated façades like these ones. The one with the elephant ornament is from a street which has relatively big houses on it. The other with men figures is close to the Schreierstoren (Weeping Tower).

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