When one says ‘Amsterdam’ people generally tend to think of prostitution or marijuana but Amsterdam is home to many other interesting monuments, factories and museums.
After the Red Light District and famous coffee shops like ‘The Bulldog’, museums are the next tourist hot spot! There are over 80 museums in Amsterdam, among those the top 4 cultural ones are; Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House and the Stedelijk Museum. There are also fun, and to some, strange museums, like the sex, erotic, hash, marijuana and torture museums, but hey, what’s Amsterdam without them!
The Anne Frank House interested me the most, I have always read about her life, trapped inside a house hiding for her life, and to be there and see the ‘Secret Annex’ and where she used to live helped me put her writings into images and made me tear up.
The museum has done a great job in captivating her spirit and set up a mood for the viewers, with videos paintings and articles in every room in the house. When I was there I did not feel like I was on holiday in Amsterdam, I felt like I was with her through hiding.
In my opinion, the most convenient area to live in would be Dam Square, you have Coffee shops and the Red Light District on the left, delicious restaurants accompanied by both local Amsterdam shops and big brands (Magna-plaza shopping center) as well as The Royal Palace on the right, and the museums are not a far walk.
I stayed at the NH Grand Krasnapolsky, overlooking the beautiful canal where its back entrance, was next to a famous coffee shop, ‘The Bulldog’.
There are Coffeeshops everywhere you look, obviously the center is more densely populated with them where as further North or South they are a little more disperse.
In the evenings my friend and I would go for a walk around the area always passing the red light district, when the pathway began to become more crowded, you knew you were close.
As you walk along, the whole street is lit up with red lights that come out from windows behind which women stand or sit gesturing onlookers to come in. Some men go in, some just like to walk around, but that area is always booming with bars and coffee shops around.
Otherwise known as Venice of the north, Amsterdam is one of the most water filled cities in the world! There are canals, everywhere, as you walk or drive along you will always see atleast one to your right, or one to your left. Tourists tend to go on a canal cruise, taking you to Amsterdam’s most prominent places accompanied by a personal guide.
My friends and I enjoyed cruising along the canal so much that we rented a little boat ourselves and sailed endlessly along chatting and drinking away.
If you plan to visit Amsterdam from the 20th of March up until the 18th of May, then you must check out Keukenhof Gardens!
It is one of the world’s most magnificent planned gardens with over 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.
On entering, the overflowing colour and fragrance just lifts one’s spirits. Although it is in the south of Amsterdam, it takes just under an hour to get there by bus; there is a direct one available at Schiphol, Amsterdam’s city airport.
Visiting the diverse and liberal city is a once in a lifetime must for everybody!
Globe-Trotter 