Things to do in Amsterdam

Birthday in the Netherlands

 

Amsterdam

Every year, to celebrate my birthday, I travel somewhere, in 2019 I went to Morocco, in 2020 to Israel and this year (2022) I decided to visit Amsterdam. It was a long time since I wanted to visit this city and there I have a friend that I wanted to see, so with these three points combined, I decided to visit Amsterdam in winter.

I spent five days in Amsterdam and I visited the city plus some places outside like Zaanse Schans, Zandvoort and Haarlem. One important thing is that I forgot my camera so all the pictures were taken with my phone, maybe the quality is not high but I think they are anyway beautiful.

Amsterdam is the capital and the most populous city of the Netherlands, with a population close to a million. It is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the north" due to the large number of canals which form a UNESCO world heritage site since 2010. Amsterdam was founded at the Amstel, the city's name derives from the Amstel dam, originating as a small fishing village in the 12th century, it became one of the most important ports in the world in the 17th century. 

Amsterdam's main attractions are the historic canals, the Rijksmuseum (museum of the Dutch Arts and History), the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum (museum of modern art), the Hermitage and the Anne Frank House. Even if it was the end of January the weather was really nice, so I didn't visit museums, I preferred to stay outside and save money because the tickets are expensive. One Day I was able to rent a bike from the municipality and have a ride in the city with my friend, locals ride bikes in every condition but for me, it was a nice experience.

The first day was my birthday and the international day in memory of the victims of the holocaust, so I wanted to visit some places related to this. I went to the holocaust names memorial, designed by Daniel Libeskind, the monument commemorates the 102,000 Dutch Jewish victims and 220 Sinti and Roma who perished during the holocaust and were not given an individual grave. The memorial comprises four Hebrew letters that together spell the word for "in memory of".

When you enter the memorial, you find yourself in a labyrinth of passageways flanked by two-metre-tall walls, inscribed on each of the bricks is a name, date of birth and age of death, as you can see in the picture there is also Anne Frank name on a brick.

I think memory and cultivating the memory is very important, these monuments, days, and commemorations are necessary to not forget the past and also deal with it.

At the end of the day, I went to the Anna Frank house, but I discovered that it was already closed and tickets can't be bought on the spot.

As you can see from the pictures the weather was not amazing, but it wasn't cold and it wasn't raining, so I could visit downtown after the monument without problems. I was impressed by how big are the bike lines and by how many bikes you can see around, I really liked the canals and the architecture of the buildings on them, the colours and the windows without curtains. 

Amsterdam has more than 100 km (62 mi) of canals, about 90 islands and 1500 bridges. Alongside the main canals are 1550 monumental buildings, the three main canals are Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht, dug in the 17th century and from concentric belts around the city known as Grachtengordel.

Downtown is not big so in one day is possible to visit it and enjoy the atmosphere, because the COVID restrictions were just lifted, there weren't many people around, the city was almost empty, for some reason was nice, but for others was a bit sad. 

I wanted to see the Anna Frank graffiti, so I had to go north of Amsterdam, I took a free ferry to pass the body of water that separates Amsterdam Noord and Amsterdam Centrum. It was nice to see the buildings in the modern part of the city and notice that there is harmony between the two different parts.

This part is a post-industrial place, with old factories converted into markets, restaurants, cafes or flats, I really liked this part it has a vibe of a second chance, second life, these brick buildings and especially the graffiti part were really beautiful, they were inspiring a lot of pictures, I will have to go again with my camera. I have a thing for abandoned and these types of things, and a photographic project about it. The Anna Frank graffiti was a bit out of the contest, it should be more central and more visible because it is very beautiful.

I like running, and I like to do it also when I'm travelling, and I did it also in Amsterdam. Near where my friend lives there is a nice park, and in January the sunrise is around 8.30, so I had the pleasure to run through this beautiful landscape that you can see in these pictures.

Zaanse Schans

On the second day, I met a Duch friend, I knew her in Lisbon and I used the opportunity to see her again. She brought me to see the windmills of Zaanse Schans, which is a popular tourist attraction and an anchor point of the European route of industrial heritage. In 2017 it attracted around 2.2 million visitors, but when I was there it was empty, probably because it was off-season and just after the COVID restrictions were lifted. 

Zaanse Schans derived its name from the river Zaan and its original function as a sconce (Schaans in Dutch) against the Spanish troops during the eighty years war of Dutch independence. 

Zaanse Schans is known for its collection of windmills and wooden houses that were relocated, from 1961 to 1974, here from the wider region north of Amsterdam for preservation. Two windmills in Zaanse Schans are preserved in their original site where they were first constructed. There is also a museum, established in 1994.

As you can see in the pictures the weather was amazing, really hot and sunny for the season, the perfect day for this excursion. There was no wind so the windmills were not working, only one worked for a few minutes and I was able to enter and see how it operate, and the people working there told me that it is still used to make dyes.

Talking with a person in Zaanse Schans my Duch friend reminds herself about the Inntel hotel in Zaandam, so after the windmills, we went there to see it and eat something.  

Inspired by the small cottages of the region and Claude Monet's painting of the blue house of Zaandam, architect Wilfried van Winden set about creating a hotel that was both futuristic and retro simultaneously. The exterior features have nearly 70 cottage facades, each with a varied shade of green and a different window layout. Inntel hotel is a real working hotel with 160 rooms, Turkish baths, a bar and a swimming pool.

Kennemerland National park (Zaandvort)

Because the weather was still really good, with the friend that hosted me, we visited the seaside and the national park in Zandvoort. It is easily reachable by train from Amsterdam central station, and from there we walked around 10 km to reach the seaside. 

Kennemerland national park is a conservation area on the west coast of the province of North Holland. It was established in 1995, the park is about 38 square km (15 sq mi) in size, and it is characterised by sand dunes, estates, forests on the dune's fringes and coastal beaches. There is a public swimming area at a location called the Wed, where I have been. In 2008 the park had 1.8 million visitors.

From the entrance of the national park to the seaside, we walked around 7 km, and there is no fee to enter the park. Before this trip I didn't think that I would pass a day immersed in nature, I didn't know that it is so easy to reach it from the capital and it was a really good experience. On the seaside the wind was really strong, which makes really difficult to enjoy the seaside, we got a coffee from the bar near there, but some people were able to swim or have a walk.

Haarlem

Coming back from Zandvoort we stopped by Haarlem because we took the train from there. I liked a lot this city, it has beautiful streets, and canals like Amsterdam, the historic centre is interesting with a huge cathedral, with a tower that is visible from everywhere. I suggest a day trip from Amsterdam, escaping from the big city and relaxing with the beautiful architecture of Haarlem.

I'm sure that when you read birthday in Amsterdam you immediately thought about coffee shops and the red quarter, here is the end of the post but it wasn't like this. Of course, I passed by the red quarter but I didn't visit the coffee shops, I'm not interested in it, this wasn't the reason I went to Amsterdam, as you read the city has much more to offer, it is not only that. I suggest visiting the city in another period, I was lucky but winter is not the best part of the year to enjoy Amsterdam, even if you can find a lot to do. In general, I can say I liked it a lot, I think there is a high-quality life there, and I could live there in the future.