4 day weekend?? Yell yeah…Let’s go to Amsterdam

Known as the “Venice of the North,” Amsterdam started as a small fishing village around the year 1275 with the building of the Dam (today known as Dam Square) around the river Amstel to prevent flooding. The residents of this city began digging canals in the Middle Ages to manage the water flooding the city and to serve as defense moats during such treacherous times. Eventually these hand dug canals gained a new use and they were used for transporting goods. And oh boy did they work fabulously. So much so, that Amsterdam became a very popular and very important rated port. Its strategic location and ability to  house massive amounts of goods in warehouses lining the canal caused the city to become the leading center of finance and trade.

With its every expanding popularity, the city commissioned the building of its 3 main canals. After 50 years, the canals and the houses lining the canals was completed around 1660 expanding the city by 4 times its size. The city now hosted worldwide trade, thousands of warehouses, and even specialized floating markets. With its commerce, location, and cultural boom, Amsterdam has been the home of many notable residents throughout history including painters Rembrandt and Van Gogh, the diarist Anne Frank, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza.

Today Amsterdam is home to over 95 museums displays work from across the world and boasts a rich cultural melting-pot evident in its many stores, restaurants, and markets. We easily walked 11 - 15 miles a day around this small city taking in its, albeit tightly condensed, beauty. The whole downtown area of Amsterdam is a UNESCO world heritage site!

Since it was an impromptu visit, we allowed our children to each pick a place they wanted to visit. My oldest daughter (who wants to be a doctor) chose Body Worlds. This is a museum dedicated to the human body, literally. People have donated their bodies to the museum which are then cut up to either remove body parts for display, or their body is literally skinned, positioned, and then displayed to show how the human body functions. BE FOREWARNED of graphic images. My youngest daughter (interested in the macabre) chose to visit the Dungeon of Amsterdam. This was an amazing, fun activity. We purchased tickets online and then went to take a tour of the dark side of Amsterdam’s medieval history. We were placed in groups and then led through the history of Amsterdam’s darkest time to include torture devices, historical events, and legendary events. It was very interactive and the actors were funny, knowledgable, and entertaining. We also visited Rijksmuseum housing 800 years of Dutch history with over 1 million objects of art spread over four floors. It is an all day event! 

Lastly, you can’t go to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, and not visit a traditional Holland town. We drove Zaanse Schans, where we could visit an old time, traditional Holland village housing multiple windmills. The site was quite breathtaking over the Zaan waterway. The town was closed by the time we showed up, but we were still allowed to walk through the pathways and admire the architecture and farms. 

Things to keep in mind when visiting. While the city houses an abundance of culture, many of the residents do speak English. We met a very nice restaurant owner (best BBQ place in town Jack’s BBQ Shack) who told us that many of the people speak multiple languages due to the city’s energetic commerce structure with English being the number one second language. The number one method of transportation…bicycles. There are bicycles EVERYWHERE!!! The cyclers have the right of way in additional to the trams. I would NOT suggest driving in this city. The roadways were highly congested (with cyclers) and extremely confusing. There were times when we thought we were going in the wrong direction on a one way street, thought we were in a tram lane, didn’t even know if we were on a road or a sidewalk! I highly suggest using a prepaid parking garage and just walk. Do try to plan ahead if you want admission to some of the museums. We are a very artistic family and were so excited about visiting the Van Gogh museum, however were then highly disappointed that there were no tickets available. Due to Covid-19 and measures to maintain social distancing, only a select number of people are given admission to these museums at specified time intervals. So you may not get to go where you want if you don’t plan ahead. The city is quite beautiful and offers a wide range of activities. Be sure to check out the bicycle tours. 

If you want to catch the waterways with a mirror reflection of the downtown structures, I suggest getting up early in the morning before sunrise. Once the city awakes later in the morning, the traffic in the downtown area on the roads and the waterways become congested. If you visit Amsterdam I suggest visiting Sint Olofssteeg, Damrak, bridges at Leidsegracht and Keizersgracht (buildings under construction during visit), and Groenburgwall canal. These are some top photography locations that offer fantastic vantage points for catching mirror reflections off the canals!