Amsterdam… Where anything goes!

After a couple of weekends away, it’s about time we updated you on what we’ve been up to lately. May in London brings with it two bank holidays… one of which we spent in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is an unusual mix. On the one hand you have beautiful buildings and homes, trendy students, scenic canals, old bikes rattling down cobblestone streets, amazing art galleries and other historic attractions…. And on the other hand you have sex and drugs as an open and accepted part of life – which brings with it plenty of rowdy stag and hens parties. Strangely enough the two seem to co-exist with no real issues and we enjoyed a great weekend there.

Our three days were all quite different: Day 1 - Acclimatisation, Day 2 – Sightseeing, Day 3 – Culture.

Acclimatisation

After an early morning flight, we arrived with plans of getting into some sightseeing. However after a canal boat trip where we both spent a substantial portion of the trip snoozing, we decided that a day of relaxation was more what was required! We quickly settled into Plan B and had great afternoon and evening wandering around and chilling in various cafes/bars and restaurants. We quickly learned that in Amsterdam there are cafes and there are ‘coffee shops’. The former is what we would expect from a café…. The latter is quite a different beast – and although they do coffee (no alcohol), there will also be a separate counter where bags of marijuana/joints are on offer…. complete with menus to ensure the punter gets the effect they desire?! Whether or not you are into this sort of thing – they’re an interesting place to visit to see what goes on.

As nightfall arrived we ventured into the redlight district to see the famous windows which line main streets and back alleys. From their small rooms, which have large street facing windows, woman of various ages, shapes and sizes (some very attractive – others far less so) attempt to lure men in, so that they can close their curtains and carry out business. The fact that it is so open makes it all seem a little less seedy, however it still seems like a fairly unpleasant way to earn a living. Day or night though – they will be there… open all hours. In between clusters of windows there are sex shops, clubs offering sex shows together with regular bars/cafes – you name it… its probably on offer somewhere! Interesting times… and I guess you can’t really say you’ve ‘done’ Amsterdam until you’ve ventured there.

Sightseeing

Day 2 was spent on more conventional sightseeing. An unexpected highlight was a hidden church, recommended by John (Michelle’s dad). Built in 1663, this catholic church was hidden in the attic of a canal side house… tolerated only by the protestant majority as it was out of sight. Very strange to think – that what looked like a normal house from the outside, in fact housed a church that could accommodate a congregation inside!? [Left - House from the outside, Right - Church on the inside!]

Continuing on the ‘hidden building within a building’ theme we also visited Anne Frank’s house. This was quite a moving experience and you hear the story of the Frank’s and their demise as you walk through the various rooms of their hidden annex (including climbing the step stairs hidden behind a bookcase out of sight of the Gestapo. Things have been kept in a very original state – even the newspaper clipping used by Anne to decorate her walls are still stuck to the original wallpaper. Really brought it home for people of our generation how recent in history the war is.

Can’t end this day without mentioning a beautiful meal we had at Restaurant De Belhamel (www.belhamel.nl). Beautiful French food – washed down with a bottle of Luigi Bosca Malbec (a favourite from our time in Mendoza!).

Culture

Last day - and time to try and squeeze in some of Amsterdam’s famous art galleries before heading to the airport. First (and as it happened – last) stop was the Van Gogh museum. We spent ages here, wandering around with our audio tour – learning about where Van Gogh was when he created various paintings. We both found this really interesting… a good change for us, for whom cultural attractions do not always rank highly! Unfortunately that was all we had time for….. but it was well worth the visit – and we left with the obligatory Van Gogh print, which may find its way to our wall one day!

A great weekend in such a diverse city.