The Many Personalities of Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a city with many personalities. Marijuana is legal. Their sex industry is highly regulated. Between those two things alone there is a party atmosphere that draws tons of stag (bachelor) or hen (bachelorette) parties every weekend. There is also the cultured personality buoyed up by world class museums like the Rijksmuseum. The city’s foodie personality is fueled by hundreds of frite shops (French fries), waffle shops and cheese shops. I only had a weekend, but I wanted to see the many personalities of Amsterdam anyway.

Red Light District

OK, let’s get this one out of the way right in the beginning. This is the one people ask about most. Let’s face it, for Americans the idea of an entire neighborhood dedicated to legal sex trade is baffling. I’m not equipped to debate the pros & cons of Dutch society’s handling of this issue, so I am skipping over it here. Because it is so famous, I was curious to see it too, but I didn’t necessarily want to get mixed up in the party atmosphere that I assume happens at night. SO, I strolled through there early on a Sunday morning. It was mostly deserted. We saw two or three women standing in their windows. Otherwise, all the famous red velvet curtains were drawn closed. Signs everywhere reminded visitors that taking photos of the workers in their windows is prohibited and will result in a 95 euro fine (approximately $95).

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is one of the most famous museums in the world, right up there with The Louvre in Paris or The Metropolitan in NYC. It houses the most well-known collection of paintings by the Dutch masters, and by God, I was gonna see some Dutch masters before I went home! Tickets for the Van Gogh Museum nearby were sold out three months in advance, so a joint visit didn’t happen.

Here are the two very best things I learned during my visit. First, the original museum designer believed that the museum itself should be a beautiful work of art too, worthy of displaying these masterpieces. Therefore, the building is stunning. Even if the walls were empty, it would be a gorgeous place to spend a few hours. Two, the museum has an amazing free phone app that includes guided tours. I had limited time, therefore, I chose the highlights tour. In two hours, it led me from floor to floor and gallery to gallery to see the most famous pieces. It was more efficient than me trying to figure out which pieces I needed to see and where they were located. The explanatory information was invaluable too.

One of the most famous paintings ever created. The Night Watch by Rembrandt is also his largest piece. It is displayed inside a huge glass barrier (which I assume is bullet-proof and all the other things).

This museum is huge like The Met in NYC, therefore, to truly enjoy it, you don’t attempt to see it all in one visit. Here is a gallery of samples to give you an idea of why it’s so famous.

Personalities of Amsterdam: The Quirky One

While Cambridge has a lot of long boats that people live on, Amsterdam takes it one step farther and has house boats. These look less like boats and more like floating apartments.

Like many Europeans, the Dutch pay a lot of attention to caring for the environment. Plus, in this city of canals driving and parking can sometimes be more trouble than they are worth. Don’t want to ride a bike in the rain, then perhaps you could try their alternative: a mini car.

Most of the windmills are out in the country near farms, but Amsterdam does have a few, so you can get your cuteness fix.

Tickets to the Anne Frank House sell out months in advance. I didn’t know I was going to visit Amsterdam until less than 2 weeks before I went. So, here is an exterior photo for you. The space above the highest windows would have been the attic where the family hid.

Oh, yes, the Dutch also take their cheese very seriously. We went to one of the many, many cheese shops and tried samples of probably 20 cheeses. My husband fell madly in love with one. No other cheeses could compare to this one in his eyes. I cannot stress enough how unusual this is. I am the cheese fanatic in our house, not him. The kind staff explained that all the cheeses in the shop were different varieties of gouda, but the one he loved was a special edition gouda. We bought a wedge.

No matter what your personality is, it seems that Amsterdam has a personality of its own to match. A little charming scenery never hurt anyone, after all. If you never got to read my information on Bruges, Belgium (Amsterdam’s nearby cousin) you can do that here.