21 October 2016

Postcards from Amsterdam

It was the first time visiting Amsterdam for me, when Boris and I went in September as he was playing there with Totenwald on the F Word Festival. I've mentioned in a recent post that the festival was the best part of the trip, since I found the city to be way overcrowded and that took away from its charm.
However, I still enjoyed the architecture a lot and some parts were very beautiful.


The two pictures above were taken at Our Lord In The Attic's museum - a catholic church built in the attic of a building from the 17th century! It's made into a museum, so you can go inside the entire building and the attic to see how the people lived back then. If you happen to be in Amsterdam I recommend visiting the museum a lot, it gave us the historic feel we felt slipped away with all the weed and drunken tourists...



I don't think I would like to visit the city again, since my main problem were the tourists - the city itself is tiny, and the amount of people running around with tongues hanging out to get their hands on weed and look at the prostitutes was repelling. Not to mention all the bikes, it's clearly a city more for bikes than people. Seriously, you get bikes and vespas on the bike road, it made me hang on for dear life every time I wanted to cross a street. Urgh...


Have you ever been to Amsterdam? What do you think?


Maria

7 comments:

  1. I've been there a few times and always loved it... old architecture, not many cars, lots of trees (visit Vondelpark!) and bikes (I love them, especially the "omafiets" and "bakfiets" species), awesome public transit (missed your tram? you'll get another in a few minutes! plus the "OV-chipkaart" is a brilliant invention too :)).
    Racial diversity is a very good thing there; people from all over the world live well together and if the fascist mantra of multiculturalism-leads-to-terrorism was true, there would be a few bombs exploding already, which is not the case.
    Tourists... meh. Makes the economy grow and public safety not quite so (pickpockets are a thing). I don't care about weed, let it be. Frankly, the view of Amsterdam as a place to go to look at prostitutes and smoke weed is a little bit too stereotypical, narrow-minded tourists will miss a whole amsterdamn lot not visiting many "hidden" museums (i.e. not Rijks-, Stedelijk- or Amsterdamsmuseum), and I can personally recommend Kattenkabinett. A tenement wholly dedicated to cats - in painting, sculpture, graphics, film, literature etc., with a handful of live cats. Holy meow.
    I can't say too much about the legendary Amsterdam nightlife (I've seen it once, on Konigsdag - the streets were crowded!).
    Everytime I was there, I stayed in Oud-Zuid district (built during interbellum, close to the center), it was so quiet and pleasant. On the other hand, there are also ugly things about the city. You see a lot of trash in the streets, and it's collected in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do not doubt that you like the city, but for me all the things you mentioned we already have in Berlin - public transport is very convenient and cheap, frankly the Chipkaart was a bit annoying when you load it, you need to get change back in that office thing in central station, lost a good half an hour there... Berlin is indeed multicultural and has a thriving lifestyle, so no need to elaborate on this one.
      We also have tourists but at least the streets are big enough to handle them, everything in Amsterdam felt too overcrowded.
      The museum thing - the Rijksmuseum is super expensive!!!!!! our museums are way cheaper.
      But the people in Amsterdam were super nice and everyone spoke flawless english, unlike in Berlin...

      Delete
  2. I live 20 minutes from Amsterdam and I visit it daily for my university, and my boyfriend lives there too. It is pretty diverse, love the architecture and there is always plenty to do. Most people are very openminded and nice, what I love.

    I absolutely hate the tourists on bikes. And normal people on bikes never mind the rules on the street neither I am afraid. Especially when you have to go there by car, or by bike as well. And I dislike the stoned tourist a lot too, mostly they are very rude, which is plain annoying.

    But even with all those negative stuff, Amsterdam feels like home.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. of course if you feel like home it's all that matters. I didn't feel like I want to live there to be honest hehe. The architecture is beautiful but I feel like it was overshadowed by many other things that I disliked. Ah well, at least the gay scene looks promising. Oh wait, we have that in Berlin too.

      Delete
    2. I know more people who don't want to live there, than want to live there. So I can understand that. Berlin is an amazing city, visited it last year. It is there a lot cheaper than here, especially museums and stuff. Last year I got a museum card for 60 euros so I can visit them for free now, saves so much money.

      Delete
  3. haha I used to be one of those asshole bike riders when I had a bike, so I'd fit right in Amsterdam, it seems! Your photos are awesome. So many beautiful old buildings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Urgh, we tried riding a bike in the city and I gave up after 20 min lol. And thanks!

      Delete