Amsterdam

we eat tulips for breakfast

We were pretty close to our hotel on Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat, but walking towards the Rijksmuseum, so it could've been Hobbemakade. A dusty basement of LPs complete with turntables to try the merchandise before purchase. CDs and rock/pop upstairs.

oh yeah a excellent shop for film fans = Silver Screen on Haarlemmerdijk. Standard collection of D.Argento DVD's, lots of posters, etc.

Amsterdam get together sounds great if the little one permits.

Oh yeah Amsterdam girls are way way superior to the boys. ;)

A regular customer Irish writer Michael O'Loughlin was inspired to write a film-script for a romantic comedy loosely based on Barry and the shop. Dutch director Rudolf van der Berg liked it, got funding, and they filmed it last winter with Julie Christie, Carmen Chaplin, and (to everyone's great hilarity) Burt Reynolds as 'Larry'. Of more concern to myself 'Larry' has an amusing, but corrupt, English assistant played by Johnathan Ryland. Its been titled 'The Hermit of Amsterdam' but when (or if) it ever comes out isn't clear. : The Hermit of Amsterdam

I just got back! Best damn city ever. Here's a quick rundown if you're still interested.

Record Stores: Concerto or Get Records (same owners) on Utrechtstraat (b/w Keizergracht & Prinsengracht) are the only ones I shoppped at more than once. I don't have a record player right now, though, but Fat Beats looked like it would be good for that.
Restaurants: The Bolhoed on Prinsengracht b/w Leliegracht & Prinsenstraat or Cinema Paradiso on Westerstraat
Bars: There are pubs & cafes on every corner, but we frequented Cafe Tabac AKA The Cushion Bar on the corner of Brouwersgracht & Prinsengracht.
Clubs: Melkveg and Paradiso are pretty cool on some nights, but I had more fun at Bitterzoet. I never went to Eleven (on the 11th floor of the old post office near Central Station) at night, but it's supposed to be great. You can see the entire city from there.
Museum: I only made it to the Van Gogh-- the audio tour is rowdy. they have different actors playing vincent, theo, etc. haha
Markets: Every Saturday and Monday there is a market on Noorderkerkstraat-Lindengracht-Westerstraat that's nice. I found near-mint copies of Country Life, Sail Away, Paul Simon, etc. for 2 euros. The biggest outdoor market in Europe (Albertcuyp) goes on every day but sunday in De Pijp, but its mainly grizzled gypsies selling irregular Keds and deodorant.

Check out Vondel park, too. On Friday nights they have outdoor screenings. Just make sure they're showing an English language movie, though, or you'll end up sitting through All About My Mother or something.

Most coffeeshops are dingy + seedy full of tiresome stoned alt-tourists + play the same old Bob Marley CD.

That's true, but mainly the coffeeshops in the center circle. Barney's on Haarlemerdijk is great for their weed and atmosphere, but my favorite is Paradox (on one of those streests b/w Rosengracht and Bloemgracht) because of the bomb veggie food and dying old men reading the paper.

Coffeeshop 36
The Green House

also - there's this little Museum of Hemp which doesn't sell weed but has a wicked chilling out area upstairs.

also - look out for a pub called De Wildermann (I think that's it). Thousands of quality lagers, although might be a little quiet for some.

Destroy:
The Bulldog

OTM!

Plus - hire a bike! They're mental one-speed fuckers with back-pedal brakes and they're really heavy and can't really stop very easily but they're loads of fun for scooting about on.

I want to live there, and trundle my children around in a seat on the front of my bike, which I will ride while wearing a business suit.

The Netherlands are so awesome that when the natives return there after having been on vacation, after the plane lands they applaud and start singing the national anthem (I assume, it sounded like an anthem).

I'd go back to stay in a heartbeat.

I prefer Utrecht. I lived there for 5 years.

I still have a resident alien card. If things ever get REALLY BAD here in the States, I'm making Skot and the kids move back there with me.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/RedLightDistrictAmsterdamTheNetherlands.jpg/599px-RedLightDistrictAmsterdamTheNetherlands.jpg

Moving here w/my partner on Saturday for a minimum of ~1yr; aside from Paradiso & Melkweg, what other venues are worth keeping an eye on? Trouw looks great for techno/house, and the Voltt Festival at the Docklands (which = fancy new architecture part of Amsterdam?) has a great lineup. Is the Book Exchange mentioned upthread still about?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/dutch-court-upholds-ban-on-foreigners-buying-pot/2012/04/27/gIQA95pwkT_story.html

I can understand that it sucks to have a bunch of stoned american bros walking around your city but this seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do

Revive, because work are sending me to IBC. Things to do, places to drink/eat mainly in the evenings.
― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 11:32 (10 years ago) Bookmark

but if i can be more specific - i'd really really like to stay away from the main drinking/eating areas. I'm not in the mood right now, particularly with a load of salesmen etc floating around. Place to sit with a book, catch some music, see some interesting stuff. I've been a couple of times before so have *some• sense of the place.

So yeah, any suggestions for good places outside the main flow of people would be great.

Utrecht's good too.

For sure! Thought it might be a tad out of the way, but yep, it's good.

In Dutch terms it probably is but the extra 10 minutes on the train may be less of an obstacle for those of us with less well-integrated public transport :)

Yeah, it was def written from a Dutch perspective, I realised soon after posting :)

Ha yeah, it seems very convenient from our perspective. We actually settled on Utrecht last night. :)

Rietveld Schröder Rietveld Schröder Rietveld Schröder

Or Miffy / Nintje if you're a tweeist.

was going to say Utrecht as well. lovely to wander around.

Currently sitting in a hotel over Amsterdam Centraal station myself.

May I repeat my recommendation for Het Schip and De Dageraad unthread please?

Friend lives in de Dageraad and he gave me a tour the last time i was here.

also recommend it!

wijk-aan-zee ftw

Is there some global ILX FAP happening in A'dam right now?

dont you identify as barnsley or something anyway

I'm throwing a party with some friends in Amsterdam on November 16 - drop by if you like to dance all night long in a cosy & fun setting!
https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1344452

anything fun occurring 24-26 Jan? or other general recommendations for a messy but agreeable weekend?

No idea, as I've regretfully never set foot there, but… welcome back, ogmor!

fanks m8 but I'm afraid I am no longer a citizen of ilx, just popping in to post on a tier 5 visa. brexit means brexit.

You can still apply for pre-settled status iirc.

Is stedelijk museum worth going to?

God yes.

Great, going there for three nights at the end of the month.

Hell yes, fantastic museum

Think I made a mistake going for the Van Gogh museum already.

I think I will only have time to go to either Stedelijk or Rijksmuseum. Not sure what to do here..

All three are very close to each other, so there is that at least

There's also Moco, which I haven't yet visited but it looks interesting, and it's almost next door to the Stedelijk so you could do some sort of art-based speed run

Ah ok that might help. Stedelijk: might need more time to go through the contemporary material. Rijks might be an in and out in a couple hours to glance at the Old Masters and see what makes me stop in my tracks.

xp

The Rijksmuseum is a beautiful building (or set of buildings) to have a wander through, and you can walk right underneath it to get to the Museumplein.

Sounds good.

going through bookmarks i haven't updated - and, because it came up recently, thought it was worth adding some places where I've eaten well for future reference, as Amsterdam can be a bit hit and miss. people cannot live by bitterballen alone after all:

Krua Thai - excellent thai restaurant in the centre
Incanto - v good italian overlooking the flower market and munttoren
The Seapalace - yes, i know it's obvious, and it's hard to miss a gigantic floating chinese restaurant just outside Centraal, but it's fun and the food's pretty good. expensive though obv.
Bakkerij van Vessem - just a lovely bakery with some of the best butter croissants i've had outside france. not one to go out of your way for, but if you're in the area, sitting on the bench outside with a croissant and a coffee is deligthful

So a year post my Amsterdam trip I see an Instagram post about the bookshop and its owner, that I randomly went to.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBJhXUJMta1/?igsh=MXgxZ2dhMWh5NWs1YQ%3D%3D

We talked about Brexit! He was a v nice guy.

Rietveld Schröder Rietveld Schröder Rietveld Schröder

Or Miffy / Nintje if you're a tweeist.

― Tim, Thursday, 12 September 2019 12:48 (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

We were in Utrecht two days ago and did both, obv. And the railway museum cos I am a Child

Absolutely incredible city (Utrecht), the architecture is all so utterly delightful to wander around

Last day in Amsterdam (whose west side is wonderful, will reserve spoken judgement on the centre) today and we might have to choose between Het Schip and De Dageraad. Couldn't possibly do both...could we...

There's a museum full of cat art in the centre. It's pretty small but heartwarming should you happen to really love cats.

We've opted for the day in Haarlem btw. Albeit taking some janky photos of Het Schip from the train window en route

Love Haarlem ( and I live in Amsterdam!). Good choice.

Ended up being a whistlestop tour and now we're off to Het Schip via Sloterdijk. Holland Speedrun

Glad you're making it to Het Schip, I do love it there.

Doing my homework before my last trip to Utrecht I was surprised to find two more examples of houses built buy Rietveld within easy walking distance of the Rietveld-Schroeder house (Waldeck Pyrmontkade 20, Erasmusllaan 5).

We're off to Tilburg next week, primarily for a concert but I'm looking forward to having a nose around there; if anyone has any hot Tilburg tips I'm all ears. Nose, ears.

We even made it in time for the English language guided tour, which enhanced our experience considerably. What a place! Our guide kept speaking of the 'humour and fantasy' incorporated into what's essentially a local authority building and inwardly I was comparing it to what's happening in London and grimacing

We made it to the Van Ravesteyn house down the road from the Rietveld Schroderhuis but alas neither of the other two (unless by accident) - all the architecture in the entire city was so consistently brilliant though, it's a place that clearly has astronomical planning standards

On the way to Het Schip we walked past the Tuinpark community garden that comprises the western half of Westerpark, which looks like a staggering bit of urban planning too. Sadly didn't have time to explore it, but on a sunny day it had quite a utopian air to it. Someone in there was blasting some ecstatic version of Son Of A Preacher Man very loudly

Any hotel recommendations? It's only for one night - Dutch equivalent of Travelodge would be fine. Bonus points for being near the station-ish. And/or ... is there somewhere to leave suitcases at the station?

nothing off the top of my head. there is a left luggage at amsterdam centraal yes - far right as you go in the front. confusing you need a ticket to get through the barriers to the LL! (it confused me anyway)

Cheers Fizzles!

Weirdly, the left luggage we used was on the far left of the station as you approach it...

and fwiw we stayed at B&B Eelhouse, which was both inexpensive and delightful, one of our best ever holiday accommodation choices. do not book if you hate stairs however

Thinking of booking in Haarlem but the combination of my own indecisiveness and the expense is making it difficult to decide. Aaargh!

it's not cheap but Grand Hotel Amrath in a former shipping company office is an interesting place to stay and practically across the street from the station.

We stayed in the Motel One near Waterlooplein once or twice and it's fine, a fairly anonymous bit of town but handy for Cafe De Druid and Cafe Scharrebier too. I'd guess it was an easy 10 minute walk from the station.

At a similar price point but further out, we stayed at Hotel Muse which we found small but nice. It's a tram ride from the station, nicely placed to see the Amsterdam School buildings on Roelof Hartplein and nearby.

De Druif, not de Druid.

Cosign the Grand Hotel Amrâth, I did a little guided tour of the building once, fascinating Art Nouveau interiors.