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Amsterdam Information
Amsterdam is a compact and instantly likeable city. It has a welcoming attitude towards visitors and a uniquely youthful orientation, shaped by the liberal counterculture of the last four decades. It's hard not to feel drawn by the buzz of open air summer events, by the city's clubs and bars and by the Dutch facility with languages. Just about everyone you meet in Amsterdam will be able to speak good to fluent English, and often French and German too, on top of their own native language.
The city's layout is defined by the web of canals radiating out from the core of the city to loop right around the centre. These man made, seventeenth-century extensions make for a uniquely elegant urban environment, with tall gabled houses reflected in the black-green waters. This is what makes Amsterdam stand out from other European cities, it's a whole world away from the traffic and noise you'll find in other cities and this has made it a top short haul destination in Europe. Of course this is added by the first rate attractions, most notably the Anne Frankhuis, home and hiding place of the young Jewish diarist during World War II occupation, the Rijksmuseum houses a collection of wonderful Dutch paintings, including several of Rembrandt's finest works, and of course the Vincent Van Gogh Museum which has the largest collection of works by the artist.
However, Amsterdam's population and politics constitute it's most enduring characteristics. During the 1960s and 1970s for it's radical permissiveness, the city mellowed only marginally during the 1980s and it still retains much of it's laid back feel to this day. However, it is still far from being the cosmopolitan city as London and Paris is.
The city is world famous as a place where the possession and sale of cannabis are effectively legal - or at least decriminalized - and yet most Amsterdammers can't be bothered with the stuff. While Amsterdam is renowned for it's tolerance towards all styles of behaviour and dress, a primmer, more correct-thinking big city would be hard to find. Behind the cozy cafes and dreamy canals lurks the suspicion that Amsterdammers' hearts lie squarely in their wallets, and while newcomers might see the city as a liberal haven, locals can seem just as indifferent to this as well.
In recent years, a string of hard line city mayors have taken this onboard and have set about depicting Amsterdam as a centre for business and international high finance whilst squashing it's image of a counterculture icon. Almost all the inner-city - which once defined people power - are gone or legalized and coffee shops have been force to choose between selling dope or alcohol, many choosing the latter, purely for economic reasons. These shifts in attitude, combined with alterations to the cityscape, in the form of inner city regeneration and outer city development, give the feeling that Amsterdam and it's people are busy reinventing themselves.
Nevertheless, Amsterdam remains a casual and intimate place and Amsterdammers make much of their city being gezellig, a rather overused phrase roughly meaning "cozy" and "lived-in". No where is this more applicable than the city's unparalleled selection of drinking places, whether you choose a traditional brown bar or one of a raft of newer, designer cafes or grand cafes. The city boasts dozen of great restaurants too, and is at the forefront of European film, dance, drama and music. The city has several top-rank jazz venues and the Concertgebouw concert hall is home to one of the world's leading orchestras.
