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.

bump. save me from my colleagues.

where are you staying? amsterdam oost is kind of far from the main drag but there are lots of good quiet spots for a drink/read in the area. volkshotel/canvas is nice. last time I was there I fell in love with this surinamese joint off of linneusstraat called roopram roti. weird hours, no english menu, line always to the door kind of place.

thanks kyenkyen! all of that sounds great. I'm central (Herengracht?) but *will travel distances* to get away from networking/salesman hell.

hi! would v much appreciate any amsterdam recommendations for anything - clubs, art, museums, FOOD FOOD FOOD - will be there for a couple of days later this month. have read this thread but a lot of it seems several years old...

bump- got a few days to spend here soon

Anything particular you want tips on? If you're interested in twentieth century architecture I strongly recommend seeking out some Amsterdam School architecture; good places to look at are either Het Schip just north of the Westerpark) or (my personal favourite) De Dageraad just south of De Pijp - both housing complexes. There are various 100 years of the Amsterdam School exhibitions this year which give some context.

Don't know if you like film, but the new Eye Film Museum is a treat.

If you're interested in twentieth century architecture I strongly recommend seeking out some Amsterdam School architecture

The Grand Hotel Amrath is a gorgeous example of this, only fifteen mins walk from the centre. Wonderful cielings:

http://www.starhotelamsterdam.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Floris_leeuwenberg_12.jpg

It's opposite the Nemo science museum, which is kid oriented but still fun.

was there earlier this year; easy easy EASY to get around on foot but learning the general route of a few outer-ring trams is useful as getting across town as you get further from city center can get tiring w/ the bridges and all (can't jaywalk a river...). An easy place to get lost in the good way.

Rijksmuseum is worth the price of admission and a solid half-day (ymmv).

Van Gogh museum was more of a hassle and the collection, frankly, isn't as good as in NY and the programming itself was based around spurious logic, in my mind, trying to justify juxtaposing van gogh w/ another artist. Just show me van goghs ffs.

It's an OK food town. Rijstaffel is the thing if you have multiple people in your party. Made stamppot last night for dinner. Jenever is the house liquor:

https://www.thrillist.com/venue/drink/nation/bar/in-de-olofspoort

Food wise, the dutch adaptations of Indonesian dishes shuch as chicken satay tend to be hearty and tasty.

also I regret not having the street herring on a stick

Any advice on where to spend a night in the Netherlands that's not Amsterdam or Rotterdam (which is where we'll be the rest of next week)? Delft, Leiden?

Delft and Leiden are both good choices for if you want to be in the proximity of A'dam and R'dam but not stay there. But I'd recommend looking into Haarlem as well. It's just as charming, with an old centre w/ buildings dating back to the 11th and 12th century. Plus, it's just 15mins away by train from A'dam, and very near the dunes and the coast. Looks like this weekend will be indian summer weather, so if that's your thing, you could have a look at the beach! (I'll be taking the boat out this Sunday, seems like it's the last day of the year you can, w/ expected 21-25 degrees).

For clarity, the "but not stay there" part was about A'dam and R'dam.

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