february-2012

AMSTERDAM URBAN
“ It might
be dizzying
at fi rst, but
this is a
charming,
old town ”
50 Holland Herald
by cats and pigeons. Almost every Amsterdammer has one or two cats, preferably of the old
and fat variety, which gaze cynically out of the window.
Less photogenic is the Amsterdam pigeon. Th ey’re true urban pigeons, oft en quite plump and
with only one leg. Th ey laze around all over Amsterdam. Amazingly, they still haven’t learned the
word ‘Tring!’, and so, oft en walk right in front of cyclists. Th at’s why Amsterdammers have
surprisingly little aff ection for pigeons, and call them fl ying rats.
Luckily, tourists don’t know how annoying pigeons can be and — as in other tourist places
where pigeons congregate, such as Venice — they engage in pigeon worship. On the Dam — a
hotspot for pigeons, but also for tourists, living statues and hotdog vendors — multitudes of
visitors feed the pigeons every day and take romantic pictures of fl ocks of them swooping up in
their thousands and returning to the ground again amid furious fl apping.
And now that we’re on the topic of places where tourists like to convene, Aunt Li, one more
thing. Naturally you will want to see the Anne Frank House. So you should. But go in the evening,
with tickets that you’ve printed out online. Because then the hordes of tourists are somewhere
else. Th e same goes for the Van Gogh Museum. You can go there on Fridays until ten o’clock.
A canal cruise: of course that’s another thing that you’d like to do, and there’s nothing wrong
with that, because even aft er living in this city for thirty years, I still like canal cruises. Not so
much because of doubtful attractions like ‘the narrowest house in Amsterdam’, but for the chance
to peer inside the hundreds of house boats along the canals. Prime real estate by the way, even in
times of recession. And naturally, you have to drop by the Red Light District; that’s simply part of
your duty as a tourist — but while you’re there, stop off for a bite of Chinese, Th ai or Vietnamese
food, and check out the Buddhist temple on Zeedijk.
Actually, when you’re here, you can easily take in the whole city, because Amsterdam is really a
small, straightforward place. At fi rst, it might seem like a dizzying vortex with all its whirling
canals, bikes, pigeons, cats and gentle chaos. But Amsterdam is essentially still a charming, old
Dutch town with a smattering of international infl uences such as Turkish vegetable stores,
Surinamese restaurants, Indonesian mini-marts and Moroccan croissant shops.
To illustrate — I live in a remote corner of Amsterdam, in Watergraafsmeer, an attractive area
where many thirtysomethings with children reside. In the 19th century, the countryside started
here, and these were pastures with grazing cows. Amsterdammers still act as if that’s the case.
“You live in Watergraafsmeer? Th en I’m afraid that I can never come to visit. It’s too far away.”
Amsterdammers consider anything beyond a ten-minute-cycle-ride from the Dam as the suburbs,
the countryside, or actually, the outback. And my neighbourhood is fi ft een minutes away from the
Dam by bike.
Th at
sums up Amsterdam: almost nothing is further away than a fi fteen minute cycle. And that
sums sums up
p Amsterdammers: anything further than ten minutes by bike is too far. Th ey are are dear,
lovely vi villagers illagers on old, fast bikes. ‘Tring!,’ Aunt Li. Remember that word. Th en everything will be
just fi ne.
.
With Wi ith love, Aaf.
Aaf Bran Brandt ndt Corstius is a prolifi c commentator for De Volkskrant and several other Dutch
newspapers newspap pers and magazines.