There is always a happy frisson present at the Eurostar Terminal at Kings Cross St. Pancras, London. High levels of excitement compete with practicalities of modern travel; do I have my documents, which platform is my train setting off from, do I have my passport? These all fly through one’s mind regardless of how seasoned a traveller you are. Fortunately, Eurostar runs like clockwork, and I was soon seated in carriage 16 and heading out of London. Passing through a few famous lowlands cities I made the four-hour journey to the Netherlands in one smooth trip.
Amsterdam Upside Down
Recently I learnt a new ‘fact’ about Amsterdam that I was unaware of despite many visits. Apparently, it is, like Venice, built on a series of wooden pillars, buried deep into sand under the water, it’s said that if you turned the city upside down, you’d have one million shafts of timber poking up into the air. It’s a convenient number as it equates roughly to the population of the city itself, one tree per person. A million different stories to discover.
The warren-like passages of the multitude of canals of Amsterdam are not only beautiful, but they provide the geography that dictates one’s progress through the city. Amsterdam Central Station is a busy hub, right in middle of the action and next to the water. My passport necessities were covered in London, so I just walked straight off the train and headed straight to the I Amsterdam Shop within the station to pick a City Card.
This card (or you can have it on your phone as an app) allowed me to travel pretty on much any form of transport throughout the city, including a couple of canal tours. Mine was valid for 72 hours and cost €110, but other durations are available. It also grants you free (or in a few cases discounted) access to over 70 museums and attractions across the city. With the average entrance to most museums at the €16 – €18 price point, with just a small amount of rudimentary planning it’s easy to make this a very smart thing to do. The card is activated the first time you use it, by tapping when you jump on a tram, bus or train. So, let’s see how much ground I covered in my three-day trip to Amsterdam.
Inntel Hotel Amsterdam Landmark
I stayed at the family run, very modern, industrial Inntel Hotel Amsterdam Landmark. It’s built on a small island know as ‘Little Berlin’, which is on the up, and on the very site from which the mighty East India Company building once ruled the waves. Paying homage to its roots this large, polished concrete and steel exoskeleton of a building afforded me a superb view over Amsterdam from the 14th floor.
Having checked into my room with two solid walls of glass and a compact balcony I wasted no time in getting out and about, not to a museum but a converted church. Bunk, another hotel but for me more importantly also a restaurant offered the kind of welcome my stomach needed after all that travel. Modern, sleek with a super cool bar and dining area I recommend it, the roasted parsnips with chimichurri and chilli are still just one of the delightful memories on my tongue.
Old Gas Works
The Old Gas Works (Westergas Fabriek), an area of regeneration, think London’s South Bank but without the brutalist architecture, has become an interesting arts hub. There are plenty of restaurants and bars but also you can experience the marvellous Fabrique des Lumières, currently showing Vermeer to Van Gogh, where you can see the art come alive and transform before your eyes across a vast series of spaces and you’ll get 25% off with the City Card.
Also, there’s an up-and-coming exhibition at Amsterdam in Motion Museum which will, from the end of October, be the home to the world’s largest scale model of Amsterdam. But there is so much more than that, a sound and light show dances across the vast tracts of the model’s terrain with a video projected down and across the walls depicting everything Amsterdam. I had a sneak peek, and it looked incredible.
All this buzzing about and I was hungry again. Kantour, is a bar eatery with a casual all day dining menu. Their speciality is a tarte flambée. Perfect for a pick me up, I made the mistake of ordering some fries with garlic mayo and parmesan, wow, it was not really a mistake, just a miscalculation of hunger, out came a giant portion of this extremely morish dish. There are so many great inexpensive places to eat in Amsterdam, you could easily plan your day just around delicious food and tag on the museums as an extra.
City Zoo
Within the city zoo is a museum that nearly never was. Closed for over 75 years with the fabric of the building incredibly intact after the war is a very well curated natural history museum. Even the listed butterfly staircase had been put in storage in the attic and reassembled achieving its former glory. It might be housed a splendid old building, but the museum is very up to date with great audio-visual interactive exhibits, and knowledgeable staff offering workshops in all manner of things. I had an insect tasting session (the cricket biscuits were divine). It compares animals and humans to plants and other aspects of nature in a way that makes you curious and wanting to know more, the best sort of museum.
Maritime Museum
After a calming cruise on the canals (available with the City Card of course) I headed to the Maritime Museum. Boldly moored next to it is a scale replica of the Amsterdam, a ship built in 1656 which tragically sank near Hastings on its maiden voyage. It took five years to build (the original had only taken six months) and is a worthy inclusion to the offering. You can wander about, watch an informative film depicting Amsterdam at the time of its construction and get a feel for life on board. The main building of the museum has a magnificent glass covered courtyard that lights up as a constellation at night. The exhibits here are of an impressive calibre; ancient figureheads jostle with old masters, maps and sextants. It’s all very tastefully displayed and lit. Plenty of space to enjoy the exhibits.
Eye Film Museum
My last slice of culture was a visit to a place I’ve seen from afar but never had the time to visit until this trip. The Eye Film Museum, a grand white building that looks a little like a rhombus shaped eraser from my school days. Inside they have a small series of displays looking at the history of film and TV, an exhibition space (a Tilda Swinton retrospective was on when I called in) and of course a cinema entrance to the building and exhibition is covered by the City Card. Next door is the Amsterdam Lookout. The lift takes you up 100m in 20 seconds with a lightshow inside to get you in the mood. Up at the top is a splendid 360-degree view of Amsterdam, a rotating restaurant and a chilled bar/eatery to pass an hour or two away as you soak up the setting sun over the city, this is also covered by the city card.
I’ve seen the building many times as it’s directly opposite the vast Amsterdam Station (free ferry goes backwards and forwards all day long) so, it’s with a heavy heart that once again I leave this beautiful city, I didn’t quite get to visit a million places of interest, never mind, there’s always next time.
iAmsterdam
To discover how you could use your iAmsterdam card click on the following links: www.iamsterdam.com/en/tickets and www.iamsterdam.com/en/see-and-do/museums-and-galleries.
All images by Neil.
