On Amsterdam 3 мая 2012

We spent a 4 day weekend in Amsterdam last week. Amsterdam is a fabulous city which is easy to navigate and highly walkable. Our hotel was right on one of the many canals and we were several blocks from the town square. Some of the shots I’ve posted in a slideshow are from the hotel.

While we didn’t plan it we were there on the weekend that preceded Queen Beatrice’s birthday which is always celebrated on the following Monday which is a national holiday in the Netherlands. I found out that from someone at the hotel that her birthday is actually in January but it’s always celebrated in the spring to take advantage of the nice weather. We were told that during this particular weekend the population swells to nearly double as people from all over the Netherlands close up their shops and businesses and head for the city. There is a substantial amount of beer consumed and the streets and canals (on boats) are crowded to near gridlock conditions, especially around the town square which offers a carnival with rides, games and other attractions. The color of the day is bright orange – more about that later.

We were also able to travel outside of town to Edam which is a 35 minute bus ride from Amsterdam. It’s a small picturesque town out in the mist of 1000s of acres of green grassy farmland.

A few comments that will help you understand some of the shots in the show and about Amsterdam in general.

Bikes: While there are cars on the road the principle way to get around is either walking or on bicycles. There seem to be more bikes than people which are parked all over the city. Down near the train station there is a 3 story bike parking lot with 2500 bikes with 100s more spilling out all around. We took a cruise along the canals and our captain told us that each year the city dredges the canals for bikes pulling out several thousand each year. Apparently, when the bikes are used up many people toss them into the canals as an easy way to dispose of them. I noticed that most of the bikes were not the typical 10-speed bikes you commonly see other places. That seemed odd until it dawned on me that gears aren’t needed – Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general are flat. There are no hills as the land was originally reclaimed marshland and below sea level.

Coffee Shops vs. Cafes: Usually these terms are synonymous in most cities but not in Amsterdam. If you stop in a café you’ll order coffee and other drinks and bake goods. If you drop into your local coffee shop in addition to coffee you’ll order and smoke pot. As you may know Amsterdam is a very liberal and tolerant town and a number of things you usually think of as illegal in other places are legal or at least tolerated in Amsterdam. Among some of those activities are smoking marijuana and prostitution, both regulated by the government. In fact there are many coffee shops in the red light district – kind of a twofer.

Orange: As I mentioned during the prelude to the Queen’s birthday you will see a lot of bright orange: orange hair, orange skin, orange hats, orange clothes, orange sunglasses, orange blow-up dolls and a lot of orange beer. Orange is all over and is the official color of the city during the celebration. If you’re not fond of the color orange don’t come to Amsterdam during the Queen’s birthday.

Things Leaning: As a photographer one of the things you try to do in setting up your shots is to make sure the horizons are level and your verticals plumb (90 degrees to the horizontal). Since my head is a bit cocked to one side on my neck this is a perpetual problem when I’m taking pictures. Luckily I can easily make these corrections in Photo Shop back at my computer. You’ll notice that many of the buildings in Amsterdam “lean on one another propping themselves up like drunken sailors.” In this case the leaning is for real – it’s not me! All of the original buildings in Amsterdam were built on reclaimed swamp land and the foundations were made of 1000s of wooden pilings pounded into the muck and mire of the swampy land below. Over the centuries some of the pilings were pushed further into the mud causing the building to lean: forward, to the side and backward. In fact, in some neighborhoods it’s hard to find even one building that's standing straight. Of course, after you’ve consumed several liters of orange beer leaning building may seem of no consequence…

Final Thoughts: If you’ve never been to Amsterdam put it on your bucket list. It’s a place you get almost instantly comfortable with. The people are friendly and many languages are spoken including English. You’ll hear very little Russian in Amsterdam – which for us, living in Moscow and taking a break, was a good thing. It’s a place we could see living for a while after our Russian experience is over. Barcelona is another place we’re thinking about (see a previous post)

If you’re interested, I’ve put together a slideshow of images from Amsterdam and Elam. The easiest way to see the show is to click on this link: http://vimeo.com/41489870

I’ve also posted the show on my Web site: http://www.andrewmcdonoughphotography.com/ then click on the “RUSSIA” link. The filename is: amsterdam.exe

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