Amsterdam

City of night fun

Also, watch our travel films on Youtube:

We will be pleased if you like this article.

It costs you nothing, but a good deed is done :-)

The figure 16:54 in the first photo of the report has nothing to do with the founding year of Kharkov, where we lived for almost 20 years, but it's just nice to see it ;-)

We have visited Amsterdam and are ready to tell you about this city. It so happened that we were in this city two whole times and both were in transit. The first time we spent two days in the city and celebrated the New Year, the second time we dropped by only for a day ;-)

First, I'll tell you about the Amsterdam airport . It is called Schiphol and is a huge complex where you can buy almost everything and then have a good snack ;-)

And you can have a snack even if there is no money. We met girls in blue and white dresses who went around and distributed donuts for free to everyone. We, as mistrustful people, first followed them - suddenly they, somehow imperceptibly accept payment, but no - just a free action from the airport. We took part ;-) From the unusual, in Schiphol there was an automatic machine for the production of banners, the most real, on banner fabric. I wanted to make a poster "Dynamo is the champion!" Or "I am the King of the World!" - choose the size, type on the screen text, add pictures from the base of the machine, and in 15 minutes a conveniently rolled-up roll is under your arm. It was not entirely clear who the consumers of this service were. For example, when you come to the airport like this, you suddenly remember that your grandmother does not have a banner over the garden with the words "Let's dig out the potatoes on time!" or "Colorado, get out Colorado!" Such is the unusual service at the airport.

And now, a useful life hack !!! If you have even a very short transfer in Amsterdam, then don't be discouraged - you can easily take a picture with the famous letters "I amsterdam" , since they are located right at the exit from the airport building, slightly to the left. You go there, take a photo, and then you will show it to your friends, along the way writing a story about how they spent weeks "having fun" in the Red Light District and not getting out of coffee shops. ;-)

Here you immediately plunge into the "Tulip Mood" . In almost every shop there are living, wooden, painted and all sorts of other tulips and seeds of these flowers.

I also remember: cold Heineken in bottles for sparkling wine in the airport supermarket and the turbine of the "KLM" aircraft, where you can sit down (unlike the turbine of a conventional aircraft ;-)

In just 15 minutes, the train will take you from the airport to Amsterdam Central Station. The key hub of the city metro is also located there. We give one more piece of advice , do not overpay for hotels in the center (for some dates, the price tag is simply cosmic there), but settle in any part of the city (even remote), but not far from the metro station. This transport will take you in a matter of minutes to all the main tourist and not so districts of Amsterdam. For example, we lived near the Bullewijk station, near the home arena of the Ajax football club in Amsterdam, and getting to the center, to the same Waterloo square, was a matter of 20 minutes for us.

We basically started our hiking from Damrak street. She leaves the station for the city and in the evenings the density of visitors on this street was like at a good rock concert in the fan zone.

The Red Light Quarter is located on a parallel street and the number of onlooker tourists was hundreds of times higher than those several dozen young ladies who were waiting for their clients in the windows with red frames and romantic lighting.

To feel the atmosphere of this place and see the density of the tourist flow in the narrow streets, watch our short video where the guys play a good "Country" on the bridge in the famous Red Light District.

Perhaps the most famous porn theater in the world "Casa Rosso" is located here and it looks like this. As you can see, there is a decent queue at the box office for tickets. Judging by the advertising posters, they regularly give performances with a somewhat peculiar reading of The Marriage of Figaro or The Magic Flute ;-)

Less well-known establishments also do not go unnoticed by the public, crowds of onlookers are everywhere.

Lovers of legalization on these streets have something to buy, where to buy and where to sit and smoke.

And if you are already too lazy to go somewhere, then a nimble, mischievous car with green plants on board will quickly deliver you everything you need. It's like Uber food, but not food ;-)

When we got to the square in front of the Royal Palace, we were able to see the main Christmas tree in Amsterdam. She was magnificent, even a little curly, but apparently no one bothered with the decoration of the "Forest Guest". We put on a few garlands without any symmetry, and that's enough.

Celebrating the New Year in Amsterdam was loud and bright. There was a feeling that the residents bought up a year's supply of firecrackers and fireworks, and then blew them up all night until morning. And we, frozen and tired, celebrated the New Year "in front of the TV" ;-) And they recorded for you on video what the New Year's program looks like on Dutch television.

Let's walk through Amsterdam food. Herring and waffles = the taste of Amsterdam. How many times have you heard that herring is the main delicacy of the city, but did not believe that a simple herring can be SO tasty. Herring, or a herring sandwich, are made from specially prepared herring (sorry for the tautology), sprinkled with sweet onions and magically soaked cucumbers. The result is a dish of incredible flavor. You can try it, as in the red light district, and right at the airport in the seafood cafe. This is the main gastronomic attraction of Amsterdam. After her, the second position is occupied by the most famous local waffles, where two thinnest biscuits in a small "cell" are connected with sweet nougat. But the famous cheeses, somehow did not surprise, (for cheese, perhaps, we recommend to go to the mountain monastery of Montserrat , in Spanish Catalonia). You can also mention the local beer. It was in an Amsterdam pub at the height of both taste and price ;-)

The next day, it was impossible to just "take and not go on a boat along the canals", and we drove off. Since it was rainy, and walking the streets was not comfortable, and the ships have transparent walls and roofs.

Inside the ship it was warm, cozy and many different languages and dialects sounded, as tourists in Amsterdam really come from all over the world.

We spent half a day sailing the boat and photographing the sightseeing spots. For example, here is the Main Museum of the country and the famous white "Eye".

Then the rain calmed down a bit and we walked on foot. The residents of Amsterdam decorate their houses very festively. Imagine how much work, care and imagination you need to decorate your entrance just like in the photo below.

Just decorated the entrance for the holiday

I remember the houses on the water from the walk around Amsterdam. Life on ships moored along the canals is a common occurrence for the townspeople. A flower veranda at the stern or at the bow of the ship makes such a dwelling, something like a country villa. While walking we accidentally wandered into Amsterdam's Chinatown, but cafes and shops were closed since it is January 1st.

Having taken a farewell selfie, I tried to display in it what this city was remembered for: canals and houses of different heights, closely nestling against each other. We went to the station and the train quickly carried us to Schiphol, from where we flew to Cape Verde , thanks to the super special tickets of the Portuguese airline "TAP"