22 wonders of Amsterdam

Verwelkoming and begroeting! Here I am again writing about my first Erasmus experience at the University of Amsterdam where I have spent 5 of the most eye-opening months of my student life.

Whenever I tell people I was Erasmus here, I am always struck by their amazement and the smirk on their faces that express ‘OH, how cool is that! Amsterdam! You must have really enjoyed the night life there! *wink wink*’... but as I have already mentioned before in one of my previous articles, I have never been the ‘party type of person’ people would expect me to be. That's not why I chose to come here.

Surprisingly (or not), I chose Amsterdam because of the university. I expected to study a lot and have access to a top university that I would otherwise really struggle (given the distance and the considerable financial resources) to be a student of. And from another perspective, maybe Amsterdam chose me as well, because during these 5 months I have managed to discover how I can ‘adult’ on my own in one of the most charming and efficient cities in Europe and I will tell you in the following paragraphs the best things I experienced there that I would definitely recommend you to try as well.

Anne Frank House

Who hasn’t read or at least haven’t heard about Anne Frank’s diary at least once. I know that her diary landed in my hands when I was in high school, being lucky enough to borrow it from a friend who returned from a short trip to Poland, at Auschwitz.

All I know is that it was so catchy I couldn’t put it down, but also wanted to read it slowly to properly reflect on the atrocities that happened to the Jewish communities during WWII that made Anne and her family go into hiding for 2 years before they were eventually found and sent to a concentration camp.

The house is located in Prinsengracht and it is now a thought-provoking museum that will leave a deep mark on you. The line is worth the wait and even though it looks extremely busy from the outside, the inside is a complete silent journey of humbleness and warning in regards to ‘what happened’ and ‘what it could have been if this girl and her family would have lived’.

It is painful, but it didn’t stop me from visiting it 3 times (as an Erasmus living in this country you can request the museum card and visit it as many times as you want).

Wandering into the Jordaan neighborhood

This was the go to place on a sunny day along with Museumplein. As one of the Amsterdam’s most charming neighbourhood, Jordaan caught just the right vibe this city could give you – the narrow streets, the quaint buildings, the independent art galleries, vintage shops, cozy bars, restaurants and gardens. It’s a labyrinth of gingerbread looking houses that will give you the best Instagrams since it is also one of Amsterdam’s most desirable place to live, let alone expensive, although in the past it used to be a working class area.



The Royal Palace

This is a not to miss experience if you have the museum card. The Royal Palace is situated right at the core of the shopping center of the city and it is also home to some of the most impressive sculptures and paintings that stand as metaphors for what this building means to the Amsterdamers.

What I found most impressive about it was how the main entrance brings you right in the middle of this grand ‘ball room’ where you can find some nice meanings behind the artworks that decorate the room: Atlas’s statue holding the world on his shoulders, symbolizing the central position Amsterdam was occupying in the Golden Age; Poseidon and his connection to the sea in a city full of canals, the star charts and world maps in the ‘Burgerzaal’ – The Citizens’ Hall.

Get lost as we did in the beautiful rooms this palace has and get into the royal this palace offers to anyone who wants to feel how the Dutch high class felt like back in the times and even nowadays. Spoiler: No, the royal family is not living here.



Museumplein and the I amsterdam sign

The home of the most popular museums in the country, Museumplein was the place to be on a sunny afternoon. The Van Gogh, Rijkmuseum… the culture surrounds you at a 360 degree angle, while you can amazingly enjoy the sun, with headphones on, sitting on the grass, right next to your bike, taking all the sun you can take (since here a sunny day is so rare you cannot afford not spending it outside).

This utopic place pulses of activity all day, not only because of the tourists going up and down the I amsterdam sign, but also because of the many exhibitions and markets organised here even now and then, no matter the season.







Herring with pickles and onion

This was the do-to meal whenever someone was visiting even though when thinking about eating raw herring with onions and pickles might be quite scary, but ‘oh-so-yummy’! The herring carts are serving this easy to make sandwich everywhere for every visitor to try.

You can have it on a plate, with the ingredients I listed earlier separated, or in a sandwich. For the last one you need to ask for a ‘broodje haring’. There’s also an interesting fact I learned about it from the locals and that is how sweet the fish meat can be in certain periods of the year, so you will find a difference in the taste in the late spring, around May, in comparison with other seasons.

Van Gogh Museum

Van Gogh was popular 2 years ago, but I feel that today it has gained such a success that no one could have predicted. Now, going to Amsterdam without visiting Van Gogh Museum is a big pity, even if you are not a very interested art lover. This modern building is the lively universe and home of hundreds of works of the artist – even letters and sketches. It’s a journey in time that gets you closer to Van Gogh and that also brings you into a very personal environment of his path in life.



Reijkmuseum

I visited this museum 3 times and still couldn’t see every single room of it. Most of the times there was no queue, although this is a national museum and it is located quite central so people will eventually want to visit it when they come to Amsterdam.

They have some remarkable pieces that are very famous: ‘The night watch’ – Rembrandt’s widely known work that is at large scale, ‘The milkmaid’ – Vermeer, the doll houses, the outside gardens, the passage where most of the times street musicians give their best to impress the passing art lovers with Vivaldi’s best pieces since this place has an excellent acoustic.

I can still remember the amazing feeling of speed cycling right through it, while passing the glass panels on my left and right to see the grand interior of the museum. What a feeling!

Rembrandt Museum

Probably the coziest museum experience I had in Amsterdam with the museum card. Visiting Rembrandt’s house was exactly what I wanted to see in a museum from a long time: a small, informative and personal world of an artist who dedicated so much of his life to painting. If you are an art lover yourself, you will definitely enjoy seeing exactly the rooms where Rembrandt lived and worked most of his life before going bankrupt and die poor. The free guided audio tour is something you will find in most of the museums in Amsterdam and of course this one has it too.

Tip: Check their website to see when they offer painting and engraving demonstrations who will bring you even deeper into the world Rembrandt lived in. I still remember a lot of insightful details that made me never look at the colours the same again.



Vondelpark

I always felt like this youthful park was forever at the heart of Amsterdam’s culture, especially when sun rears its head out from the clouds. Picnics, barbecues, people chilling on the grass with their bikes parked nearby, others playing Frisbee with their dogs, some laughing with their kids, others enjoying a beer while overlooking the ducks taking swims in the small lakes… It’s the go-to park for a sunny afternoon for sure.

It’s the largest park in the city and during summer you can even attend live concerts in the outdoor theatre, drink something at the restaurants or bars. However, if you are looking for something else, you will never run short of options. Westerpark or Sarphatipark in De Pijp or Rembrandtpark in the West are also great options, although not as big, but just as cozy and enjoyable as an Amsterdamer would get enough of.





Food Hallen

The go-to place for dinner with your Erasmus friends or basically… anytime we were hungry. De Hallen is a remarkable gathering place situated in a refurbished industrial building (no, it’s not just decor) where you will find anything in a great selection of upmarket street food. What we love most about it is how the seating tables are placed separately from the food shops so you don’t have to worry about the smell of food getting stuck into your clothes.





Shopping streets

You can definitely feel the ‘consumerism vibe’ deeply embedded in Amsterdam’s culture. It used to be the center of commerce once, after all, but I always found something really cozy about shopping in this city, whenever I went shopping in Dam Square. Here is the place where you will find most of the tourists and of course all the great places that usually have sales because they have so many clients you cannot imagine. All of this is happening right around the beautiful Koninklijk Paleis and mostly on Kalverstraat that is full of chain-stores everyone knows (C&A, H&M, ZARA etc).

Still, one of the ‘coziest shopping neighborhood’ (that even Google maps acknowledges it) is De Negen Straatjes or ‘The Nine Streets’ – a magical space to find hundreds of retailers and even fine boutiques and vintage shops selling both cheap and expensive things.

All I’m saying is that if you want to buy something, you might want to look around Amsterdam East instead of the city center and you might actually be one of the lucky tourists that experience more than just a ‘supermarket’ experience you can have pretty much everywhere you go in the big cities.



Local market in Waterlooplain

This was where I got my bike from and where I would always come back to if I ever needed a repair. Waterlooplain offers a great personal experience of negotiating your bargains, while getting to know the people selling them. I was even served a cookie once.

But take into account that most of the sellers here are not Dutch and they come from different countries, mostly Afghanistan. One of the reasons why Amsterdam is such a great international city, fostering so many cultures in one place.

Besides bikes, markets like this one, Albert Cuypmarket in De Pijp or Lindengracht in the Jordaan are the places to find antique books, handmade Stroopwaffles, vintage clothes and souvenirs. Just be aware that all of them are open only from Monday to Saturday and only the one in the Jorndaan is open only on Saturdays.

The secret courtyards

Begijnhof is one of the places I’ve discovered probably too late in my Erasmus. As one of the oldest inner courtyards in Amsterdam, this is a great escape from the urban hustle and bustle. The central green patch surrounded by typical houses is a great secret experience you can enjoy for yourself once you enter through the Begijnensteeg.

Hidden churches - Our Lord in the attic

Nothing on the outside could suggest that this is a church and this was exactly the intention of the Catholics who here persecuted in the Netherlands in the 17thcentury. However, as I have already learned from a free guided tour in Amsterdam (if you don’t know about these amazing yours you can read why I always recommend them to my friends here) in this city, you can do anything you want as long as you respect 3 rules: you don’t disturb, you don’t harm and you bring money to the city.

So, as far as the Amsterdam’s authorities were concerned, 200 hundred people going inside a building on a Sunday morning, disappearing inside for 2 hours and coming out right after that was not a problem since they were neither harming, nor disturbing, and what’s more, it was not profitable to ban 200 people from the city because they were their workers, teachers and people who were making the economy work – so it was not ‘profitable’ to send them away. This is how this church survived and how now it is the second oldest museum in Amsterdam.

Everything here is preserved and looks just like it used to 400 hundred years ago. Going inside through a hidden door in the living room and continuing on a spiral staircase, you will find yourself right in the attic where more than 150 worshippers used to gather and pay their respects in a religion they were not allowed to practice in the public anymore.

It is quite an experience and it is most enjoyable when at the very very top you can enjoy the views over the city through the small windows – which gives this even a cozier vibe than we expected. Moreover, this treasure is still in use so you can also attend the proper ceremony if you want.

Amsterdam North

What we found most amazing about this very expensive city (if you are Romanian you will agree for sure) was that there was a free ferry that could take you and your bike just across the river to Amsterdam North – the place where they usually organize large scale flea markets. Many tourists never manage to discover this place so this is why it is still so cozy.

The food, drinks, the terraces, the vibrant terraces, the beach you can sit on, enjoying your cocktail and admire the scenic panorama across the water, this short and free ferry trip is a gate opener for some of the best waterside hangouts, festivals and events.

Secret fact: We usually crossed the river to go to the ferry market organized every now and then on a Saturday and one time we were surprised to discover that the crane across the IJ river is actually a hotel called Faralda.

You would not believe what it actually us unless you look it up from the internet, because from the outside it looks just like a blunt crane waiting for someone to put it to work and build something, but actually, on the inside you have 3 design suites, a spa pool and a panorama lounge. It is said that some of the most widely known DJs, VIPs, CEOs and Royals hang out here sometimes. This was quite a discovery…



A’DAM Lookout Swing – in Amsterdam North

An experience I still have to check off my bucket list, A’Dam Lookout is an unmissable stop in Amsterdam, especially during a sunset, even though the city doesn’t have a skyline like Paris or London. There’s also a 360 degrees view restaurant to enjoy before reaching the swing itself but it is quite pricey. Anyway, the swing is the experience most of my friends have already tried and I can recommend as well since it is the highest swing in Europe. You will feel free as a bird!

EYE museum

Even if you don’t catch the free ‘Buiksloterweg’ ferry, you cannot-not-see the dominating view of this museum that stands tall right behind the Central Station. It is also considered a landmark of the city. If you are a film fan (And even if you’re not, it’s included in the museum card so definitely go! ) you will enjoy an interactive experience aimed to bring you deep into the world of cinematography and photography. It showcases a wide range of contemporary topics and you can even watch some movies or enjoy a drink in the restaurant overlooking the IJ river.

NEMO museum

For some reason I was avoiding going in this museum since it seemed to be more a place children would enjoy more rather than… us, but in fact, going to NEMO is a lot of fun and interesting during an afternoon since everything is interactive here.

We spent maybe 3 hours in here before realizing how much time has passed because we were encouraged to touch and try the exhibits ourselves, let alone you could take as many photos as you would like here. What we enjoyed the most was the room where depending on the angle you stay on, one looks like a giant and one like a tiny person. The illusions were quite fun to play with, especially for our Instagrams.





Heineken Experience

We kind of avoided visiting this museum since we knew its popularity and accessibility will attract a lot of people, hence it will always be crowded. Not to mention it is quite expensive because of that – 18 euros for adults (and not included on the museum card). That is why we went there for free in the beginning of November when the city organized ‘Museum Night Amsterdam’ so if you are there around that time, you can benefit from it too.

I was surprised to find it ‘not so globalised’ although as I had anticipated, it was mostly based on games and interaction with the visitors rather than on historical facts about the building and the story behind Heineken itself. Even now and then we found some rooms that explained how the brewing process was made and how the family built the brand we all know today.

The building itself was modified multiple times to become a museum, but I still felt like the old brewery retained its original character, especially in the large hall, full of the recipients the beer was kept in before the beer bottles began their journey along the factory to be filled with beer. You can also touch some of the ingredients and even benefit from a beer tasting while you are blindfolded. And the end you will be able to watch the latest commercials of the brand while receiving a free beer on the house. What else could you expect? 10 points for Heineken!



Museum of bags and purses

If you want to know what your purse would have looked like if you had been borne in a different century, this is the largest museum of bags and purses in the world where you can find yours. At least, this is what I had in my mind when I was walking through its special period rooms.

The house this museum is in is simply beautiful and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Canal Ring of Amsterdam. It fosters so many special bags you will really step into a fashion world you wouldn’t expect to find, judging from the outside looks of the house since everything in Amsterdam is so narrow and tall. At the end of the tour you can even grab a cup of tea in one of the living rooms and find a small accessory for your purse in the gift shop which was apparently voted ‘the best museum shop in Amsterdam’.

Flowers Market

A market that was daily supplied by boats full of flowers, it is now one of the most blooming places in Amsterdam that is actually open during the whole year, no matter the season. This is from where we bought some tin canned black tulip bulbs for home and even a lot of cheap souvenirs. You can find here pretty much any colour, but be careful that sometimes the advertised colour might not be the real colour of the flour. My black tulip turned out to be actually red…

Canal Cruise

With 165 canals in Amsterdam you will definitely have enough water to explore with the cruise companies this city has in its offer. I have never tried one myself since I’ve seen most of the city by bike, but most of them include beside the ride itself, food, drinks, a personal guide: amsterdamcanalcruises/

These having been said, until next time, stay tuned for more things to do and see around the Netherlands!

Planning to go to Amsterdam for the Gay Pride Day? Check out our informative blog post to know more about it!

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