Archive for the ‘Guide’ Category

This Amsterdam dining experience can put you across the comfortable food that is loved and liked into all the best international flavors. Below are mentioned some of the most popular restaurants and bars in Netherlands.

•    Bazar:
It is a spacious, airy and high-ceilinged restaurant. It is located within a former church building and its interior is provided with amazing ‘mosque makeover.’ There is an arrangement of comfortable seating in the restaurant that is spread over two floors. From its menu you can opt for North African, Iranian and Turkish food. The prominent menus at the restaurant are Algerian pancake with honey for breakfast, grilled chicken wings with a spicy harissa sauce for lunch, or “dolmé” for dinner.  The food here offered is exuberating and here enough is on the platter even for Vegetarians

•    De Bolhoed: This purely is a restaurant for Vegetarians as they here can have delicious food to consume.  The charm and attraction of the spot can be evident from the fact as it has location of cozy interior, slightly bohemian ambiance, and outdoor, canalside terrace. Soups, salads, sandwiches and quiche are standard fare, and special menus are also offered at the restaurant.

•    De Kas: Inspired from a circa-1926 greenhouse, this is a restaurant that provides airy, romantic and airy dinning. Its ambience is surrounded from garden from the outside. It is supplemented by local meats and seafood. Its vegetarian menu is a daily, prix-fixe event consisting of several appetizers, an entrée, and a sweet. Its lunch is consisted of two courses.

•    Pont 13: Yet located away from the center of town this unique restaurant is worth the food it serves and is in operation since 1927 which ran back and forth across the harbor. It is beautifully renovated as with wooden floors and is in  industrial ambience, diners there can enjoy magnificent French cuisine and fine wines within this huge boat.

•    Bird: This is a very apt restaurant of your choice, if you are looking for   some spicy food in the city’s Chinatown district and this one is authentic Thai restaurant that offers some of best of Chinese food on a very authentic and reasonable prices and rates.  There you can witness queue here but grab a Singha beer at the bar and can wait there at a wooden bench precisely imported from Thailand. Here you will get Thai staff reasonably to be very cordial and friendly.

Night life Spots  in Amsterdam

The night life spots are in abundance in Amsterdam and they are absolutely fit to match with your style. At these spots you can make best of your nightlife as you will have the opportunity to hang out with a beverage in hand and amidst enjoying live music in Amsterdam at places and spots like Club 8. There are many other places to enjoy at night in Amsterdam and the most famous are as following:

•    Bimhuis: Serving clients since 1973, it is a premier center of jazz in Amsterdam and the great names like Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and Chet Baker had performed at its platform even in the past. It organizes around 300 concerts annually involving Dutch and International musicians and is considered as one of the best spot globally for jazz.

•    ARC: This is a lively designer bar located at Amsterdam’s most stylish gay street.  This is a city’s most stylish gay street famous for post work cocktails and dance floor to rock on DJ spin upbeat lounge and other dance music and the staff here you will get to be much cordial and helpful.

•    Boom Chicago: If you desire to enjoy your night to fullest then there is no better place than a Boom Chicago performance. It is as created by American expatriates as to experiment and participate in a fast-paced world of wit, physical comedy and fun. It holds the great production values, terrific food and talented improved scenario characterizing the shows.

•    Concertgebouw: It is being boasted as the busiest classical music spot globally and is situated within a neo classical building having massive interior designs. It organizes around 800 concerts annually. The crème de la crème of international orchestras and conductors are being organized in the main auditorium. It is renowned for its acoustics where chamber music is performed within the intimate confines of the small upstairs hall. There free entry is provided on Wednesdays from winter through spring.

•    Paradiso:
Before a music center it was a live music center and a beautiful church. Now it is a place for rather eclectic rhythms from welcome bands from around the world.  Paradiso’s terrific acoustics appeal both to the audience as well as performers, which range from the up-and-coming to the well-known.

•    Sugar Factory: It is situated in the center of the city and is the most inspired and eclectic programming of any of the city’s nightspots. There at early evening are organized various exhibitions, fashion shows, big band acts, performance art and cutting-edge multimedia events.  The programs here are organized from Berlin cabaret to Barcelona house or women-only burlesque nights.

Amsterdam has reputation of being the city of antiques, books, diamonds, and curiosities. Most of the shops remain open throughout the month except on Sundays. However, some popular shops yet remain open in the city center Kalverstraat, Damrak and Leidsestraat. One interesting thing about shopping in Amsterdam is that at its center it is closed for   cars so it makes experience of shopping a pleasurable one for one and all. More adding to the shopping experience in the city, there are several shopping corridors in the city and there each has their own charm and specialties.

•    Markets in Amsterdam:
In Amsterdam you can have many lively and different markets as some of them are for food and general goods, where other are  specialized in other kind of things like interested in starting from biological food and antiques. All the major market is Amsterdam are situated around the walking distance from the centre of the city.  Amsterdam markets for a day of the week remain open for hour and a location. The first place to worth visiting in the centre is: Nieuwedijk-Kalverstraat that is about a one Km long pedestrian stretch full of shops. This particular pedestrian area remain full a good number of shoppers prominently consisting tourists, student, scholars, excursionists and locals. The Nieuwedijk is quite close to Central Station and is devoted to clothing, sportswear, music and gift shops with that special Amsterdam vibe. This street straight goes to Dam Square at this square you can found out the Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk and Madame Tussaud’s.

There on the next side of the square is located  Kalverstraat that is more famous for  shoes, clothing, bags, gift shops, cards, perfume, and the occasional coffee shop, fast food restaurant and ice cream salon. There you will get all primary brand names having one or more store on this road. Parallel to the Nieuwedijk-Kalverstraat is a Damrak and Rokin which is a normal road and is filled with restaurants, hotels and exchange offices.

•    Art Galleries:
Amsterdam is one of the most modern and experimental art centers in North of Europe that has a good number of remarkable art galleries in Amsterdam. De Stedelijk, (The Municipal museum) after the year of rebuilding finally opened on 2010. Amsterdam art galleries present artists from all over the world and is focused on abstract and experimental art as well as photography. In the museum there are held many realistic paintings as from New Dutch Realism movement, as well as realistic paintings from Italy, Spain, UK and the US are always on offer.

•    Shopping streets in Amsterdam:
If we look at shops in Amsterdam it is observed that entire city is divided into different quarters and each of quarter there has a special character and public. Shopping streets in Amsterdam do also vary, depending on their situation malls and shops are located in the city. As city is not as big and huge one can walk through the shopping streets of the city in just one or two days.

•    Duty free shopping at Airport:
The international airport at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is nice place for shopping. For purpose of shopping a commercial and communication center called as Schiphol Plaza close to airport  sells goods and items like luggage, consumer electronics, bookshops and fashion shops that interests other persons a lot.  Due to its location and having type of merchandise in it. There at the Departure lounge of airport one can have a good number of duty free shops and many other brands and goods.

•    Bookshops: Amsterdam too is town for book lovers that have unique book collection at its store from entire world. Most of the bookstores in Amsterdam are situated around in closeness to Spuiplein and many other book stores are located on the Leliegracht. The biggest bookshop in Amsterdam is Scheltema that has four big floors full of books and having majority of books in English language.

•    Department stores and Malls: There a good number of shopping Malls and departmental stores are situated in Amsterdam as they offer unique choice of products as imported from Asia, Latin America and Africa. The best of the malls is De Bijenkorf (The Bee Hive) that is situated at Dam square.  There you can compare actual choice and prices within the hours. Shopping in Amsterdam does save persons time and effort. The shopping malls in Amsterdam are Magna Plaza on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal or the Kalvertoren.

•    Antique Shopping in Amsterdam: Apart from shops for cloths and fashion items Amsterdam is too rich in antique shops in city that are primarily situated around Spiegelgracht and Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, that is a small street going towards the center of the old city from the Rijksmuseum. There are around 70 antique shops and fine art galleries are situated along this street or its direct neighborhood known to Spiegelkwartier (Mirror Quarter). The market also has many non collectable items which even can fascinate to a person who himself is not a collector. One can have Old Dutch Master Paintings which are well represented around. More you can see Delftware, ceramics, oriental and African Art as well as shop with old clocks, pewter, instrument and furniture.

Laura Dekker, a 14 year old Dutch girl will start sailing around the world on a solo journey from tomorrow morning. She has already left from her home port of Den Osse at 9:10 a.m. As his spokesman Peter de Lange confirmed.  However, she would start her professional journey after two three weeks.

Dekker’s had to make so many efforts before she was allowed to sail across the Globe.  A year back she was under state care for two months as her parents prevented her from going on potentially dangerous sail. And again it was in last October, she had to face verdict of Dutch court which ruled against allowing Dekker sail solo around the world, citing her experience for doing so. Anyway she would be allowed to travel this year if she fulfills certain requirement that court is asking her to fulfill.

Amsterdam being capital of the Netherlands is rich with culture, tradition, and splendor. Though it is the smallest city in the world it is culturally very vibrant and rich. One can learn about the city truly after visiting various centers of attraction there. Below are briefed some of the most exciting places to visit in Amsterdam.

• Old Center:
While arriving at the Amsterdam central station, a person automatically walks towards the streets Damrak and Rokin. In the medieval age both the streets were actually used to be the end of Amstel Rivers. Those streets use to cut the Amsterdam in two half portions. East of the Damrak Rokin axis was the Old Side of the Amsterdam dating as back as to 13th century, where as the New Side was made later on. The division existed between the Old and New Side never diminished in the past and has a lot to offer to arriving visitors.

• Oude Kerk:
It is an old church in Amsterdam that is a parish church and it was consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht. It is located at De Wallen, that is now in Amsterdam is a prominent red light area. The square around the church is known to be Oudekerksplein. The bust of famous organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck is situated here as he spent out the life and period spent out there. His early career even started at the quite early age of fifteen when he succeeded his deceased father as the Oude Kerk’s organist. He composed around 150 psalms and reserved an international reputation for him as a foremost Dutch composer. He is buried at the same church.

• Nieuwe Kerk: It is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam that is used for royal inaugurations and in recent memory, there inauguration of Queen Beatrix occurred in 1980. And for royal weddings, the wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to princess Máxima held here in 2002. The Nieuwe Kerk also a burial site for Dutch naval heroes, involving Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, Commodore Jan van Galen and Jan van Speyk.

• Zuiderkerk: This is a Protestant church in the Nieuwmarkt area of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The church played an important part in the life of Rembrandt and was the subject of a painting by Claude Monet.

• Anne Frank House: The house on Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a museum devoted to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank, who in order to escape from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people hid at secret rooms at the rear of the building. The house as an exhibition place for preserved house where Anne Frank along her family. The museum also is an exhibition place to display all forms of persecution and discrimination. The museum was open on 3 May 1960 with the assistance of public subscription.

• Rijksmuseum: The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, situated on the Museumplein. The museum is devoted to arts, crafts and history. The museum has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art. It also shows up the HMS Royal Charles which was caught while on the invasion on the Medway.

• Van Gogh Museum: This is a museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, showcasing the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. The Museum has the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings. The main collection of the museum is Van Gogh’s life, from his childhood to his various emotional stages through his death. The paintings in the museum include The Potato Eaters, Bathroom in Arles and one of the three Sunflowers paintings with a yellow background. Moreover museum has exhibits on various subjects from 19th Century art history.

• Zoo: Artis, short for Natura Artis Magistra, that is the zoo located at the center of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo of the Netherlands. Along with zoo it also has a planetarium, a geological museum and a zoological museum. The zoo was founded in 1838 by Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller. It is named as Artis, for their being three gates with Artis Natura Magistra written above them. Usually earlier only one gate used to open so people could easily pass through the gate.

• Botanical Gardens: Hortus Botanicus is the name of the botanical garden in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world and was started as back as in 1638 to assist doctors who are looking for herbs. The garden has more than six thousand tropical and indigenous trees and plants. There monumental Palm House dates from 1912 and is renowned for its collection of cycads. Hortus Botanicus’s initial collection was increased in 17th century when East India Company (VOC) brought herbs over there with possibility of their commercial use. The recent additions to the park are huge hothouse that incorporates three different tropical climates and plants.

• The Heineken Experience: It is an historic brewery and corporate visitor center for the internationally distributed Dutch pilsner, Heineken beer. The industrial facility here for the first time constructed there for the first time in 1867 it worked as a premier brewing facility of the company till 1988 when a more modern larger facility was made at the outskirts of the city in 1988.

• Homomonument:
It is a memorial in Amsterdam devoted to the cause of gays and lesbians as murdered during the Second World War. This museum is a hope for gays and lesbians globally. In the museum there three equilateral triangles made of pink granite are connected and attached in a manner with pink bricks. These three bricks show off the past, present and future. It is situated between the Westerkerk and the Keizersgracht canal

Some other places of tourist attraction in Amsterdam are Blijburg, Stand West, Strand Zuid and Former Heineken Brewery.

Amsterdam is a city that started out as a small fishing village in the latter years of the 12th century. During its golden age its arts, trade and science received the highest accolades world over which led it to becoming an important port for business a state it has maintained up to date. During the 17th century, it was a leader in finance and diamonds. Its name was derived from the dam that had been created on the river Amsteel. During its second golden age in the 19th century, canals were dug to give it a direct connection to the Rhine River, the longest and most important river in Europe and to the North Sea increasing its importance as a port of trade and commerce.

Amsterdam is located to the west of the Netherlands and is its capital city. It borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the South and the center of government is The Hague. It is a major part of the Kingdom of Netherlands, a country in Western Europe. Here is where the King is crowned as per the country’s constitution. The city had a population of 1.36 million as of January 2008. It encompasses several major suburbs many of which were built after World War 2 to provide good and affordable housing to the working class community. They have wide roads for easy accessibility and green areas for beautification purposes.

The country is low lying and in the capital itself, it is only 2 meters above sea level. Most of the land has been reclaimed from the sea by the use of dikes. These are artificial walls that are made parallel to the waters edge to regulate the water levels in and around the city. Amsterdam also has a man made forest in it. Some streets and squares within the city have been created by filling in a number of the numerous canals. The climate in this city is maritime climate. This is the type of climate that is found in middle latitude countries around the globe. Winter temperatures rarely go below zero degrees. As a cultural, financial, and business capital, the city has many world class companies located within it. Examples are Phillips, Tom Tom, KPMG, Heineken International, and ABN AMRO. Amsterdam receives 3.66 Million tourists a year as of 2009 and certain years are themed to attract more visitors. It has a designated area for legalized prostitution.