Blasi Abigail - Lonely planet: Amsterdam

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Amsterdam

Seventeenth-century buildings. Joint-smoking alien sculptures. Few cities meld history with modern urban flair like Amsterdam.

You cant walk a kilometre without bumping into a masterpiece in this city. The Van Gogh Museum hangs the worlds largest collection by tortured native son Vincent. A few blocks away Vermeers , Rembrandts and other Golden Age treasures fill the gloriously restored Rijksmuseum. The Museum het Rembrandthuis offers more of Rembrandt via his etching-packed studio, while the newly doubled-in-size Stedelijk Museum pulls out Mondrian among its modern stock. And when the urge strikes for a blockbuster, the Hermitage Amsterdam delivers: the outpost of Russias State Hermitage Museum picks from its three-million-piece home trove to mount mega exhibits.

Two wheeling is a way of life here. Its how Amsterdammers commute to work, go to the shop and meet a date for dinner. With all the bike rental shops around, its easy to gear up and take a spin. If locals arent on a bike, they may well be in a boat. With its canals and massive harbour, this city reclaimed from the sea offers countless opportunities to drift. Hop in a canal boat (preferably an open-air one) or one of the free ferries behind Centraal Station for a wind-in-your-hair ride.

Amsterdam is famously gezellig, a Dutch quality that translates roughly as convivial or cosy. Its more easily experienced than defined. Theres a sense of time stopping, an intimacy of the here and now that leaves all your troubles behind, at least until tomorrow. You can get that warm, fuzzy feeling in many situations, but the easiest place is a traditional brown caf. Named for their wood panelling and walls stained by smoke over the centuries, brown cafs practically have gezelligheid (cosiness) on tap, alongside good beer. You can also feel gezellig at any restaurant after dinner, when youre welcome to linger and chat after your meal while the candles burn low.

Amsterdam is ripe for rambling, its compact core laced by atmospheric lanes and quarters. You never know what youll find: a hidden garden, a shop selling velvet ribbon, a jenever (Dutch gin) distillery, an old monastery-turned-classical-music-venue. Wherever you end up, its probably by a canal. And a caf. And a gabled building that looks like a Golden Age painting.

Bloemenmarkt ()
MERTEN SNIJDERS/GETTY IMAGES

Why I Love Amsterdam

By Karla Zimmerman, Author

I love walking around Prinsengracht in the morning. Houseboats bob, bike bells cling cling, flower sellers lay out their wares. The old merchants houses tilt at impossible angles, and its easy to imagine an era when boats unloaded spices out the front.

I love that you can drink under a windmill without affectation in the city. I love how candles burn in all bars and restaurants and that friends linger over dinner long after the last bite has been consumed. And I love chocolate sprinkles on bread for breakfast. Excellent idea!

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