Various Bits and Bobs
| Various Bits and Bobs | |
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From a practical point of view it's worth noting that the tapwater in Amsterdam is drinkable, and doesn't taste of Chlorine.
For non-Europeans it is not wise to take electrical appliences from home and plug them in the socket here, as you'll blow a fuse in our switchboard.
In the cinema (there are about 20 of them), practically all films are subtitled in Dutch.
Most Dutch people speak English anyway, because television is subtitled as well.
Holland is actually called the Netherlands as well, but this must be incorrect because that was the name of Holland and Belgium together.
Speaking of water; To cruise the canals you can take a canaltour, canalbus, museumboat or a watertaxi. You can rent a rowingboat, a rowingboat with electrical outboard, a motorboat, an electric sloop, a traditional "tjalk" (20 meters, with captain onboard. Decide your own route!), a partyship, classic saloon boat, VIP saloon boat or a canalbike (paddle yourself). Alternatively you could swim...
There is also a houseboat museum, where you can see for yourself how people live in ships. In fact, most have all comforts one would have in a house, like electricity, gas, telephone, a small hook above the sink etc...
Amsterdam has some 7000 monuments (the hotel is housed in a monumental building). One example is the Munt, here on the left. Another is De Waag (the weighing house) on the Nieuwmarkt, built in 1469, where Rembrandt painted his Anatomy Lesson. It now houses an internet cafe.
Amsterdam is a multicultural city. Therefor you can eat in African, American (Cajun as well as Mr. Mac), Argentinian, Assyrian, Asian, Balkan, Brazilian, Czech, Chinese, Columbian, English, Ethiopian, Filippino, Fish, Flemish, French, Greek, Hollands, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Kurdish, Lebanese, Malaysian, Moroccan, Mediterranean, Mexican, Nepalese, Pakistani, Pancake, Peruvian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, South African, Spanish, Surinami, Thai, Turkish, Uruguayan, Vegetarian, Vietnamese, And West- Indian restaurants.
Amsterdam has 7 outdoor- and 8 indoor swimming pools. As it can get quite cold here in winter, the outdoor ones are only open in the summer. If we have a good winter, the canals freeze over, and we can go ice skating and drink hot chocolate!
Amsterdam has 26 public parks, of which the Vondelpark is probably the busiest. Notably on Sundays in the summer, when there are free concerts on the big stage in the middle of the park.
The Amsterdam canals were constructed in three phases.
When Napoleon got here, the city hall on the Dam was hastily evacuated in order to offer him a bit of a palace to live in. That's how we got a Royal Palace. After Napolean was Waterlood, our Prince of Orange came back, was crowned in the Royal palace and declared Amsterdam capital of Holland. Isn't it funny how things can go eh?
That's because we have 220 volts AC/DC 50 hz...
And you, appearantely, don't.
This means that John Wayne doesn't sound like Hans Brinker in "Clogs of Fire! (clippetying down the dike)"
In some neighbouring countries they dub all their foreign TV, and you'll probably notice the difference.
The "nether" part is probably from the fact that Holland lies below sea level.
The building was once a gate in the city's medieval fortification. First described in 1490, the turret was added in 1619 after a fierce fire.
In alphabetical order, that is.
The Netherlands' Film museum is situated in this park as well.
The digging of the Singel commenced in 1593, the construction of the western canal ring started in 1614, and the southern part of the canals (our part) was built from 1663 (see photo on the right, taken on Keizersgracht).
