Oudezijds Kolk Amsterdam has some large squares like the Dam, Nieuwe Markt and Leiseplein, and even a few wide roads like Prins Hendrik Kade or Raadhuisstraat, but most streets are narrow, always have been, and many of the gable stones on the houses are like snapshots of the traffic along the old city centers canals […]
The last piece of Heiligeweg, the pilgrim’s route to the site of the miracle of Amsterdam, I told you about yesterday, goes from Singel to Kalverstraat. This last bit of the road often was the most difficult, and it passed a nunnery of the Order of St. Clare. After the alteration in 1596 this nunnery […]
In 1345 a very devout Christian was lying on his deathbed and asked or the last rites. His family send a message to the Oude Kerk and the priest came, officiated the sacrament and told the family that if the man was going to throw up (which he regularly did after eating anything) whatever he […]
In the 19th century Amsterdam flourished and developed into a city of importance, and it was necessary to build a stock exchange. Instead of a renowned architect at home or abroad, the job was given to the young Dutch architect Hendric Petrus Berlage. He based his plans on democratic principles and the idea that the […]
In the middle of Amsterdam, both on the old and on the new side, you find many old tasting houses. In the old days these were connected to distilleries and customers came there to try the produce before they decided to buy. Back then tasting was free, but that’s not the case anymore. There are […]
When you leave Amsterdams Centraal Station through its main entrance and look to your left, you’ll see Het Noord-Zuid Hollandsch Koffiehuis, also called Smits Koffiehuis, a white house in pavilion style, which has been there since 1919. It used to have a large pier from which boats sailed to a little station in northern […]
Centraal Station seen from where Oosterdoksdijk once was Until 1889, when the Centraal Station was dedicated, Amsterdam had two privately owned railway companies, who each had a railway station. Haarlemmerpoort The Hollandse Spoor Company had at first its station at Haarlemmerpoort in the northwestern part of town and only later built a new station at […]
We all know that many people behave really bad on the internet, there is nothing new in that, but I wonder why two so seemingly harmless subjects as eating habits and lifestyle can trigger as many nasty comments as they do. I’ve always been interested in food and consequently in health and therefore I read […]
In most supermarkets vegetarians can find replacements for meat in the form of sausages, hamburgers, shawarma, minced meat, cordonbleu and many other products made from soy or milk. Meat replacements Supermarkets also have wine and beer, but if you want something stronger than that you have to go to something called a “slijterij”. Many […]
Originally I come from the northern part of Germany near the North Sea, and in the olden days, when I was a child, there were lots of small fishing boats going out to fish for shrimps, the small brown kind, near the shore. Back then you could have it as a job to take the […]
My writers block 