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Amsterdam is not an old city, by any European standard of antiquity. The first official recognition of a municipality at the mouth of the Amstel river comes from the year 1275, when Count Floris V granted privelege of toll-free shipping throughout the area that would become North and South Holland provinces. Three smaller communities had merged, by that time, and had begun to build infrastructure in common. From the morass of tidal plains and a few muddy clay banks had begun what would become one of the world's most beautiful cities — and, for a while, Europe's richest. A sea-going people, and a merchant people, Amsterdammers proceeded to build one of the great trading cities of history. The thousands of 17th-century canal houses are testament to the riches of the nation's Golden Age — and to the moderate, modest character of the Dutch people. Amsterdam in the 21st century remains a city of exquisite, understated beauty.
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I rolled into Amsterdam on a train from Cologne.... There are a lot of them.... I tried to get a tax number when I was living in Amsterdam.... A man-made lake where there used to be a lake... |
Traffic jam — road closed.... I tried to learn Dutch when I lived in Amsterdam.... "You know what is the easiest language to learn?" ... Sometimes, people "won't see you" in Amsterdam.... |
A retired British Navy man told me why the floor seemed elastic under my feet.... A "coffeeshop" in Holland sells cannabis products.... Just as nobody's worried about how long you wait, nobody's going to worry about how long you stay.... |
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