How Amsterdam, Netherlands Began

Once upon a time, there was a fishermen village nearby the Amstel river. The community there built a dam in the 12th century, and the place was then known as Amstelledamme. The new city of Amsterdam, Netherlands grew rapidly as Holland’s economy and commerce were developing, and it soon became one of the milestones of Holland and even of Europe.

Unfortunately, the buildings were made of wood, so they did not resist the passage of time, due to its vulnerability to water and bad weather. Very few medieval buildings, like Houten Huis, can still be admired today in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Had A Golden Period

Between 1585 and 1672, Amsterdam, Netherlands crossed an exceptionally flourishing period of time, when commerce was at its apogee. This is the age when the architectural basis of Amsterdam, Netherlands was set, as well as the overall city plan. One of the buildings from this period is the actual Royal Palace which can be admired in the Dam Square. This is not the only construction from this stage, but we are not going to discuss the other ones in this article, as it is only a brief review of the past Amsterdam.

Less Gold, But Still Good

Amsterdam, Netherlands was devastated in 1972, like many other Dutch cities, due to foreign invasions from French and English armies. It was a very tough time, many achievements were lost and ruined, many people suffered, but Amsterdam, Netherlands was able to come back in force after the war and recover in good part from the disaster.

Dutch people had to re-build their homes, so during this time many dwellings appeared on the canals and in other places, as there were many people who afforded to raise new homes for their families.

Amsterdam’s Hardest Times

In 1795 Dutch rebels abolished the Republic and a new era was born for Amsterdam. Netherlands were to be occupied by French and the economic recession began, putting its footprint on all cities and their inhabitants. The worst recession was recorded from 1795 to 1813, when Amsterdam, Netherlands stagnated its development. Although there were persons who let their buildings collapse in ruins, because they didn’t have money for consolidation works, there are still lots of remains such as facades, or even whole buildings from the Empire period.

After 1813, Amsterdam, Netherlands started a long recovery period, in which the city managed again to prove that it is a force in Europe in areas like commerce and tourism.

Ibis Hotel Amsterdam

Ibis Hotel Amsterdam is situated nearby the Amsterdam Central Station. It is a comfortable, three-star accommodation, comprising almost 200 guest rooms. This cheap hotel in Amsterdam has a very friendly and helpful staff, so you’ll feel like home, while having the chance to visit the nearby Amsterdam red light district, a few well-known museums, and the famous flower market.

Bema Hotel Amsterdam

The Bema Hotel is situated in the heart of the Museumplein and directly across the street from the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam’s main concert hall, just a few minutes away from the Stedelijk, Van Gogh, and Rijks museums. It is a very small hotel, with only 8 rooms, but this is what makes its charm: the hotel looks like somebody’s home. Bema hotel is owned by an American, Terry Thompson, who decided for eclectic style decorations for the rooms.
This cheap hotel in Amsterdam offers discounted rooms which lack some facilities and good deals on rooms with private facilities. Basic rooms lack certain amenities, so you won’t be able to benefit from a hair dryer, fridge, and iron.

Park Hotel Amsterdam

Another well-known cheap hotel in Amsterdam is the Park Hotel. With its central position, overlooking one of the many city canals, and very close to Leidseplein, the public facilities at this cheap hotel in Amsterdam cover an underground car park, the De Stadhouder Restaurant and the Inn On The Park bar and lounge. The rooms are very well decorated and furnished, and they offer facilities you cannot find in all hotels, like private TV channels (as if you went to Amsterdam to watch movies). This is great value for budget travel experiences.

These are only three of the multiple choices of a cheap hotel in Amsterdam.

If you’re the luxury type of traveler, you can choose the Fusion Suites Number 40, a four suites hotel which used to be somebody’s private house some many years ago, which means it is a charming Dutch mansion. It is quite expensive, at the average rate of $370 per night, but it is one of the most wanted Amsterdam Netherlands hotels. Their clients say that the rooms are large and comfortable, the decorations are extraordinary and the breakfast is excellent. This was actually one of the best accommodations I’ve had in my life, leaving aside the Big Bear cabins, where we’ve stayed last year when visiting Cienaga Creek in California.

A bit cheaper, but still expensive, at $249 per night, there is the Seven Bridges hotel, located in a 300 year old building on a canal in Amsterdam. Some rooms overlook the canal, so they are the most wanted by romantic travelers or for freshly married couples in their honeymoon travel.

Prague is a city to fall in love with. Myself, I am.
The only think is to ignore the fact that almost everything is very expensive. Also, you have to remain calm every time you enter in a museum or a castle and notice that the personnel knows no international languages.
But before entering, you have to find your way to the museum which can be a tricky think. Once you get there, an other story begins: founding the entry door.
You may find this interesting if you like the labyrinths and the puzzle.

But the Prague offers a solution for all the problems: it is full of tourist guides in The Old Town Square, as they call the Prague city centre.

And what a beautiful square!

The same for having lunch in the wonderful restaurants, which were once castles.

I took a one-day trip from Paris to the Loire Valley and it wasn’t cheep at all: 153 Euro.
But, I had the chance to visit three beautiful castles (or chateaux, if you wish): Chambord, Cheverny and Chenonceau.
With a five centuries history, Chambord is a masterpiece of the French Renaissance. Built for Francois 1st, was later one the Louis XIV’s home.
The magnificent architecture will take your breath away.
A huge staircase, 90 rooms, roof-terraces with a panoramic view on the estate, paintings, tapestries and furniture.
You can also explore, by walking, the one thousand hectares of the National Wildlife Sanctuary of Chambord and see the free animals, thanks to permanently accessible observatories.

From April to November 11, bikes and boats rental allowed you to enjoy the view, from a new perspective.

The horse show takes place in the stables of the Marshall of Saxony, daily from May to September.
The second castle on the tour was Cheverny, work of the architect Boyer of Blois and its painter and
decorator Jean Monier. The same team had worked for Queen Marie de’ Medici at the Luxembourg
Palace in Paris and at the Château of Blois.

The castle is built in stone from Bourré, which lightens in colour with time. The facade is decorated
with roman busts sculpted in the classical style.
The decoration of parallel stones in relief and the side wings topped with domes were novelties at
the time.
The painter Jean Monier studied in Italy for eight years and the influence of the Italian
Renaissance can be notice inside the castle: at the staircase, in the king’s bedroom’s door, the
paneled ceiling and the paintings on the chimney-piece.

The garden and the park with its huge sequoias are a pleasure to walk in.
You can also see the beautiful three-colored hunting dogs used on the domain.

Cheverny is a hunting center as well.
The Orangery and the pigeon house can be only seen from outside.

The third castle on the tour is Chenonceau, the lady’s castle.
Built by Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Briçonnet, the castle became a royal residence by
the time when François I was the king of France. Later on, in 1547, Chenonceau was given as a gift to Diane de Poitiers by the king Henry II, using a means in line with court subtleties, that of a the gift in recognition of the “great and commendable services” rendered by her husband to the Crown.
The king’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, carried out interior and exterior architectural work and laid out
gardens that were among the most modern at the time.

At the death of the king Henry II in 1559, his wife, Catherine de Médicis, ordered Diane to give
Chenonceau back to her, offering the Chaumont-sur-Loire castle in exchange.
The queen continued the architectural and ornamental work, made extensions to the gardens and
created “the Queen’s cloth” woven in Orleans by increasing the silkworm rearing capacity and
having the silk spoon on the spot.

Visiting the castle you will see: the guards’ room, the Chapel, Diane de Poitiers’ bedroom, the green
study, the library, the kitchens, François I’s bedroom, Louis XIV living room, Catherine Briçonnet’s
hall, five queens’ bedroom, Catherine de Medici’s bedroom, estampes exhibition room, Cesar of
Vendome’s bedroom, Gabrielle D’Estrees’ bedroom, Louise of Lorraine’s bedroom and the gardens.
Chenonceau is the best-furnished castle out of these three.

Charles Garnier is the architect who made the project for the Paris Opera House when he was 35 years old. The building was inaugurated on 15 January 1875, after fifteen years since the construction work started.

The Grand Staircase, with the stairway built in marble of various colors, with the painted ceiling depicts different allegories of music and with the two bronze statues at the foot of the staircase, is one of the most famous features of the Garnier Palace.

The Grand Foyer resembles the gallery of a classical castle. The ceiling, painted by Paul Baudry, portrays themes from the history of music.

The library-museum houses a permanent gallery and presents thematic exhibitions.

The auditorium can be also visited. Marc Chagall painted the ceiling in bright colors, which are lit by an immense crystal chandelier.

If you visit Paris, Opera House is definitely an attraction point not to be missed.

Brugges, for example, requires one week to be properly seen and felt. You will be amazed by how such a small town needs so much time in order to walk and visit it.
The narrow stone streets of Brugges will steal you away from the present. For two, three days, the only reason I can think of for staying still, is to eat and to rest.
After that, you can take it easy and go to see some churches, cathedrals and museums from inside, Brugge (also known as Brugges, Bruge, or Bruges) has inherited from the past.

Gent, another beautiful old and new town, will take you about four days to enjoy it.
In the historical center it seams like time stooped many years ago and we are waiting for the king to pass in front of us, on a black horse, with his suite on the side.
St. Bavo’s Cathedral, The Castle of the Counts, Belfort, St. Nicolas’ Church, The Town Hall, The St. James’ Church and St. Michael’s Church are not to be missed.

Anvers, known also as Antwerpen, the town where Peter Paul Rubens lived for 30 years, gives us the opportunity to see the largest Gothic cathedral in the Low Countries.
Here, we can admire four Rubens’s masterpieces: The Raising of the Cross, Assumption of the Virgin, The Resurrection of Christ and The Descent from the Cross.

Going on Wapper 9-11 Street, we’ll see the house where Rubens and his family once lived.
The house that Rubens and his wife Isabella Brant bought in 1610 was enlarged according to his specifications, with a semicircular statue gallery, a large studio and a portico.

Today, the portico and the garden are the only authentic remnants of the 17th-century complex.
For the portico, Rubens used classical details: two pairs of satyrs holding tablets bearing Latin mottos, two Olympian deities – on the left is Mercury, the god of painters, and on the right Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.

The message Rubens wanted to send is: this house is a temple of knowledge, dedicated to the art of painting.

La Cité Ardente, Liege is a one thousand-year-old city, an ancient capital of an independent principality for eight centuries.
In the 10-Th and 11-Th centuries, Liege was full of religious buildings, which were continuously redesigned, enhanced and enlarged.
A part of the beautiful Cathedral and Churches, you can find more about the City’s culture, by visiting the Museum of Walloon Art.
A very well organized museum, the visit begins on the fourth floor and continues along the many artistic currents, traveling through time as you go.

Brussels is more than the pissing boy statue. The wonderful Plaza in the Tourist Center deserves much more attention that the mediocre and yet, so famous, statue.
The same happens with The Church of Saint Nicholas.

Not to be neglected, the surprising skyscrapers built close to the North Train Station.

Brussels to Bruges, all beautiful cities which are worth a touristic tour.

The people there, however, can put you in a bad mood.
From my arrival in the train station, I received a wrong information about the direction I had to take the tram to. Good somebody else, corrected it one station later.
I checked in at Room Hostel and asked the lady at the reception if it is possible for me to get a bed ar the ground level, because I have a health problem.
She explained to my that it is out of their hands to do this kind of arrangements, but I may be lucky being the second in the room.
And lucky I was.
I put my personal sheets on the bed and I slept like a child. My room mate was a very nice Polish men, looking for a job as gardener.
He was desperate not finding it, because his money were running out and he was no able to pay for the hostel more than three days.
He started looking for a cheep apartment, with no result. In the end, he told my that he can sleep with the rats, in the cold… Poor east-europeen man trying to work in a wealthy country.
The next day I visited part of Rotterdam and returned to the Hostel where I found my polish room maid doing the same like he did when I firs met him: searching frenetically the internet on his computer.

However, something was changed in the room. My sheets disappeared and on my bed I found a note: “Reserved for Mrs. …”
So, I asked what is all this about.
The men explained to my what happened:
A gay from the staff came in the room to do the cleaning. When he finished he said that in my bed should stay an old lady who have problems claiming on the bed from the top.
The polish men offered his bad, at the same level, saying that he doesn’t mind at all changing the beds, that he can even sleep on the floor if it is necessary.
The gay wouldn’t considered the option.
He took my personal sheets and placed the note on the bed.
With this story in my mind, I went to the reception, looking for explanations.

And they came: an old lady made a last minute reservation and she is to old to claim in a bed from the top.
O.K., but what about the bed my room mate offered, which is at the same level? And what about: “we can’t do arrangements about the bed” policy? I had the reservation made for one month and I requested the same favor like the old lady, from the same reasons.

The guy told my that he doesn’t know who was at the reception when I first came in, but they are doing favors for special cases, like this one.

Well, you will not do it on my expense!

I found my sheets, I took my bed back and this is the end of the story. However, Rotterdam Netherlands has its charm, though.

We have to witness, as well, the poor conditions the woman was forced to survive in.
In fact, the only reason it is worth going there, is the beautiful building in front of the house. That is something not to be missed.

Less famous, but much more interesting from the historical point of view is visiting Willet-Holthuysen Museum and Van Loon Museum.
Those two museums are memorial houses owned by rich merchants who left a will saying that after their death, those 17th-century canal houses were to become the property of the city of Amsterdam.
Very well preserved, the houses offer an accurate image of how the wealthy lived in an Amsterdam canal house.

In Willet-Holthuysen Museum you’ll see on the first floor a magnificent ballroom, a dining room, a room looking over the garden, and an imposing corridor.
In other rooms furnishings have been brought from comparable 18th- and 19th-century houses, to recreate the atmosphere of bygone times.
On the second floor is the romantic bedroom with a wooden bed so wonderful that I felt like taking it home with me, or, better, ordering a copy of it.
In the basement are the kitchen and the scullery, suggesting what life must have been like for the servants.
At the back of the buildings is the garden, laid out according to the early 18th-century French fashion.

In Van Loon Museum you’ll see a collection consists of family portraits, furniture, silver and porcelain.
I specially liked the small interior garden and the richly ornamented rooms on the first floor.
Ferdinand Bol, Rembrandt’s most renowned pupil, first occupied the double canal house, built in 1672.
In the eighteenth century the interior was embellished with lavish stucco, marble and a grand staircase.

Willem van Loon was one of the founders of the Dutch East India Company in 1602.
In 1973 the family opened the house to the public.

Famous and interesting is The Rembrandt House Museum. For almost twenty years Rembrandt van Rijn lived and worked in the house on Jodenbreestraat in Amsterdam.
He bought it in 1639, when he was at the height of his fame. In 1656 he went bankrupt and everything of value was sold at auction.

A notary drew up a list of his possessions and that is how the historic interior of Rembrandt’s house was restored and furnished with items and works of art from the master’s time.

In Rembrandt’s workroom are demonstrations of how etchings are printed. Demonstrations of how paint was made in the seventeenth-century are staged in the studio. There are special activities for children, including a quiz quest through Rembrandt’s house.

The Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam

This is not a Holland-exclusive museum, but rather a multi-nartional one, as it displays thousands of stories and items coming from countries and regions such as Latin America & the Caribbean, New Guinea, Africa, The Netherlands East Indies, Southeast Asia, India, Western Asia & North Africa.
One of the attractions in Tropenmuseum is a forest made of monumental carvings in wood, some of them reaching heights of more than 12 meters. They were used during bisj rituals for commemorating the dead members of their community.
These rituals, still performed today, are brought to life in an exhibition with a combination of light, sound and video which gives thrills even to the bravest tourists.

The little brother of the Tropenmuseum is Tropenmuseum Junior, a vivid museum designed for children from six to twelve years of age. Visiting time: Wednesday afternoons, every weekend, during the holidays and on public holidays.

The Amsterdam Historical Museum

What tourists can see in the Amsterdam Historical Museum: a collection of art, artifacts and archaeological finds. The museum functions in the former Civic Orphanage - Burgerweeshuis, which had the destination of lodging orphans in Amsterdam.

The team who created the concept and who brought it to life must have been more than a simple team of historians but, as well, an artistic group, strongly passionate about Amsterdam’s history, people and spirituality.

Their achievement, above other historical museums’ ones, is that they managed to bring the past so close to the contemporaneous understanding and feeling that it has the ability to virtually make every tourist fall in love with Amsterdam.

The well-chosen photos and video sequences successfully manage to recreate (not only display) the happy times, as well as the drama of the modern Amsterdam city’s inhabitants.

Actually, that is how each item is placed in the museum.

Probably this is the detail that makes The Amsterdam Historical Museum so alive that it can captures people’s attention at every age, from teenagers to elders.
The soldiers, the armors, the weapons and the ships create such a powerful scene, that it would make the best movie directors in the world envious.

The Amsterdam Historical Museum and The Tropenmuseum are a must see if you are seeking for the Amsterdam attractions.