Charming Amsterdam

The Netherlands.  At once quaint and edgy, famously tolerant, and tremendously likable, Amsterdam is like no other European city except maybe Venice with even more canals.  While the Dutch capital may lack the grandeur of Paris or Rome, it more than compensates with its charm, beauty, art museums, food and flower markets as we walked for hours around this city surrounded by water.  And as you walk around the canals, you can’t help but notice the multitude of row houses looming and leaning so forward with big hooks visible at the top.  Neal (aka google) explains that’s the way they used to get goods in the house…by hoisting up the outside! Of course, you wouldn’t want to chance your goods getting soaked in the basement being on these canals.  Amsterdammers seem like a laid-back bunch as I caught 4 young men enjoying happy hour outside their shop. Our weekend visit felt like we were joining the city-wide party in the most glorious fall weather.  What a treat staying at the Conservatorium, a new stylish property directly across from the haunting portraits, landscapes and still-lives at the Van Gogh, the Calders surrounding the Rijksmuseum, and the solo “dark” Marlene Dumas exhibition at the newly reopened Stedelijk dedicated to modern and contemporary art. We were culture vultures even catching a production of Sweeney Todd at the Carre theater.   We splurged on a meal at De Kas, serving homegrown food in a greenhouse setting and rented and rode bikes with the locals around Vondelpark.  But most importantly, we slipped into prayer for Yom Kippur services at a Portuguese synagogue in the old jewish section of town to atone for our sins. John Green sums it up best “Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin.”