Curiosities from Amsterdam (part I)

At the beginning of this autumn, I've drawn my steps to Amsterdam. When you put hope on your bucket list, the Universe is working with all its power.

I'm writing here some curiosities about this vibrant city with all my thoughts to come back very soon to discover more.

1.The city is built on water.

It has 165 canals, 1,285 bridges and 2,500 boat houses staying quiet on the edges of the canals. The water between the canals is filtered once every 3 months and never smells like in Venice, for example.

2.Amsterdam or Atlantis?

Amsterdam sinks slowly. The buildings in Amsterdam are built on about 11 million wooden pillars, about 15-20 meters in the ground, the soil being anyway very muddy and unstable. However, Dutch engineering continues to impress us, maintaining Amsterdam, one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world. This is a clear evidence that technological progress may exist in harmony with nature.

3.1.25 bikes per capita

In Amsterdam, there are more bikes than residents. There are around 1,000,000 bikes and only 800,000 inhabitants. Typical Dutch bikes can come with many accessories to carry babies, puppies, shopping or piglets. A true growing industry.

4.Total transparency

Many homes do not have curtains or flowers at the window. This is not because of light, it's due to the Protestant religion. According to this religion, you have to prove that you have nothing to hide, therefore the windows must be visible thru them.

5.Houses are narrow and tall. Why?

The tax buildings is paid only for the ground surface, so people preferred to make them narrow and to raise them as much as possible in order to pay small taxes for much space.

6.Green grass of home

A very well know attraction is cannabis. It is better to know that cannabis is not legal here, it's only tolerated.
In theory, you are not allowed to buy more than 5 grams per person in coffee shops, and stores are not allowed to hold more than 500 grams.
The Dutch drug policy is led by the idea that every human can decide on the issues of his own health. Which is not really bad...

7.The capital without government

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but the government and most of the administrative buildings are in The Hague.

8. Red Light District

Prostitution is legal, controlled and taxed by the government. Girls are registered with the trade register, some even have an accountant. In Amsterdam, it is estimated that there are 6-8,000 prostitutes, but just over 1000 are registered and work legally in nightclubs or as escorts.
Only a few hundred girls perform at the windows that are red marked in Red District. For a room with a street window, a girl pays around 80 euro /day (day), 120 euro /day (at night) or even more depending on the conditions and the area.

As usual, we used Booking.com for accommodation and we really recommend it for a safe and simple travel.

If you need a booking for a future travel, do not hesitate to use this link https://www.booking.com/s/27_8/ema0gu04 and you'll receive 10% discount after check out. As well, for every referral, I'll get a reward in the amount of 15$ (after your check out).
Let's enjoy this win win situation and travel all over the world.

See'ya!
Ema