Amsterdam Life

Amsterdam has great department stores and shopping malls. They offer unique choice of products with imports from Asia, Latin America and Africa. The best choice is offered by De Bijenkorf (The Bee Hive) located directly at the Dam square. Except for one (Villa Arena), all department stores and shopping malls in Amsterdam are located within a short walking distance from the Dam square. You may compare their actual choice within couple of hours. Shopping in Amsterdam may save you time and effort. If you like your shopping indoors, or if it happens to be raining you can always visit one of the shopping malls in Amsterdam: Magna Plaza (on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, again near the Dam square) or the Kalvertoren (on the Kalverstraat).

Hiring a private boat and guide to cruise Amsterdam’s canals isn`t a cheap endeavour, but it`s much more romantic than sitting next to strangers and their three teenagers on a massive group boat. Aboard one of the quaint "saloon boats," you can enjoy a private dinner or just sip champagne as you float along Amsterdam’s waters.

This coffeeshop of the non-smoking kind is an attractive place to stop and relax, with an inventive list of breakfasts, sandwiches and drinks. However, the service starts to crumble if there are more than a couple of queens in attendance.

Just a five-minute walk down the Damrak from Centraal Station takes you into this jam-packed square.

There are food stalls, restaurants and shops galores, including the trendy Bijenkorf, Magna Plaza, Bonneterie and the Amsterdam Diamond centre. Such is the popularity of Dam Square that you might even have to wait for a seat at one of the many cafés and bars. Whatever the weather, there is always something going on here so expect lots of entertainment. In spring, there may be a carnival on or you can have a go on the colourful Ferris wheel. In the summer months, mimers and other street performers come out to surprise unexpected onlookers.

Another baroque garden set in the Jordaan district is the one located at Van Loon Museum

The house features a garden room where the best views are guaranteed, and a garden house with a prolific decoration of pillars, sculptures and tympanums on the facade. Acquired by the Van Loon family in 1884, the building dates as far back as the 1672, though it received some luxurious ornaments in the 18th century: mirrors, panels and plasterwork were the only additions to the original structure set on the Keizersgracht.

When I feel like eating tasty  baguette or sandwich I visit sandwitch bar located in the end of Damrak street. It`s a great place for lunch on the go. I always like to sit in Dam Square with my enormous baquette and observe surrounding world.

In 1895, Willet-Holthuysen’s widow decided to donate her spectacular canal house to Amsterdam, providing it was turned into a museum. The building, from the 17th century, is surrounded by a canal garden that was set a hundred years later in French baroque style and is one of the ample gardens in the city.

A visit to the Museum Willet-Holthuysen, which now belongs to Amsterdam`s Historic Museum, enables visitors to know a real canal house as well as the lifestyle of a wealthy family: kept in its original style, the mansion boasts magnificent rooms in the ground floor, among which you should not miss the ballroom, garden room and hall.