A field guide to getting lost in Amsterdam
Archive for Socializing
December 17, 2009 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Eating, Going out, Restaurant, Socializing, vegan, vegetarian
Hi people,
if you are vegetarian or vegan, you like healthy food and simple and cozy alternative places, then you would like eating at “De Vliegende Schotel”, which in english means “The Flying Dish” .
The restaurant is run by nice people which try to use just organic food in a lot of different recipes from all over the world. The meal is really tasty, the portions are good, prices are ok. They use a lot of sprouts beans because they have more nutritional.
It’s a very nice place, especially if you don’t like fancy restaurants..
The kitchen is open everyday from 4 p.m. to 10.45 p.m. and the restaurant close 11.30 p.m.
The address is Nieuwe Leliestraat 162-168 the phone number is 020 6252041.
Eet smakelijk !!! 
December 13, 2009 at 3:54 pm · Filed under Coffeeshop, Going out, Rerlax, Socializing
Hi there,
since Herb rediscovered the pleasure of a good joint some times, in this pages you will get also some tips about it.
Last week I was looking for good black hash and De Tweede Kamer seems to be one of the most recommended places in Amsterdam.
Open since 20 years they have some of the best hash and weed in town, from Holland, Afghanistan, Morocco.. It’s not very cheap, but can be ok.
I would suggest avoiding the most expensive qualities, at less you are so rich that you don’t care, because for what I know is not acceptable. Especially some hash that are made here in Nederlands are nothing so special and they could cost much less. But everyone is free to spend his money in the way he wants.
De Tweede Kamer, which in Dutch means “Second Chamber” and refers to the upper house of the Dutch Parliament, is located in the center, just few minutes walking from the Dam.
Heisteeg 6 Tel. +31 (0)20 – 4222236
1012WC Amsterdam
Nederland (Noord-Holland)
Opening Hours
Sunday – Thursday 10 am – 1 a.m.
Friday and Saturday 10 am – 2 a.m
December 4, 2009 at 3:37 pm · Filed under Art, Going out, Music, Social Center, Socializing, Theater, concerts
Located on the northern banks of the IJ, NDSM – Werf is an old shipyard transformed in an underground cultural center at the end of the 90’s, when a group of artists, theater people, skaters and architects, known as Kinetisch Noord, approached the city council with a plan to redevelop the place.
The area host the NDSM hall, a hangar of 20,000 sq. meters, and two historic ship reused for housing workshops and artists’ studios. The aim of the project, in fact, is to offer facilities for artistic disciplines, small crafts and independent organization and a place for exhibitions, try-outs, performances, festival and parties. In total there are 10,000 sq. meters of workshops, a 2,000-sq. meter skate park, 4,200 sq. meters for other youth activities and 6,000 sq. meters of exhibition and theater space.
You can easily go there by taking the free ferry in front of the central station.
October 9, 2009 at 10:24 pm · Filed under Eating, Socializing
Tired of spending lots of money in junk food? Are you fed up with kebabs or vlaamse frites? Do you want to socialize with nice people?
So, all you need is a VoKu.
VoKu stands for Volks Küche, a German expression that means ‘People’s Kitchen’. A VoKu is a place where you can have healty vegetarian (or sometimes even vegan) meal for a little damage, and a good occasion to meet interesting Amsterdammers. Many squats and social centers across the city organize weekly VoKus. Here’s a partial list.
Binnenpret – every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
Joe’s Garage – every Monday and Thursday
Molly – every Thursday
De Peper at OT301 – every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday
Remember that the Dutch eat early and generally the vokus start at 7 pm. Don’t be late and remember to reserve your dinner in time, calling the phone numbers
you’ll find on each website.
Eet smakelijk!
May 18, 2009 at 11:09 am · Filed under Nature, Rerlax, Socializing
If you arrive in Amsterdam and the sun is shining you should consider yourself a very very lucky person. Hence forget that you are a tourist and act as an Amsterdammer. How? Just enjoy every sunny second! A good way of doing it is relaxing in the parks:
The famous and central Vondelpark, with its film museum and nice bars on the water:
Westerpark with statues in the lakes and the former Gas-Fabriek: an industial building turned in bar and cinema.
The romantic and old Sarphatipark, in De Pijp.
Oosterpark, close to the Tropen Museum.
Rembrandt Park, more wilde, quite and relaxing.
Erasmuspark, in the West.
Amsterdam Bos: the Amsterdam forest, with its open air theater and its cheese farms.
And don’t forget to have some sex in the parks.
May 11, 2009 at 2:27 pm · Filed under Art, Cinema, Movies, Socializing
The Movies is the oldest movie theater in use in the Netherlands and one of the oldest in the world.The first film presentation was given, in fact, in October 11th 1912 when the cinema was called the “Tavenu”, one screen with more then 200 seats. It was closed just two years later and was opened again after a year with the name of “Cinema Hollandia”. Since then it slowly decayed for several reason until the 50’s when it was restored as a ’second run’ theater, since it close again at the end of the 60’s. In the 70’s Pieter Goedings, a true art film-loving projectionist at De Uitkijk, bought the Hollandia and renovated it with the art deco interiors we can still enjoy today.
Located at the end of Harlemmerdijk, about 20 minutes walk from the Dam Square, with four auditorium and almost 400 seats, The Movies is mainly an Arthouse Cinema, or an “author cinema” with a palimpsest of selected no commercial movies. By the way there is a diverse mix of titles accessible for the audience and special festival programs.
Inside the place there is also a cafè/restaurant, “the Movies Wild Kitchen”, where is possible to consume a nice dinner or just chill out at the bar before or after the movie, having a nice relaxing chat with your friends.
Good belgium beers, french and italians wine, nice and friendly staff and the art deco interiors make the place cozy and pleasant.
Prices are not so cheap but regular for Amsterdam’s cinemas and cafe. If you think to stay a bit longer in the city you can buy the strippenkart movies, ten entrance for 65 euro, a not personal card you can share with your friends (por a maximum of four tickets for show) and the filmdiner (dinner + movie) from 27 euro for person.
For reservations call: 6386016 or visit the page on the web.
Doei
May 11, 2009 at 11:04 am · Filed under Going out, Rerlax, Shopping, Socializing
If you like good beers I suggest to pay a visit also to “De Bierkoning”, a beer shop behind the Dam where you can find almost 1000 thousand different beers from all around the world:”We pride ourselves in having the largest selection of beers in the world. We don’t try to have as many different brands as possible, we simply try to have the best ones, world-wide.”
At the moment I’m in love with lambic and belgium beers in general, but there are a lot more.
Interesting alternative people use to drop by there around 5/6 o’clock p.m. so you can also meet someone to ask for some tips for your journey or just enjoy your passion for nice beers with friendly people.
Sitting on a crate of beers outside in the sun I met a beautiful “butterfly” some weeks ago..
Salute!
April 28, 2009 at 5:47 pm · Filed under Going out, Shopping, Socializing
I generally associate markets to worm and sunny cities: when I think about a market.. well.. only places as Marrakesh, Jerusalem, the South of Italy cross my mind and a smell of spices follows my thoughts. That’s why when I arrived in Amsterdam and I found out that in the city there was a very “culture of the market” I got positively surprised. Despite the treath of wind, rain and grey sky that often affect the city, there are markets almost everyday, and they are generally incredibly crowded.
Every neighbourhood has its own market, and every market is somehow a mirror of the neighbourhood. I think that one of the funniest way to understand a city is to mix with its people during their ordinary and daily activities; it would be interesting to have a descriprion of the city considering just the people you meet at the market or the different kind of stands.
See for example the Jordaan Market: it has a bohemienne and retrò style but with a “chic” touch, as the houses of the neighbourhood and its inhabitants; it sells second hand clothes, but it defines them as “vintage”. There are organic-food stands, but with a kind of fancy and bizarre choice of products. The vegetables come from the farmers but they look as jewels. The strangest stand is the one which sells only salt: you would never imagine that the simple salt could have so many varieties, colors, tastes and origins.
Or compare it with the Mosveld Market, where you mainly find second choice cheap vegetables and typical arabic dresses: it represents a kind of border, as the neighbouhood itself is; a border between old and new, the city and the fields, locals and strangers. Try to get through the crowd of Maroccan women in front of one of the fists stand: you’ll never believe that they are all waiting for their watch to be repaired by an old and wrinkled Dutch man.
Here a short list, everybody is welcome to add more!
Albert Cuyp Markt
One of the biggest outside daily market in Amsterdam
Area: De Pijp; Albert Cuypstraat/Ferdinand Bolstraat
From Monday to Saturday 9.30 am – 5.00 pm
Jordaan Markt
Biological Fresh Food and handicraft on Saturday;
Second hand clothes and goods on Monday
Area: Jordaan; Noordermarkt
Open: Monday and Saturday 9.00 am – 3.00 pm
Lindengracht market
Next to the Jordaan market that sells almost everything
Area: Jordaan; Lindengracht
Open: Saturday 9.00 am – 4.00 pm
Art Plein Spui
works of art, and second hand book market
Area: Centrum; Spui Plein
Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Waterlooplein Flea Market
On of the most famous and central markets in town. Second-hand clothing, new and used goods.
Area: Centrum; Waterlooplein
From Monday to Saturday 9.00 am – 5.30 pm.
Mosveld Plein Market
One of the cheapest markets of vegetables, tools and clothes.
Area: Noord; Mosveld Plein
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 9.00 am – 3.00 p.m.
Bloemenmarkt
Flowers, seeds, bulbs
Area: Centrum; Singel/Munt Plein
From Monday to Saturday 9.30 am – 5.00 pm
April 22, 2009 at 12:53 pm · Filed under Socializing
M2M radio is one of the first thing I discovered when I arrived in Amsterdam. It is a web radio work out by a group of media activists and artists, “a media environment for free communication, an alternative approach towards migration”.
To be honest I don’t know exactly when they started this project. I don’t remember all their names, where they are from, what they did before. Off course I could ask more details but it doesn’t make sense in this moment of my life.
An handshake is sketched on their visiting card.
“No borders, no nations, stop deportation”, is one of their favorite yell for their public demonstrations.
That’s enough at the moment for me.
I like the ideas, the meanings and the energies of this project. I like these people that I meet sometimes here and there.
M2M means from Migrant to Migrant.
M2M is a meeting point for migrants.
Like a camp fire.
Every migrant has a story, a message.
Every migrant is a messenger between there and here
and here and there..
Every migrant is a medium.
M2M invites you to move and be moved.
To imagine you are somewhere else.
To realize that you can be someone else.
To accept the fact that identity is an illusion.
That metamorphosis, the permanent migration of identities,
is the way of life in the age of vanishing substance. [..] (read more..)
April 14, 2009 at 4:45 pm · Filed under Cinema, Going out, Socializing, concerts
Shown at Overtoom 301’s cinema “Rok ďábla” (Year of the Devil, Czech Republic, 2002, 88 min.) is a comedic music documentary direct by Petr Zelenka, starring real-life Czech folk-rocker Jarek Nohavica as a fictionalized version of himself. The following musicians act as themselves in the movie: musicians and poets, Jaromir Nohavica and Karel Plihal, Czech folk music band Čechomor, and British musician and composer Jaz Coleman.
The movie won six categories at the 2002 Czech Lion awards.
The plan of the movie
Dutch documentary film maker, Jan Holman, goes to the Czech Republic to make a film about curing alcoholism. In an alcoholics anonymous clinic he meets a mysterious, silent man named Jarek Nohavica who becomes his friend. When Karel Plihal, writer and player of Nohavica’s arrangements, starts to suffer a weird psychological-disease and becomes mute, Jarek decides to go on tour with a funeral band called Čechomor (Czech-Moravian Musical Society) in order to cure his friend and to relieve alcoholic people’s suffering. Jan Holman follows the band with his camera and many inexplicable events take place along the way.
“The greatest attention is attracted by Jaromír Nohavica himself… While all the others continually are seeking something, a kind of absolute knowledge of themselves, whether through God, ritual, music or alcohol, Nohavica is the only one not trying to explain anything. He is striving for nothing, only existing on the screen, perhaps because he discovered this sense within himself long ago and hid it within his songs, which themselves form the impulse for the others to start their own searching. He becomes the symbol and the indication of nearly everything metaphysical that transpires in the film” (reviewer Martina Muziková, Literární noviny, July 22, 2002).
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