Ah, this Amsterdam! The dream of all who are disappointed in the slave conditions of survival in their native country. It is not by chance that every tourist who returns from Amsterdam, just sleeps and sees how to move to this beautiful capital for permanent residence. First, a loyal attitude towards work: Friday's working day starts at about 11 am (who can crawl to work as he can) and continues at the relaxed pace of up to two hours (who will bear it). Secondly, the atmosphere in the city is not that unusual, but literally a festive one, which spoils the mood of all who are going to work on Monday. Tourists in this sense is very lucky. A real test would be to crochet along cobblestone streets with a portfolio of office contracts, meeting on the way merry and good-natured punks or nice nice old ladies smoking cigarettes. And ancient buildings, carved turrets and unique facades? In general, there are so many sights in Amsterdam (starting with old women with cigars), which is enough even for the most unimpressive.
Old Town Center
The Dam Square in Amsterdam is as famous as it is not loved by some locals. There are several reasons for this. Home is in a particularly affectionate attitude to the area of punks and hippies (more precisely, "hipareys"). Representatives of these fashion trends with an enviable regularity arrange on the demonstration area. Another reason for the special attitude towards this place is the heavy spirit of the Middle Ages, literally ingrained in every pebble of the square and surrounding buildings. It smells like a story: spruce and marijuana. Near the square there is a grounded building - the Royal Palace. The building is so gloomy that the Queen flatly refused to use it as a home and visits the Palace as rarely as the affairs of the state allow it.
By the way, there is nothing in common with secular ladies. In the Dutch "ladies" - a dam. Initially, the square was a dam connecting the two banks of the Amstel River.
Damrak street
In the past, the channel (filled in about 1880), today - the analogue of Wall Street. Not only does Damrak attract financial institutions and it is home to the famous Berlage Stock Exchange all over Europe, so the street in the heart of the city, Dam Square, also rests. So on a full basis, Damrak can be considered the main artery of Amsterdam.
If you walk along the street towards the central station, you can walk to the torture museum. In general, the place is so terrible that the nervous are asked to take care of themselves and find a less traumatic entertainment. Iron Maiden, Witch's chair, rack - the most terrible tools of the holy Inquisition can be seen with your own eyes. If someone does not understand that such in these tools, we suggest recalling a few frames from the "Sleepy Hollow": a small Ichabod looks into the Iron Maiden's eyes and in horror sits on a terrible chair with sharp sticks (witch chair). In general, the Museum of Torture in Amsterdam can rightfully be called a museum of horrors.
It's much nicer to see paintings in the Rembrandt Museum. In Amsterdam there are two museums representing the works of great artists: the Van Gogh Museum and Rembrandt. If the works of the great self-taught are presented in the picture gallery, then the works of Rembrandt are in his house, which was restored and turned into a house-museum in 1911.
Bulls and money
To the main attractions of Amsterdam, you can also include a monetary tower. This beautiful, many times reconstructed building is now in the city, and in the XV century was part of the defensive gate, behind which the city was located. In front of the gate was a cattle market, in memory of what on the tower there is a bull-calf figure. At a later time, when the city was already overgrown, the Tower was equipped for coinage and was given the name of the Mint. In Amsterdam, they are passionate about everything
We go to Amsterdam in winter
In winter, the sights of Amsterdam, of course, do not change, but there are new entertainment, which can also be attributed to the sights. In the end, in what other city can you skate along the canals? The only thing to consider is that the humidity in the city is very high, so -5 in Amsterdam is even stronger than -5 in Moscow. Therefore, we take warm clothes, and forward - to skaters competitions on the frozen canals of the city!