AMSTERDAM is a beguiling
capital, a compact mix of the
provincial and the cosmopolitan. It
has a welcoming attitude towards
visitors and a uniquely youthful
orientation. For many, however, its
world-class museums and galleries -
notably the Rijksmuseum, with its
collection of seventeenth-century
Dutch paintings, and the Van Gogh
Museum - are reason enough to visit.
Amsterdam was founded on a dam on
the river Amstel in the thirteenth
century. During the Reformation it
rose in stature, taking trade away
from Antwerp and becoming a haven
for its religious refugees. Having
shaken off the yoke of the Spanish,
the city went from strength to
strength in the seventeenth century,
becoming the centre of a vast
trading empire with colonies in
Southeast Asia. Amsterdam
accommodated its expansion with the
cobweb of canals that gives the city
its distinctive and elegant shape
today. Come the eighteenth century,
Amsterdam went into gentle decline,
re-emerging as a fashionable focus
for the alternative movements of the
1960s. Despite a backlash in the
1980s, the city still takes a
uniquely progressive approach to
social issues and culture, with a
buzz of open-air summer events,
intimate clubs and bars, and relaxed
attitude to soft drugs.
The City
Amsterdam is a small city, and,
although the concentric canal system
can be initially confusing, finding
your bearings is straightforward.
The medieval core boasts the best of
the city's bustling streetlife and
is home to shops, many bars and
restaurants,...
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