Amsterdam Is Not What You Know
The comfort of experiencing many 'legal' things in Amsterdam, sex shops and all other known 'freedoms'; Although it makes the city a center of attraction for many people, especially male groups who wander the streets of the city in crazy costumes and have bachelorette parties, spend time in less touristic streets and districts, and even reach out to villages and towns, like someone from Amsterdam. It is a much more heart-warming experience to taste life, albeit from the edge.
Just after meeting the wind that freezes my face and takes my breath away in a typical high-ceilinged Amsterdam house overlooking one of the main canals of the city, I enjoy a friendly chat and prosecco accompanied by a wooden cheese plate full of delicious cheeses. We are more concerned with the wind force than the temperature values in the weather report, like all Amsterdam residents, hoping not to encounter such strong winds again in the coming days. My friend says, "No one misses the nice weather here, the weather report is checked days in advance and the employees start thinking of excuses to take a day off that day." I am doing.
In order not to get lost while saying that I will not be a tourist, of course, it is normal to have a map in my hand to solve the channels that surround the city like a spider's web. At this very moment, one of the most beautiful things one can encounter in a city where they are not yet a stranger happens to me. When a cyclist, who sees me hesitantly hesitates, stops his bike with a very well-intentioned instinct and gives directions after figuring out where I'm looking, my hope is revived that the world is still a good place. I think this is 'one-off and I think I looked very hopeless', but when this situation is repeated several times, there are two options: either I look very 'lost' or the Dutch are very helpful and gentlemanly.
I quickly pass through the main squares and crowded spots of the city. It is not possible to find reality among the huge plastic-looking pizza slices and huge slices of cake covered with cream, tourist groups and flashing signs in the shop windows. I can't wait to get away from this packaged and ready-to-eat area and taste the slices of cake served right next to the centre.
Jordaan is one of these districts. Lounging around in neighborhood bars, coffee shops and designer boutiques and persevering to find a windproof spot becomes the real Amsterdam experience for me by the end of the second day. Even though my 'touristy' side stirs in me from time to time, I mostly squint. Japanese fusion flavors at Izakaya, one of the trendy restaurants in the city, waiting for me in the evening after hours of joyful overturning.
After a while, I plan to go to Edam, which is located outside of Amsterdam and stuck on my radar before I even arrived, since I don't know the roads and it sounds very touristic. The orderly and neat system works here as well. There is a bus route that includes Edam, Volendam and Marken. Of course, although there is a touristic marketing situation in the brochures prepared for these villages, I do not smell a stale smell at all; on the contrary, I am quickly drawn to the cuteness of the illustrations and brief information in the maps and brochures. In the town of Edam, which is synonymous with Edam cheese, there is no cheese boutique as I expected. I can even say that I only saw one in the town square. There is a mini museum and hotel in the square. Sitting and drinking coffee in the cafe outside the hotel, admiring the houses and walking in a quiet life by the river is good for my eyes and soul.
After Edam, Volendam offers a different visuality in the same day with the atmosphere of a northern fishing town. The streets of the touristic and very lively town, which stretch down from the harbor, are still peaceful. While wandering around Amsterdam's towns, side streets and riversides, it's hard to get enough of looking at the houses with tasteful gardens.
I sit at a restaurant bar in the port of Marken, where I get on from Volendam's port, where restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops are lined up side by side, and land half an hour later in the afternoon, and I have a toast to life.
Peaceful, quiet villages seem to me more like a decoration during the hours when the tourists are scarce. It is as if no one lives here, and the houses and gardens are regularly maintained so that people can wander around admiringly as if they were in an open-air museum. I pass through the peace of Marken and get on the bus again. A route that does not waste time and does not tire. Immaculate villages and towns. As I approach Amsterdam from the bus, I see that I can get off at Monnickendam. I sit at one of the tables in front of the door of De Waegh, one of the restaurants I've had my eye on, and order french fries and fish. In the horizontal light of the evening hours, the colors are getting softer, the bells of the church are ringing…
It's about to be in the evening when the bus arrives at Amsterdam Centraal Train Station. Right in front of the station, at the tram stop that wraps the city like a spider web, I am looking for the tram that goes to my home address for a few days. The comfort, ease and friendliness of Amsterdam; The fact that the whole touristic, neon-lit and packed side is actually just an illusion makes me feel happy to feel that a relatively quiet and peaceful life is flowing away once I get away from the main picture. When I get to my neighborhood, I buy a wonderful Dutch mustard, cheese and a bottle of wine from the market near the house. The serene energy of the villages and towns that I see throughout the day accompanies me every time I need it during and after that Amsterdam evening.
Keywords: Amsterdam | Travel | Entertainment