Hi, I'm Rick Steves, back with
more of the best of Europe. This time, I'm trying
to find my hotel somewhere in the back
canals of Amsterdam. Thanks for joining us. Amsterdam is perhaps Europe's best-preserved
17th-century city. Yet at the same time, it's got
a fun, contemporary edge. It's a progressive place
invigorated by a time-honored spirit
of live and let live. We'll cruise the canals
and bike the back lanes. We'll sample the Dutch masters
from Rembrandt to van Gogh. We'll drop into a coffee shop that doesn't sell coffee, And we'll ponder
the Red Light District. We'll remember Anne Frank, we'll enjoy a feast of
Indonesian food -- Dutch style, and we'll relax
in Amsterdam's Vondelpark. The historic core of Amsterdam
remains much the same today as when it was first laid out
back in the 1600s. That was Holland's
Golden Age, when Dutch merchant ships made
this the world's richest city. Amsterdam's touristy
main drag, Damrak, was once
the main canal. Today, it connects
the train station with the city's main square
and the Royal Palace. From this spine,
the city opens like a fan, with hundreds of bridges and a series
of concentric canals. Wealthy merchants
built this city upon millions
of wooden pilings, creating a wonderland
of canals lined with trees and townhouses crowned
with fancy gables. Traditional bridges --
like this one, which crosses
the Amstel River -- were built with a clever counterbalance. They were fine-tuned and bridge keepers bragged they could raise and lower one with a single finger. The city's founders
built a dam on the Amstel back in the 13th century. The community
that gathered here was named for that Amstel dam,
eventually, Amsterdam. This is where
the river hit the sea. From here, boats could sail
into the interior of Europe and out to the rest
of the world. Dutch merchant ships would sail
right up the main canal loaded down with
material delights -- silks, spices, and porcelain
from faraway lands. Amsterdam's port is still huge. But it's being transformed
from a gritty industrial area into a vibrant, modern,
and very livable district. A striking film museum
and art cinema is bringing new life to this
now-revitalized neighborhood. You can hop on
a free shuttle ferry to see this evolving district, or you can cruise
a different way, by joining the hedonists
and tourists on Amsterdam's many canals. Surprising to me,
anyone can hire one of these electric boats for
a little independent exploring. For some help
with the navigation, I'm joined by my friend and fellow tour guide,
Rolinka Bloeming. Tell me about the difficulty
of building here. BLOEMING: Well,
the soil is very swampy, so everything you see, Rick, all the houses, all the bridges, and the walls of the canals
are built on wooden pilings. It's actually oak wood, and it comes from
the Black Forest in Germany. -We have about 100 canals.
-Uh-huh. BLOEMING: And they were
all dug out in the 17th century
entirely by hand. It took them about 30 years. The most important one was the Gentlemen's Canal,
Herengracht. And then there is
the Emperor's Canal, Keizersgracht. And then there's
the Prince's Canal. STEVES: This has got to be the
most beautiful canal in town. BLOEMING: It's my favorite
canal, Rick. STEVES: So what is this
neighborhood called? BLOEMING: It's called Jordaan,
this area. STEVES: It's got to be
the most characteristic part of Amsterdam. BLOEMING: Oh, today it's one of
the most popular places to live. STEVES: Beautiful. The characteristic
Jordaan district offers a quiet slice
of Dutch urban life. Built in the 1600s for warehouses
and to house workers, it's now home to artists and inviting little
restaurants and cafes. While just a few blocks
from the busy center, the Jordaan feels like
another world. Everything's in its place,
and life seems very good. [Bicycle bell rings] Amsterdam has about
a million people and as many bikes. This multistoried bike garage is for commuters
who ride the train and then pedal to work. This is one of Europe's
most bike friendly cities. Bike lanes run next
to the sidewalks, and bikers whiz by silently. Walk carefully. [Bicycle bell rings] One of the joys
of visiting Amsterdam is simply being in this swirl
of healthy, busy, biking Dutch. Bikers everywhere,
doing chores, flirting, delivering, texting, you name it. Around here it happens
on two wheels. The city is decorated
with ornate gables. The frugal Dutch made their
simple buildings look fancy by adding ornate facades. Amsterdam's famous gables
include the point gable bell gable, step gable, and neck gable. 17th-century land was expensive and taxes were based on
the width of the house, so the Dutch built skinny
and straight up. In a merchant's house, the shop
was on the ground floor, the family lived in the middle, and the attic served
as a kind of warehouse. With their cramped interiors
and steep stairs, houses came with a pulley so goods could be hoisted up
and down on the outside with a rope. That original design
still works today. Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum is one of the artistic
highlights of Europe. It was built to showcase the art of
the Dutch Golden Age. Here we can gain insight into
the industrious people who made tiny Holland so prosperous and powerful
back in the 17th century. This art is really
all about money. The Dutch worked hard,
they were brilliant traders, and the wealthy had plenty
of money to match their egos. Now, painters
earned their living working not for the church
or the king, but by painting portraits
for local big shots. The great Dutch painter
Rembrandt -- this is a self-portrait
at age 22 -- earned his money
painting portraits. These Dutch masters --
actually the drapers' guild -- all paid equally and expected
to be portrayed equally. Wearing the standard
power suit of the day, it's as if someone walks in
and grabs their attention, natural as a snapshot. In Rembrandt's "Night
Watch", we see another group
portrait. But rather than
the standard stiff pose, this one bursts with energy. It's the local militia, which was also a fraternity
of business bigwigs, a kind of rotary club
of the 17th century. They tumble out of their hall,
weapons drawn, ready to defend their city. While creative
and groundbreaking in its composition, some of
those who paid the artist, like this guy, were probably
none too pleased. This self-portrait
of Rembrandt at age 55 shows a man who's seen it all and woven those experiences
into his art. Rembrandt did more
than paint for big egos. In this painting, the prophet Jeremiah laments
the destruction of Jerusalem. He slumps in defeat,
confused and despondent. Rembrandt's use of light
to highlight certain details set him apart
from other artists of his age. The Rijksmuseum has four rare and precious paintings
by Johannes Vermeer. Here, the master
of tranquility and stillness shows an intimate street
from his hometown of Delft. In this quiet painting of
an ordinary milkmaid, Vermeer, who brings out the beauty
of everyday things, creates a scene where we can
almost hear the trickle of the pouring milk. Perhaps for the first time,
art catered to the tastes and budgets of
middle-class people, too. Smaller canvasses
by no-name artists that a regular merchant
could afford and hang in his living room. The work of Jan Steen
offers a delightful slice of 17th century Dutch life. No preachy religious
or political themes, just light entertainment
with a dose of folk wisdom. Here, children teach
a cat to dance, mischief on
their delighted faces. But their father's upset
that they're wasting time. And in Steen's "Merry
Family," the parents party while their kids copy
their irresponsible behavior. The girls learn to drink, and the little boy
picks up smoking. The note warns --
"Parents beware, your children are learning
from your bad behavior." This light-handed
approach to morality lives on in the Netherlands. Amsterdam has plenty
of examples of their progressive approach to subjects many people
consider unsavory. And, with the local passion
for tolerance, it's occasionally shocking. Prepare for some differences -- curbside urinals, prostitutes who are unionized,
taxed, and regulated, and coffee shops
that sell marijuana. Throughout the Netherlands, places selling marijuana
are called "coffee shops." For decades now, the Dutch,
like many Europeans, view marijuana as a soft drug, like tobacco and alcohol. Marijuana is tolerated, but hard drugs
are strictly forbidden. A lot of people think marijuana
is a gateway drug. They think
if you smoke marijuana, you'll be smoking harder drugs. Marijuana here is soft drugs,
like alcohol and cigarettes, and hard drugs are still
strictly forbidden. What's the age limit
for people buying marijuana? -18.
-18. And how much can you buy
in one visit? Five grams. How much is five grams
of marijuana? This is five grams of marijuana. STEVES: Okay,
so that's five grams. And if you wanted to buy
a smaller quantity, what is one gram
of marijuana looking like? It's about like
a bud of this size. Okay, so this is one gram. And how much would
this cost probably? -11.
-11 euros. WOMAN: This particular strain,
yeah. STEVES: Now, you have a menu
with a lot of variety. Yeah, we got all our
sativa ones. Make you happy, giggly. We've got the indicas,
that's more of a sleepy. STEVES: Mm-hmm. WOMAN: Got the organic ones,
outdoor, and I got a whole bunch
of pre-rolled ones. STEVES: Okay, so you can get
the loose leafs, or you can get
pre-rolled joints. -Yes.
-In the United States, we still have so many people
in prison because of marijuana. Yeah, but here, we believe
that it's better to tolerate than to put more people
in prison. STEVES: Another example of
Amsterdam's creative approach to social challenges
is its red light district. Practitioners of
the world's oldest profession flirt and tease in windows as
they have here for centuries. When it comes
to prostitution, the Dutch figure,
if it's going to happen anyway, rather than criminalize it, it's smarter to corral
and monitor it. The intention -- women run
a safe, independent business. If a prostitute needs help, she pushes her emergency button
and the police come. For this spectacle,
browsers are welcome. The Dutch call their approach
to social problems like this "pragmatic harm reduction." They consider
legislating morality to be counterproductive and remind me
that we Americans lock up nearly 10 times as many people
per capita as Europeans do. Beyond the red light district,
nighttime Amsterdam has a relaxed
and inviting charm. Enjoying this dimension
of the city is my idea of
a good time after dark. Canal boats treat visitors
to a scenic ride, while privately hired boats
of all sizes create their own ambiance. As the street lamps come on, you'll enjoy yet another
memorable dimension of this romantic city. This peaceful oasis
is a begijnhof, originally an almshouse for devout women
who served the church. Its humble chapel has served Amsterdam's English-speaking
community since the 1600s. The pilgrims, refugees from religious
intolerance in England, likely worshiped here before boarding the "Mayflower
" for Plymouth Rock. Amsterdam has a long tradition
of welcoming the persecuted. When the Netherlands
won its independence from Catholic Spain
back in the 1500s, the Dutch government
outlawed Catholicism. But locals here conspired
to give Catholics a place to worship, provided
they kept a low profile. This 17th-century
merchant house looks normal
from across the canal, but inside is a hidden
Catholic church. Called Our Lord in the Attic, it dates from 1661, when post-Reformation
Dutch Catholics were forbidden
to worship in public. Imagine this small church
crammed with worshipers. It's like a grand church
in miniature. Jews also found
safe haven in Amsterdam. Nearby stands the bold 17th
century Portuguese Synagogue. While the Dutch were tolerating
Catholics here, elsewhere, Catholic nations, in response to
the Protestant Reformation, were expelling anyone
who worshiped differently, and that included Jews. The ever-pragmatic Dutch
smartly welcomed Jews from Eastern Europe,
Spain, and Portugal and put their business acumen
to use building their economy. Amsterdam's thriving
Jewish quarter was a babel of tongues, and this synagogue served its
Portuguese-speaking community. It's a commanding structure,
built in the 1670s, when Catholics were still
worshiping in secret. It survived World War II and still functions
as a place of worship, with the Ten Commandments,
in Hebrew, still shining down
on the congregation. Whether Protestants,
Catholics, or Jews, through the ages, the Dutch have
given refuge to the persecuted. But they couldn't protect
their haven from the Nazis. This building,
a thriving theater in Amsterdam's Jewish quarter before the Nazi occupation
of the Netherlands in 1940, was part of that sad story. Visitors enter
an assembly hall Nazis used for local Jews destined
for concentration camps. Today, it's a thought-provoking
memorial that makes an indelible
impression on its visitors, whether tourists
or school groups having a thought-provoking
field trip. On the wall,
thousands of family names represent the tens of thousands
of Dutch Jews who were assembled here before being deported to camps
in the east and death. And that included
the family of Anne Frank. At the Anne Frank House, visitors learn the story
of eight Jews who, in 1942, went into hiding. They went behind this secret
swinging bookcase, into the attic above a shop, and hid almost silently
for two years. Among them was
13-year old Anne, whose journal has inspired
millions of people. You'll see how
Anne's father, Otto, tracked the progress of
the allies after D-Day. And pencil lines tracking how Anne and her sister
were growing up in hiding. Anne's room is still decorated with photos
and magazine clippings, showing the idols, dreams, and passions
of a 13-year-old girl. A small window
letting in a splash of the outside world
lifted her spirits. Then, one fateful day,
the Gestapo came. All eight were deported, sent east
to concentration camps. Only her father survived. Anne died just weeks before
the end of the war. Her handwritten diary
inspires visitors, and her book has been
translated into 70 languages. Visiting the Anne Frank House humanizes the horror
of the Holocaust through the story of just one
of six million victims. Nearby,
the Dutch Resistance Museum takes you behind the scenes
during the Nazi occupation and tells how the Dutch
fought back. Pistols were hidden in books. With this corset,
stuffed with ration cards, a woman who looked pregnant helped feed both hidden Jews
and resistance fighters. And courageous moms
with strollers did their part, as well. Resistance fighters
falsified IDs. This student,
wanted by the Nazis, disguised himself as a woman. While the Germans
confiscated all radios, the Dutch secretly got
their news from England via miniature radios. This one's hidden
in a matchbox. The suffering was horrific. Many starved. And many barely survived
on a diet of tulip bulbs. So your grandparents actually
lived through this. Yeah, the winter of '44-'45 was
called the "Hunger Winter," where people in the cities
were starving, and they started
to eat tulip bulbs just to have something
in their bellies. Grandparents starved
so that children could live. And that entire
generation of people is actually shorter
than their countrymen. Today, we eat well, and our young people are
the tallest in Europe. STEVES: And eating well
in the Netherlands today includes enjoying cuisine from
some of its former colonies. Indonesian food
is a popular choice, and the ultimate meal here
is a grand "rijsttafel." -Oscar, this is beautiful.
-Yes, sir. BLOEMING: So this is what we
call a "rice table,"
"rijsttafel." And there's actually no starter, there's no main dish,
there's no dessert. It's just a festival
of different dishes. STEVES: Our waiter, Oscar, patiently tells us
what each dish is. OSCAR: Fried chicken, shrimp,
sweet-sour for the shrimp. Fried egg, tomato with sauce, fried banana. This is a tofu soybean cake,
beef with soya. Beef with Padang sauce... STEVES: I'm still thinking
about the fried bananas. OSCAR: Vegetables,
sweet-sour vegetables... STEVES: Hmm,
I'll never remember all this. I guess I'll just have
to try everything. Wow! Oscar, how many plates
altogether? -28, sir.
-28 plates. And there's a proper way
to try each of the 28 dishes You put the rice in the middle. BLOEMING: You put the rice
in the middle, and then the different dishes
come on the side so that it doesn't mix. STEVES: Okay,
so you don't mix it together. You want to appreciate
each distinct spice. Exactly. Can you imagine that tiny
Netherlands today, once, 350 years ago,
had colonies all over the world, and these kind of dishes
and spices came from Indonesia? They were called
the Spice Islands. So, wait a minute. Indonesia was originally
the Spice Islands? BLOEMING: Mm-hmm. And today, centuries later, we're celebrating the spices
of Indonesia in Amsterdam. I love it, the connection! An entire museum
is dedicated to the work of the great Dutch artist,
Vincent van Gogh. The Van Gogh Museum, laid out as a stroll through
the story of Vincent's life, shows how intimately his life and art were intertwined. Van Gogh grew up in poor,
rural Holland. From the start, he had
an affinity for working people. In paintings like
his "Potato Eaters," a painting as dark and grainy
as the soil itself, he gives these farm laborers the same dignity Rembrandt
gave to merchants and aristocrats. As a young man,
Vincent was very religious. He studied to be a pastor and did church work
in poor communities. But this wasn't
his true calling. He decided to paint, to capture the world he felt
so intensely on canvas. He moved to Paris,
and the "City of Light" opened up a whole new world
of color. Vincent hobnobbed with
the Impressionists. He studied their bright colors, rough brushwork,
and everyday scenes. He painted shimmering
reflections like Monet... café snapshots like Degas... still lifes like Cézanne... and self-portraits
like nobody else. But Vincent longed
to strike out on his own. In 1888, he headed
for the south of France, arriving just as winter
was turning to spring. Energized by the sun-drenched
colors and the blue, blue sky, in just two years, Vincent produced
an explosion of canvases. His unique style evolved
beyond the Impressionists. Thicker paint, brighter colors, and swirling brushwork that made even inanimate
objects pulse with life. Vincent's ecstasy
alternated with depression. Eventually, he was admitted
to a local hospital. His letters home told of
his great loneliness. While in the hospital,
he found peace painting calm scenes of nature. But he also wrestled
with his inner world, capturing spiritual scenes
with surreal colors, twisted forms, and dark outlines. In this, one of his last works, the canvas is a wall
of thick paint, with roads leading nowhere and ominous black crows
taking flight. Overwhelmed with life, Vincent walked into a field like this one
and shot himself. A stroll in the park
is a good compliment to a thoughtful
museum experience. Somehow Amsterdam
manages to be both vibrant and mellow
at the same time. You feel that best
in Vondelpark on a sunny summer afternoon. It offers a fun look
at the city taking a break. The park is popular
with romantic couples, free spirits sharing
blankets and beers, and young families. The easygoing hedonism here seems to say,
"Inhale, exhale, and relax." Amsterdam offers everything
a sightseer can want. And with a determination
to embrace life, a visit here can
contribute mightily to that ultimate souvenir --
a broader perspective. I'm Rick Steves. Until next time,
keep on travelin'. "Tot ziens." It's a progressive place
invigorated by a... time-honored spirit
of live and let live. Collar good? Wardrobe good?
Hair good? WOMAN: Yeah, yeah. I'll have my zipper down
on the urinal shot. Prostitutes who are unionized,
taxed, and regulated, and marijuana shops
that sell coffee. I feel all mucky and sweaty.
Ugh. The ever-pragmatic Dutch
smartly welcomed...
Rick Steves is a seriously experienced European traveler. He has been just about everywhere and loves to travel off the beaten path. His shows and guides are geared for the average traveler though. One who is cost conscious, wants to cover the basics, and get the most out of their money.
His TED talk is excellent. He is a very interesting guy.
He also has given a talk about the history of his travel experience and his guide services. When you watch these videos, you get a sense that he is different from the personality he takes on in his travel shows for TV.
Rick Steves! He is popular in the US among a certain group of travelers. He has a series of books and television shows that run on public broadcasting stations.
While his shows are a bit campy, they do inspire people that might not normally travel, or for first time travellers outside the US. I definitely watched a lot of his shows and bought a book or two for my first trip to Europe in 2001.
I've since outgrown his style of travel shows and books, but now I live here and I couldn't be happier. I like to think Rick had a little part in that.
Thought this video would perhaps be useful for the wiki. It's a great video for tourists who'd like to see the standard touristic places. Enjoy!