21st of March, 2010:
Het Schip Museum, Amsterdam
(Museum of the Amsterdam School of Architecture)
Description:
- Details on www.amsterdam.info
- Official site (in English) (the history section might prove useful before you visit it)
What a cool block has Architect Michel de Klerk designed! And it was for the working class - wow, I wish I get such a social house one day! The story is longer, of course: this was happening in 1919, socialism's influence was on the rise, de Klerk himself was a socialist etc.
Big plus: I got a guided tour, in English! Great guide, great English!
Side note: Apparently, the only way one can visit the block is guided.
Big minus: due to some 2 buses that had reserved a time slot, the guide handed over our group to a young lady after the first half of the tour. Then, everyone from the group kind of left by themselves and the lady did not show herself interested in retaining anyone, so basically the tour ended there. That kind of pissed me (such a non-Dutch approach from her!), but as long as I have my Museum Card, I can come back for free later in the future - I must see the 2nd part of the tour roo!
Strange thing: I was the only young person in the group; other 2-3 people were around 38-50 years old, and the rest of approximately 9 people were above 50.
Admission for Museumkaart holders: free entrance, yeah!
Update: I've attended the 2nd part of the tour, too.
Westerpark
Nice park. Indeed, very small, but plenty of people having fun!
It's very cool to see trains passing on the lines north from the park... Hint: the line reaches Amsterdam Central Station in about 1-2 km and aggregates all incoming/outgoing traffic from/to the West (including North- and South-West) of NL, so imagine what is the frequency of trains!
Houthaven Stavangerweg
Houthaven Stavangerweg was one of the other accommodation options De Key offered to students studying at the VU. I was curious to see it. Quite cool, I may say. Peace and quiet in Stavangerweg overall, although the surroundings seemed in the process of rebuilding.
Silodam Street
Wow! Cool!
One really needs to pass there to see how there have been built blocks just a few cm over water on some pillars. Also, at number 363 I recommend you climb the stairs to get to a nice terrace with a nice view over the Ij river - bonus: big ships passing by.
Update: I found the description of the Silodam building on arcam.nl
View Netherlands (by Liviu) in a larger map
Conclusions
I strongly recommend one to visit Het Spui Museum and Silodam Street.
The other 2, i.e. Westerpark and Houthaven Stavangerweg, may be of interest only for a student and/or a person living in Amsterdam for a long period.
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