Amsterdam continues

Today was our first day of inclement weather. Steady rain and a low fog. It gave us time to catch up on some of the more mundane travel jobs. As the light cleared a little we ventured out onto Prinsengracht-destination Kaffe de Hoek that I had seen on my meanderings. Kaffe de Hoek is a small unassuming place that has the best meatball sandwiches possible-and freshly squeezed juice. Today was a day of both high and low art. We started with the nine streets (De 9 Straatjes)-a buzzing shopping area between the canals. It even has its own blog.

We started in a search for coffee and ended 4 hours later miles down the Keitzersgracht. There is an array of shopping in the nine little streets that invites inspection. One place we dropped in-Property Of-had a most friendly proprietor and we chatted about living in Amsterdam, what made it special, what do people do here etc. He even made us coffee on his spectacular Dutch built espresso machine. He gave us tips of off the path things to do, one of which he gave us a map of. Like a treasure map. It was a list of all the Hofjes in Jordaan, all conveniently placed on a map. We carefully stored this for further exploring.

Denham is another find-great for all the hipsters. Again great subterranean shop in a beautiful canal house. Great jeans and coats.

We wandered past the most amazing wood store. After just renovating the studio and spending a lot of time in looking at different wood flooring it was a delight to see such beautiful timber available for flooring. Some of the boards on display were 30-40 centimetres wide. The owner said the timbers we were looking at were 300 years old. Much of the timber on display is reclaimed. No shortage of choice. He said one of the biggest supplies they ever sourced came from the Australian wharves being destroyed. They purchased one million cubic feet.

There was a cavernous, dark room. Peering in I recognized some Steve McCurry photographs on display. The book was an enormous XL coffee table publication of his most extraordinary images. Welcome to Mendo bookstore, which is also a graphic design agency. There were photography, fashion, architecture, design and graphic books in this most intriguing of interiors.

We walked along the Keizersgracht admiring the magnificent houses-all part of the golden age of the Netherlands. Many are still single houses, 4 or 5 stories high. Along the way we saw a crowd formed and they were watching the canal being dredged. On a barge were the remains of hundreds of bicycles, prams, tyres, engines and trolleys dropped into the canals. Amsterdam is like two cities, one block can be teeming with throngs of tourists, chains, junk stores, fast food restaurants and one street across it is quieter, local and unique.

We went to Foam, one of the most beautiful photographic galleries. It is in a spectacular canal house and has been completely modernized and converted into an enormous gallery space. We were fortunate that the Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn was having an exhibition of his latest work. His photographs were all portraits and were lith printed-about 1 metre square. Corbjin is the director of feature films such as Control (2007) and The American (2010). He has worked with countless musicians and actors and has been the 'house photographer' for bands such as U2 and Depeche Mode. It was a fantastic exhibition in a most extraordinary space. The back of the canal house is a glassed wall overlooking a huge formal garden replete with 3 metre brick walls. The upper stories are opened using industrial skylights and galvanized steel staircases. There were two other exhibitions on-Misha de Ridder-a series of images and multimedia from the arctic and Showroom girls by William Popelier-a series of images found by accident. He found 91 photographs and two films made by two girls on a publicly accessible computer. This was the start of a long-running project in which Popelier researched the role of photography on the internet and in social media. He was able to track them down via the electronic world.

The walk back was a bit torturous after such a long walk as we were at 1013 Prinsengracht and needed to get to 79.

In the evening, there was a most spectacular thunderstorm, pelting rain and wild wind. We watched it from the comfort of our host’s front room drinking beer and wine and looking over the canal. Later, upon the invitation of our wonderfully hospitable hosts, we ventured into the red light district to eat and for a voyeuristic moment. Our tour around this historic district included an impossibly narrow lane, only one metre wide, and on each side the girls were displaying themselves in their windows with curtains and a bed behind. There was a lot of negotiation going on. After a tasty Thai dinner, we finished at an historic bar called the monkey bar drinking cognac-the bar was originally part of a hotel and used by sailors for hundreds of years. There is never a shortage of things to do in Amsterdam.

So many things done and so many things to remember. Pont 13 is an old ferry, (punt for English speakers) that has been turned into a restaurant bar. It is a fantastic place to eat or have a beer-and you can dock your boat right next door. It has the most impressive boiler heating system you can imagine.

Kahmann Gallery is a local fine art photographic gallery. There was an exhibition of a Dutch photographer Rutger ten Broeke on. Exquisite prints. 

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