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Continue our week dedicated to Holland, this time with a real tour of Amsterdam and its legendary canals. We take you to the Oud-West, away from tourists and petty attractions, showing you the true face of this magical city.
A ride downtown to celebrate
After the salat eid at 07 in the morning, I start wandering through the streets of the Dutch capital, also taking advantage of the sleepiness that has, rightly, overwhelmed my guest. A perfect opportunity to get an idea of the urban planning of our neighborhood, so far away from the timetables and tourist traffic. Even with a sun that breaks the stones, in fact, Muslims are the only daredevils to wake up on Sunday at this time, creating for the umpteenth time a contrast between inhabitants and structures very similar to that of Chinatown. The city, however, shows itself in all its splendor, showing the power of water in giving magical touches to the landscape. Colors and nature that pay homage to the pictorial tradition of the places, often giving the illusion of moving in a real open-air painting.
Once I woke up and made my companion smoke, we decide to meet an Italian friend of his for the MotoGP, which soon turns into a tour of the most famous part of Amsterdam with continuous monuments, shops and a smell of weed always. present as a background. After a brief stop at Kfc (at my insistence), we head to Vondelpark, one of the largest and most beautiful parks in the city, all too similar to Milan’s Parco Sempione. The similarity between the two cities, for me, begins to show itself already then but it will be the next day to create a real parallelism between the two.
10 hours of motion
Once the “trip” is over, in fact, we go home and opening the phone I discover the unexpected day that awaits me the next day. I had discovered that my cousin, a Neapolitan, would have passed through Amsterdam as the last stop of his interrail; I thought I’d dedicate a whole day to him, except for a last minute surprise: his train would actually arrive on the 12th but at 11.30pm. Not being able to leave me the keys and having to work for 8 hours, the road could only be an endless tour of the city.
The next morning we take all the calm of the world and at around 12.00 we finally leave the house. Initially I was thinking of venturing to Kinkerstraat, trying to discover more of what, at least on the surface, could seem nothing more than a commercial street very similar to our Corso Buenos Aires. The reality of the facts is, however, that I manage to get lost almost immediately, spending about 4 of the 8 hours scheduled between Rembrandt Park (for personal taste, the most beautiful in the city), Hoofdweg and Surinameplein, the de facto Surinamese district of Amsterdam. The rain explodes just as I am in the famous park and this pushes me and all the inhabitants to take refuge under the bridge that cuts it in half. The atmosphere of expectation and peace that is created is unparalleled and provides essential rest for body and mind, helping to pass the next 4 hours, which is more complicated said than done.
Oud West, away from tourists
After finally having clear my position and the route to follow, I spontaneously choose to enter the residential streets around Kinkerstraat, discovering places in Amsterdam that I would never have imagined observing. Walking through these streets, in fact, one encounters the most authentic soul of the city and its inhabitants, very far from the center, populated by Coffeeshops such as The Bulldog or red light clubs. Here, in fact, one gets the impression of being in a sort of fairy tale, surrounded by houses and canals, giving an image very similar to what Milan must have looked like before the closure of the Navigli in 1929.
Born and raised on the famous Milanese canals, I can’t help but use the last time I have left to fully enjoy this tranquility that surrounds the city, letting myself be lulled by the flowing water while I wait to be able to return to the “base” . A houseboat similar to a Mondrian painting, then, gives that final stroke of art, allowing me to definitively combine houses, water and painting, in an ensemble that, probably, is the true synthesis of this magical city.
In these days we will continue to tell you about Holland and our trip.
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