Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
daily 9:00-17:30, 8 seats, can be muggy on hot days; departs from
train station,
Central Library,
and more; www.gvb.nl).
For this short tour, catch the bus at the train station. From the
station, the minibus passes characteristic cafés in the Jordaan dis-
trict, countless houseboats, and the whole gamut of gables (under
a parade of leaning, Golden Age buildings complete with all the
hooks and pulleys). Rolling along the Prinsengracht, you'll see
the long line at the Anne Frank House just before the towering
Westerkerk. You'll pass within a block of the thriving Leidseplein
and Rijksmuseum (look to the right at Spiegelgracht) before pass-
ing Rembrandtplein (with its fun 3-D
Night Watch
statues) and
crossing the Amstel River to finish at the Waterlooplein flea mar-
ket, near Rembrandt's House, Gassan Diamonds, and the metro
station (subway trains run every 2 min, returning you to Central
Station in 3 min).
From the bus, watch for these little bits of Amsterdam:
• green,metalpublicurinals
• late19th-centurylamppoles
• bikeschainedtoanythingunmovable(includingthepractical
new “staple” design bike racks)
• amsterdammertjes
(literally “little one from Amsterdam,” refer-
ring to the countless, little, dark-red bollards—bearing the
city's emblem of three diagonal crosses—that protect walkers
from passing traffic)
• undergroundrecyclingandgarbagebinsdesignedtokeep
workers from having to dump out bins into trucks (a new law
prohibits employees from lifting anything over 25 kilos—
about 55 pounds)
• and
“ ja”
and
“nee”
stickers on mail slots, indicating whether
residents accept junk mail and advertising. (The cool people of
the Jordaan are mostly
“nee nee.”
)
