Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Upstairs in back is a small, free museum.
•Headbacktowardthepedestrianstreet,Kalverstraat,andturn
left when you get there. You' ll pass various department stores with
cafeterias.
At the end of Kalverstraat, the
Kalvertoren
shopping com-
plex offers a top-floor viewpoint and café (walk straight into the
mall atrium and go past the escalators to ride the slanting glass
elevator, Mon 11:00-18:30, Tue-Sat 10:00-18:30, Thu until 21:00,
Sun 12:00-18:30). Across Kalverstraat, the
Vroom & Dreesman
(V&D)
department store (at #200) is one of Holland's oldest
chains. Inside, La Place is a sprawling self-service cafeteria—handy
for a quick and healthy lunch (see the “Near the Mint Tower”
section of the Eating chapter, page 185).
•ContinueonKalverstraat,whichdead-endsatthe...
Mint Tower (Munttoren)
This tower, which marked the limit of the medieval walled city,
served as one of the original gates (the steeple was added later, in
1620). The city walls were girdled
by a moat—the Singel canal. Until
about 1500, the area beyond here
was nothing but marshy fields and
a few farms on reclaimed land.
From the busy intersection at
Muntplein, look left (at about 10
o'clock) down Reguliersbreestraat.
A long block east of here (where
you see trees) is Rembrandtplein,
another major center for nightlife
(and site of the fun statue nick-
named “
he
Night Watch
in 3-D”).
Halfway down the block, the twin green domes mark the exotic
Tuschinski Theater,
where you can see current movies in a sump-
tuous Art Deco setting (see page 51). Take a seat in the lobby and
stare at the ever-changing ceiling, imagining this place during the
Roaring '20s.
•JustpasttheMintTower,turnrightandwalkwestalongthesouth
bank of the Singel, which is lined with the greenhouse shops of the...
Flower Market (Bloemenmarkt)
This busy block of cut flowers, plants, bulbs, seeds, and garden
supplies attests to Holland's reputation for growing flowers. Tulips,
imported from Turkey in the 1600s, grew well in the sandy soil of
the dunes and reclaimed land. By the 1630s, the country was in
the grip of a full-blown tulip mania, when a single bulb sold for as
much as a house, and fortunes were won and lost. Finally, in 1637,
