Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Left
Canal tour boat on the Oude Schans
Right
De Poezenboot
Unexpected Sights on a Canal Tour
The Safest Vaults
The vaults of the Dutch
National Bank are sunk some
15 m (48 ft) below ground level.
In the event of an alarm, they
have been designed to allow the
waters of the Singelgracht to
flood into them.
The Oldest Café
Which is really the oldest
café in Amsterdam? It's Café
Chris, in Bloemstraat, dating
from 1624. A curiosity: the loo is
flushed from the bar.
The Most Crooked Café
Teetering Café de Sluyswacht,
built in 1695, makes an alarming
sight as you glide by along the
Oude Schans
(see p80)
.
The Prison Bridge
The Torensluis - the widest
bridge in Amsterdam - spans
the Singel on the site of a 17th-
century sluice gate. A lock-up jail
was built into its foundations.
The Wrapped-up House
Look carefully at Victoria
Hotel, near the station, and
you will see two tiny 17th-
century houses
embedded in the
monumental 19th-
century façade. A
little old lady, so the
story goes, refused
to sell up, so the
hotel had to wrap
itself around them.
The Cat Boat
Hundreds of feline
waifs and strays are
given refuge in
De
Poezenboot
(The Cat
Boat), moored on the
Singel
(above)
.
The Drunken
Tsar
In 1716, Peter the
Great got drunk at his
friend Christoffel Brants'
house at Keizersgracht 317,
and kept the mayor waiting
at a civic reception. That
night, he stayed at the house
of the Russian ambassador,
Herengracht 527, where
Napoleon also stayed in 1811.
The Floating
Pagoda
The vast Sea Palace,
Amsterdam's famous
floating Chinese restaurant,
makes an unusual sight in
Oosterdok. With its twinkling
lights and many windows, it
makes a romantic dinner spot.
Peter the Great
The Narrowest House
Is Singel 7 the smallest
house in Amsterdam? No, it's
simply the back door of a wedge-
shaped house, whatever your
tour guide tells you.
The Tower of Tears
This medieval defensive
tower has the saddest of names:
Schreierstoren (Tower of Tears),
where weeping women waved
farewell to their seafaring men.
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