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Street Art in Amsterdam
Street art in Amsterdam sounds like funky music, has a lot of rhythm, it´s just like a trip. Today, the City Council is looking for measures to de-criminalize this practice by creating specific areas where you can go bombing (do graffiti). There are also measures underway to legitimize the most acclaimed graffiti artists and for their work to be acknowledged as art, promoting their exhibitions and works (bringing some to museums from the streets). Despite that painting on walls is as old as mankind, it wasn´t until the 70s that this movement began to materialize in Amsterdam. Graffiti artists, also known as ´writers´, have their roots in the punk movement. This art was born with an activist base as poetry of a revolution, being used as a way of expressing the discontent of the people against the politico-social class and the economic system of the time. Some names to remember Shoe. He´s a graffiti artist that´s been active since 1979, forming the Crime Time Kings collective in the 80s. At that time, he carried out his transition to the legal world by creating his own brand. His style is known as calligraffiti. Another important ´writer´ is Ottograph, with clear pop art influences that can be seen all over the city and across the world. He works for such polarized companies such as Greenpeace and Mercedes-Benz. Mickey is a graffiti artist that has the presence of eyeballs in her paintings as her trademark. Hugo Mulder, aka DHM, has been covering the streets of Amsterdam with his unique black and white style since the 80s, a style that reminds us of a...Travel photo of the month by Floortje van der Vlist
Talent is nothing without practice It’s never too late to learn something. Here at Only-apartments we still want to discover new things and be amazed by new cultures and countries as much as having skills and sensibility to capture breathtaking images as part of this experience for all senses. Travel photographer of the month Floortje van der Vlist How long have you been a photographer? It’s hard to tell when my photography changed from shooting snapshots to shooting “real” photographs. I guess it was about 4 or 5 years ago. There was one young photographer that told me about his learning-process, and I became interested, and started experimenting myself. I never took lessons, or followed classes, I’m totally self-educated. Ofcourse I must be honest, and tell you that I work for a television-station as a news-reporter, so I am familiair with shots and angles and framing. I guess that helped me too. Did you study photography or did you start it as a hobby? Definitely a hobby! Although I love it so much, I would like it to be my profession! But being in media already, I know how hard it is to work as a professional photographer/camera-man. So I will stick to the journalism-stuff for a while. What in your personal (and professional if applicable) life inspires you to take your pictures? My inspiration comes from my kids, and from the street. Just ordinary, everyday life. I like to catch moods, to catch expressions and faces and smiles, but tears too. I like grumpy old faces and the ever changing face of my daughter growing up...
Christmas in Amsterdam
The Dutch capital is always a desirable destination, but Christmas is when you get that special magic that floods its streets and the hospitality of its people permeates in every corner. If you have not visited Amsterdam in the final stretch of the year, here are reasons to be seduced by this city: Bike ride through the canals The best method of transport in Amsterdam enables you to live the Christmas spirit that reigns in the streets: the decoration that covers canals, bridges illuminated with small lights, the chimes of the churches, musicians and choirs singing carols, decorated squares with firs … The whole city is spread with a festive mood that is present in all its monuments, churches and shrines. Holiday Shopping The charming downtown shops are a desirable alternative to the busy commercial centers of your city and you can surprise your loved ones with unique and original gifts. Visit the Christmas markets and be sure to walk around Negen Straatjes, Haarlemmerstraat and Spiegelkwartier, streets full of traditional businesses, or Bijenkorf shopping gallery, where you will always find something to buy. Ice circus Multiply events take place at Christmas and you will lack time to attend everything Amsterdam has for these days: from the world circus for children, through the many orchestras and cabarets, ice skating or amusement spread throughout the city. The cultural program is also extended for Christmas and you can enjoy a wide variety of concerts in churches, theatera and exhibitions. Festive Nights Most night owls find the capital bustling more than ever. If there is something that Amsterdam does...
Tassenmuseum: The Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam
Fashion lovers will find a paradise in the Amsterdam Museum of Bags and Purses. There they can get lost for hours while admiring the 4,000 pieces of its extensive permanent collections that include: handbags, wallets, suitcases and accessories. This is a journey that begins in the sixteenth century. Founded in 1996 as a museum in her own house, Hendrikje Ivo, a collector who decided to share her passion for handbags, decided to show her collection to the public after 35 years gathering valuable pieces. The museum soon became famous and started receiving more visitors and donations. In 2007 its location became so small and the collections were moved to a magnificent seventeenth century palacete, which is located in the Herengracht neighborhood. The building was home of the governor of Amsterdam in 1664, has three floors and retains its original painted ceilings and chimneys. What can you see at the museum? In addition to its permanent exhibitions, at the museum it is also possible to organize all kinds of events, so those captivated by its classic and romantic atmosphere can have a birthday party in one of its rooms, have a snack in its lovely coffee or even get married in its magical garden, as the museum has wedding license. In its permanent collection (the largest in the world dedicated to bags and purses) you will be able to see elegant handbags, purses, chic handbags, and outstanding pieces; as a bride bag made by tiny pearls in France in the eighteenth century, a leather purse from 1935 called Normandy, which was given to first class passengers on the most luxurious cruise...
The houseboats in Amsterdam
Like any city that has developed on the seafront, the capital of the Netherlands emerged from a small fishing village. Founded in the twelfth century, Amsterdam is located between the IJ bay and the Amstel River. Of the clean water from the Amstel river they produce their beer. Tourism is also very young, becoming one of the most lively cities in Europe. Today it is the country´s largest city and a major financial and cultural international center . Apparently the first to live in these makeshift houses were the hippies, due to the housing shortage after World War II. It also helped the Dutch fleets modernization that took place in those years, leaving large amounts of available cargo ships for use in this curious form of housing in the Amsterdam canals. Usually traditional houses are more expensive than this type of housing, but these houseboats carry more expenses. Every so often they must be transferred to the shipyard to be completely revised, which can last about a week, a perfect time to go on vacation. In addition to maintenance, this property must pay a floating excise duty, insurance and rent for boat parking. Currently, if you wanted to buy a boat, there is no more space to park, Amsterdam canals are completely saturated. But you can always buy an already established one. Along the canals of Amsterdam are some of the best and most expensive houseboats you can find in Europe. Prices have surged by a shortage of mooring spaces. There are currently more than 3,000 boats, characterizing Amsterdam for its canals and curious houseboats . Like other cities in...
A month as diverse as the autumn colours!
Make the most of October with our promotion! Promo Code: PC4MDVEW1I8Z The good thing about autumn is, undoubtedly, the warm colours that spread around the landscape wherever you look. However, the beauty of this season is enhanced with never-ending events and activities that await you in our highlighted destinations: the music of The Beatles in London, good jazz in Belgrade or the festival of lights in Berlin amongst many other options. You choose! What is clear is that October is a colourful and diverse month. So that you can enjoy it, at Only-apartments we are going to give you a special promotion for this month. The hard thing will be to choose a destination, which we will leave up to you to decide! Now is the best time for a getaway: there are less tourists and you can still enjoy the good weather. Choose your destination and the chosen dates, introduce the promotional code in the required field and you´ll get a 5% discount on your accommodation. The offer is valid for the first 10 days in October. Make the most of it!...
What to Do in Summer in Amsterdam When It Rains
A woman dressed in a red blouse and a long blue skirt mysteriously leans in an interior courtyard, absorbed in the performance of some daily work. On the right, in the doorway of the adjoining house you can see another woman whose white clothing stands out against a dark background and huddled between the women are two children who seem to be playing on the sidewalk, perhaps playing marbles. In the red brick houses, which are typically Dutch, we see the careful details of the cracks and the arrangement of the bricks, just as we wonder at how thoroughly the shutters, the windows, and the tiled floor are represented… We could look for hours and hours in a state of near hypnosis at the wise and enigmatic way this painting has represented this space (the different open areas, the rear facades, the roofs) and especially the appearance, the way the silence and atmosphere prevail over noise, the reasons for depicting this place, how the geometrical composition gives way to the preference for a sense of temporal materiality, the manner in which this small and beautiful Vermeer canvas is light years away from the artificiality of the pleasant De Hooch paintings that seem to address the same issues. You will find three other masterpieces of the painter from Delft, the unforgettable Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, The Milkmaid and The Love Letter, in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/?lang=en). It may well be the best thing we can do on a summer afternoon when the rain surprises us in the beautiful city of canals, especially now that foreigners are no...
The Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam
In the 90s, the controversial American feminist Camille Plagia wrote a book on the great Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds, in which she made special and compelling Freudian emphasis about the importance of Melanie Daniels, the main character played by Tippi Hedren, never being separated from her purse and even holding onto it firmly, as if it were the only anchor capable of preventing the collapse of that artwork known as the identity which is presented to the world and most particularly to the world of men. In fact, the one time she does lose her handbag the consequences are formidable. Indeed, perhaps there are few things as suggestive, polysemous and ductile as handbags, which is the subject of devotion at the curious and interesting Tassen Hendrikje Museum of Amsterdam (http://www.museumofbagsandpurses.com/). It has beautiful rooms in an amazing seventeenth-century building and is home to the largest collection of handbags in the world, totaling over 4000 handbags, bags, purses, trunks, suitcases, backpacks, suitcases, boxes and other accessories from all time periods from the Middle Ages onwards. In addition to their impressive permanent collection, whose distinguishing mark is the attention paid to the bag in all its variety of forms, functions and materials, the museum also organizes permanent exhibitions of both national and international handbag designers, in line with their interest in the degree to which the various designs have always changed the fashion and lifestyle of each society. This alone would make a visit to this museum worthwhile, but there’s also the elegant historic building where they display the pieces. It boasts magnificent painted ceiling rooms, exquisite decoration and chimneys from the 17th and 18th...
The White Nights of Amsterdam
The term “White Nights” does not only refer to the phenomenon that naturally occurs around the summer solstice when theLaplandand some northern European cities such asSt. Petersburgare bathed in light throughout the entire night. It is also the title of an early short novel by Dostoevsky, which like many of his works is marked by a certain idea of waiting. In a famous lecture during the 80s at the Femis in Paris, not to mention the ghostly and extraordinary adaptation of Visconti on the history of the Russian author, Gilles Deleuze digresses admirably on this topic in relation to the reasons that would make a cineaste create an adaptation of great novel, which in his opinion relate directly to the fact that the film has direct ideas that correspond with some of those from the book in question. This produces at times some extraordinary meetings. In his view, for example, that is a possible explanation for the interest of Kurosawa in Dostoevsky, since his novels have figures that are often characterized by a considerable state of mobility, restlessness and agitation. They often forget the purpose of their actions regardless of how important they may be, even if they are dealing with life and death. This makes it seem like the transcendental emergencies in which they seem to be perpetually trapped lose their consistency since there’s always another more urgent question which cannot be completely ignored. This detains them and yet they usually do not succeed. There is most certainly a deeper problem in existence but it is not yet known, and then it becomes very important to find out...
Amsterdam without marijuana
Those were the years of the Flower Power Revolution of 1968, when university students from around the world were about to change the world with poetic slogans and fine sand beaches (supposedly) that were hiding under the urban paving.
