﻿Amsterdam is a great city of canals and outdoor cafés in the plazas.
And it always has some kind of party atmosphere going on. These streets are alive with music,
and always lots of people out walking in the pedestrian zone. The International Theater Is
a fine example of Dutch architecture, right at the Leidseplein the main square that we will be
having a close look at in the program. We'll also drop in on the biggest park in the city
for a little peaceful tranquility. Starting at the big canals, then moving on to Leidseplein
and to that park. It's a cross-section slice of Amsterdam for you. Canals are the heart
and arteries of the city. The perfect setting for waterside cafés and recreational boating.
The tram system is another network tying the city together and making it so easy to
get around town. Okay, let's pull up a chair, get a beer and drop anchor at the Leidseplein
the most popular central gathering place in the city. (Music) There is always some kind
of music happening here. And if you listen and like it, give them a tip. Leidseplein is such a
very special place with all of these outdoor tables surrounded by bars and restaurants,
with that tramline running right through it. It's especially busy in the evening with cinemas,
discos, theaters and a casino located nearby. You also find two very famous rock 'n' roll nightclubs
the Milky Way and Paradiso. The streets that wrap around the square keep going for several blocks,
extending that festive atmosphere with more bars and restaurants. Leidsestraat is the main street
running alongside Leidseplein and extends further into the heart of the city. It's called Leidse...
because this street originally was the route to the town of Leiden. Let's have a look at this
area from above with Google Earth, and you can see that Leidseplein is surrounded by many other
buildings and as you zoom out, you'll see a large green area just a few blocks away. It's the park
that we are now heading for. Then we will take you walking along some of those other side streets.
This park is less than 300 meters away from Leidseplein so you can easily walk over here in
a couple of minutes, and yet many visitors don't even know it's there because they're so busy at
Leidseplein and all of those fascinating streets. There's an information booth here where you can
talk to the local expert and learn something about the park. "Now you are in the Vondelpark.
Vondelpark was opened in 1865. Vondel was a poet in the 17th century. There are many
statues and many benches where you can sit and enjoy the place, and looking for beautiful people.
That's very nice in the park, yes. (laughs) And how big is the park?
It's about 1 1/2 kilometers. Now you're here, and this is 1 1/2 kilometers.
Wow, that's pretty big. This is the main park. Yes this is the big park of Amsterdam, yeah, but there
are many, many parks, about six or seven parks, but this is the greatest one. And you have ponds,
different ponds? Yes, ponds, and fountains. Thank you so much. You're welcome and have a nice time.
While most visitors come to Amsterdam for the excitement of the city, it's nice to get away
into a more peaceful and relaxing atmosphere for a change of pace. These two dogs are walking each
other, following along with the family. The park is also major route for bicycle traffic.
It connects two different parts of town very nicely with these peaceful bicycle lanes,
and no cars to get in the way. Of course, Amsterdam is world-famous for its bicycle culture,
with nearly 60 percent of the local population over the age of 12 riding a bicycle every day.
The streets are designed to give priority to bicycles, with nearly 800 kilometers of cycle
paths and bike lanes in the city. Take a look at the wonderful diversity of people on the bicycles.
It's all ages, and different kinds of income levels, with 900,000 bicycles in the city. Nearly
everybody rides a bike. Of course there are some busy streets filled with cars but notice here too,
there's a protected bicycle path on the side. Many of the residents feel
that it's quicker and certainly cheaper to get around on two wheels instead of four.
We are heading back to the busy streets buzzing with trams and more bicycles, and people
everywhere, for another brief look at Leidseplein and some of the lovely streets right around it.
Amsterdam does have a number of big street markets and also plenty of these little
sidewalk stands selling all kinds of stuff, creating this atmosphere of a street festival.
Because Leidseplein is such a powerful magnet attracting locals as well as visitors,
the streets nearby all benefit providing even more restaurants and activities, with endless
shopping adventures, such as cheese piled high, probably the best food product of the country.
If you're looking to have dinner, it might be best to step away from the Leidseplein
and go over a block or two to the side streets. They've got a tremendous variety of choices here,
with good prices and quality. Happened to run into a mariachi band performing at Los
Pilones Mexican restaurant. This cantina has been here since 2001, dishing up authentic
Mexican food, and occasionally live music, a fiesta straight out of Mexico. (music)
With this vibrant atmosphere, everybody's having a great
time. (music) It was a group of nearly 20 people all celebrating something,
along with the regular customers who are listening in on this great music. (music)
You'll occasionally run into great surprises like this when you're walking around in the streets,
especially if you're staying here for a few days. (music)
And don't have to rush to catch only the highlights and then leave. I was staying
in Amsterdam for one week, so I could run into unexpected serendipity now and then. (music)
Amsterdam's an international city, with apparently some Mexicans.
The main foreign population is Moroccan, then Surinam, then from Turkey, Indonesia, Germany,
the UK, Ghana, Dutch Caribbean, with nearly 200 countries represented. That main street of
Leidsestraat becomes Heiligeweg, which ends up at Kalverstraat, the city's most important shopping
street, especially lovely in the twilight of early evening. The shops are still open and it's not
very crowded, unlike during the daytime when this becomes the most packed street of the city. Early
evening you'll find locals out for a stroll. But during the day, locals avoid this place at
all costs. It's remarkable that Amsterdam gets over 5 million international visitors annually.
And 16 million day trippers coming through on a bus tour or a river cruise, and missing out
on the heart and soul of town. This place is too wonderful to be skipped over that way.
There is a lot more to see in Amsterdam as we present in our other episodes about this great
city, and we have dozens of other videos about the many wonderful cities in the Netherlands.
As night descends on the city, and we close out this segment, we invite you to look for
all those other videos in our collection, along with a thousand movies about other great towns
in Europe. Please subscribe to our channel and click that little alarm bell so you'll be notified
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