Travel Tuesday: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

By: Rachel Brown

In the beautiful city of Amsterdam, culture and colour is bursting from its seams. Last Summer, I found myself exploring this city, coming to terms with the bustle and abruptness of the Red Light District and comparing this with its inviting and serene outskirts. It appeared, on first glance, to be a place of debauchery and obscenity, however, once we left the centre, our experience of Amsterdam became far more enlightened. Just a simple ferry’s ride away across the river, we encountered a modern and sleek side - a true hidden gem of the Dutch metropolis.

Amsterdam’s EYE museum is home to an interactive, educational and artist exhibition, dedicated to the film industry and its history. With walls lined with Woody Allen movie titles, the entrance was stylish and intriguing and completely shattered our previous preconceptions of Amsterdam. We followed the exhibition as it delved into the realms of film and its origins, providing stills and moving pictures, dating back to silent film. The walls were covered in projections of classic movies, exploring the miraculous change from black and white to colour in the famous Wizard of Oz. Charlie Chaplin was blown up on the screen, with information of the production behind making a movie.

It was through this exhibition that we realised the true spirit of Amsterdam, a city which, if you are willing to leave the tourist areas, had a plethora of culture and art on offer. There were free art exhibitions dotted all around and if you raised your head, the architecture was phenomenal.

The modern and contemporary feel of the EYE museum, with its current and busy atmosphere, acts as the perfect counterpoint to the beautiful, yet much more frequented, Rijksmuseum. It is a a true testimony to the fact that there is culture and beauty everywhere you look, even off the beaten path.