Once overlooked by travelers, the borough of Amsterdam Noord (Amsterdam North) has developed into a thriving artistic community, a spot for dance and music festivals, and an escape from Amsterdam’s chaotic and touristy center. This is – or, rather, was – a sponsored guest post, originally published by thehipmunk on Hipmunk’s Tailwind blog on December 10, 2015. The Hipmunk brand…
Huis Marseille photography museum in Amsterdam
I was very happy when my daughter, visiting from the US, wanted to spend the day in Amsterdam, sightseeing with me. I gave her a list of museums I’d like to visit for my series on small Amsterdam museums, and told her to choose two. My daughter, a graphic designer, chose the Spectacles Museum (now…
The Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam
“That was pretty interesting” is high praise indeed, when it comes from my 17-year-old son after a visit to a museum. The Verzetsmuseum – the Dutch Resistance Museum – in Amsterdam is one of very few that have earned a “pretty interesting” from him. Documenting not just the resistance movement during World War II, but…
Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution: a review
What I expected on visiting Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution was a presentation that titillates and that presents prostitution as a happy profession with practitioners who choose to become prostitutes. Note: I’ve updated this post with some remarks from a “part time excort whore” who commented on it on Twitter. See below. Disclosure: This post contains…
Hash, Marijuana & Hemp Museum Amsterdam
It’s not surprising that Amsterdam is home to a museum of Hash, Marijuana and Hemp, given its generally tolerant policy toward soft drugs. You’d think, given the somewhat subversive subject, that it would be entertaining to visit. It wasn’t. The main part of the museum (hash and marijuana) The main part of the museum inhabits…
The Museum of Bags and Purses Amsterdam
For the sake of full transparency and before I describe my impressions of Tassenmuseum Hendrikje, the Museum of Bags and Purses, Amsterdam, I need to explain my relationship to handbags. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means I’ll receive a small commission on anything you buy through clicking the links. This will not affect…
Body Worlds Amsterdam: Museum or freak show?
Warning: If you’re squeamish, you might want to click away…but please share this post before you go! Body Worlds: The Happiness Project exhibit in Amsterdam is described on its webpage like this: “More than 200 anatomical specimens of real human bodies show the complexity, resilience and vulnerability of the body.” In other words, at Body Worlds…
The Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam: A review
You could easily be forgiven if, at first, you just walk by the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam. You might notice that it’s pretty, but so are so many houses along the old canal rings. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means I’ll receive a small commission on anything you buy through clicking the links….
Van Loon Museum: A restored Golden Age house
After the Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder museum and The Canal House Museum, our last stop was the van Loon Museum, a restored Golden Age canal house. This is what I’d been expecting when we visited the Canal House Museum: rooms that give an impression of how wealthy residents of Amsterdam’s Golden Age lived and, to…