The Amsterdam Canals
Amsterdam, Holland, home of some of the world’s most stunningly beautiful art and architecture – including a whole museum dedicated to the works of Van Gogh, is a city built below sea level. As a result, the historical part of the old city is a series of canals, in semicircular shapes, running concentrically alongside the streets and sidewalks of Amsterdam. The canals are beautiful at night, when the lights of the city come on and reflect against the water in the canals – in spite of the fact that the canals are themselves polluted and not exactly fit for swimming. There are however, many houseboats and flat barges used as stores – florists for example can be found on many of the houseboat/barges in the canals – and real estate prices for living on a houseboat in these old canals is very high, making them some of the most exclusive residences in the world.
To visit Amsterdam and the canals, it is especially convenient to stay in one of the city’s old hotels. Some of the hotels here only have six or ten rooms in them for rent, so don’t expect to have an easy time finding a vacancy on short notice. It is a good idea to book well ahead, to ensure a room with a view overlooking the canals at a hotel like the elegant and understated “Fantasia” on Kaiser Street.