Good coffees and pastries in a lovely place

Known for their ceramics and carefully thought-out details. Get ready to spend a small fortune.

Just a fantastic spot on the edge of the city. Its connection of the Amsterdam-Rijn Canal to the IJ, Amsterdam’s big open water, that was once part of the North Sea, but now dammed in by the Dutch. Sometimes it’s just a relief to leave the prettiness and the cuteness of the Amsterdam canals behind and experience some space. Few people come out here and in summertime it’s just a delightful spot to have a picnic and watch the boats come in.

The fence around De Nederlandsche Bank on the Frederiksplein is a true optical experience. While passing the building, a rhythmic, dynamic pattern appears and disappears in the trellis of the fence. The figures on the sides of the rails were designed in 1992 by artist Peter Struycken, a pioneer in the area of environmental art and generating computer-program based image, light and colour compositions.

In the ever growing conservative political scene in the Netherlands, the ADM is a reminder of the freedom and chaos that Amsterdam must have once been. It gives me my dose of dirty grittiness, something which is miss in this city in constant renovation and gentrification. Evolving around a main building on an industrial shipyard on the outskirts of town, it's an area where modern gypsies, anarchists, artists and free thinkers build their houses, park their caravans or dock their house boats. It's not entirely my scene, but I am happy to know that it's there. And they throw some amazing festivals!