Hidden in the greenery near Westerpark, the perfect hideaway from street noise can be found if you know where to look: a little farm called "De Buurtboerderij". Surrounded by a bunch of sheep and a happily decorated garden, the restaurant inside serves one fixed menu a week for a low price. The farm serves as community center as well and is run by volunteers — and you when you eat there! — and there are plenty of sweet people and animals to hang out with.
Amsterdam is at it’s best when it is covered in a thick layer fresh fallen snow, I like to go out at night and wander through one of the parks, to experience this beautiful metamorphosis of a city landscape.
At the end of tramline 7 and 14 there is a huge bridge on concrete pillars. These pillars are one of the few places in Amsterdam where it’s legal to spray graffiti. My work is very much influenced by graffiti, so I love to come here and see what’s going on. It’s a very dynamic place, so one day it can be awful and the next day amazing but it’s never boring.
Gorgeous cinema near the Rembrandtsplein. Built in the early 1920s in a very rich architectural style that mixes Jugendstil, the Amsterdam School and Art Deco, the cinema was meant to be a temple for cinematography. The entrance and the main auditorium (Zaal 1) are just simply stunning. It’s been recently restored in its former splendor and is now owned by big distributor Pathé Cinemas. Though a lot of people have been criticizing the fact that a beautiful cinema as this is now exploited by a big commercial chain, I sort of like that fact that also the big blockbusters are usually screened here. It feels like the old days where I imagine you’d simply get overwhelmed by the place and the film and its technique. So my advice is: whatever (crap) plays in Zaal 1, just buy a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy.