The Bartolotti is perhaps one of the most beautiful Museum Houses Amsterdam has, built by someone who once was the richest man in the city, but it's a bit hidden in plain sight. These days, it is run by a group of lovely old ladies, who can't wait to offer you tea or juice. You can walk around the house like you live there. You have to ring the doorbell to get in. (picture from Google, by Arjan Bronkhorst)

Banging my head against the ceiling on the first floor doesn’t stop me from drinking a coffee in café Latei at Nieuwmarkt. I love it here, especially on rainy days, which is most days in the Netherlands. This small cosy café filled with a thousand colours warms me up.

Small collection of foreign movies with a huge waterside-view cafe.

Working under the name of one of the worst ski jumper in history are a crew of close friends who throws some of the wildest parties around town! Their events have included distributing laughing gas in balloons to everyone in the audience, d.i.y circus acts with rats jumping through fire circles, an air gun shooting range to blast cheesy ceramic trinkets, sweaty live shows, gourmet meals for a few euros cooked by master chef Sjim Hendrix, and so much more… Of course, it's all for the sake of art, since they are a museum and also exhibit work :)

Under the city, the extraordinary Gesamtkunstwerk by Louis van Gasteren, Jan Sierhuis and others is located in Nieuwmarkt underground. This is one of the public artworks of the Seventies and early Eighties endangered due to station renovation on the Underground Eastline. At present there is a notice hanging at different spots on the wall: ‘‘This artwork has been temporally removed due to renovations”.