abqtoadam: Amsterdam After Dark

It was quite dark today. It was foggy when I woke up, and I had to have several lights on even at 8am in my apartment. It rained as I biked to work, and it poured after I arrived. Early afternoon felt like twilight - I definitely would have had car lights on had I been driving. I realized that this is only the beginning; this type of weather is the norm for the autumn and winter.

The storms cleared up around 7pm, and I realized that the summer nights of comfortable temperatures, late light, and often rainless skies are dwindling. So I decided to do something I've been meaning to for over a month: take some pictures of Amsterdam after dark.

I left my apartment around 8pm and walked to a German bar that serves the original Budweiser on tap and had a few beers while I waited for the sun to set completely. I took a few pictures along the way.

I then looped to Museumplein, where many of the most famous Amsterdam museums are located (the Van Gogh, the Rijks) and headed to Leidseplein, where many of the tourist bars and dance clubs are, before walking along several canal belts and following the east bank of the Amstel river back home.

Amsterdam is notorious for its coffeeshops and prostitute windows, but its nighttime beauty may be more remarkable. Exquisitely maintained buildings border canals and rivers, and their lights shimmer in the water. The moisture creates a barely perceptible mist, giving everything a soft glow. The city is small enough that, if you venture outside of the most touristy area on a weeknight, there are few people around and little noise. It's a fascinatingly peaceful combination of traditional European village, modern cosmopolitan city, and tourist hotspot.

And, although I do miss my walks around Nob Hill and Ridgecrest to an extend, walking for three hours in this scenery is tough to beat.