Ghost Town

I have a rather busy January in the works, including 17 days out of the country, three talks to give at conferences, and eight days of two hour per day teaching. So I decided it would be prudent to stay in town over the holiday break and prep for the aforementioned.

With my local social circle fleeing Amsterdam to spend time with their families, I took the opportunity to wander the streets and soak in the Christmas cheer.

The streets were sparsely populated for a Saturday night on Christmas Eve. I had dinner in a dive sports bar in a tourist area of town and watched the first half of the Jets Giants NFL game (broadcast with Fox announcers, but with halftime and break-time analyses led by a British fellow - interesting). My lack of food poisoning from the meal I ate here was all the Christmas miracle I needed. Choosing this as my dinner was not my smartest move.

Those who were out seemed to be either tourists who appreciate Northern European winters (note, though, that the weather has been unusually nice lately - the high today was around 50, and the low was around 45, and there was no rain), locals who preferred drinking in public to spending time with their families, or long lines of families waiting outside of concert halls and churches for holiday concerts.

The Carre theater, on the bank of the Amstel River. I use it as a point of reference for locals when they ask me where I live. There was a long line for a concert outside.

Utrechtstraat, which leads to the center of town. This couple may have wondered if they were the intended target of the picture, since they had just been making out (they weren't).

A bit more Halloween than Christmas, perhaps.

The sausage vendor in Leidseplein.

I left my apartment at 10am on Christmas morning to explore what I assumed would be empty streets. My assumption was mostly correct. Shops were closed, and families were presumably enjoying each other's company indoors despite the warm weather (around 45 degrees, with partly cloudy skies). It felt strange to see the streets like this, since Amsterdam is densely populated, and the streets would typically be busy at this time.

I was happy to find that a bakery I often go to was open. I'm sure they were happy for my business, but I am guessing they did not get many customers today.

Ferdinand Bolstraat, which is usually packed with walkers and bikers competing for space next to the shops. A new metro line is under construction under the street (and has been since I moved here), so space is at a premium. Again, practically empty.

Albert Cuypstraat, where the market near my house normally is.

Museumplein, the grassy area outside of the Van Gogh, Rijks, and some other museums.

A higher than normal proportion of the tourists out this morning were (presumably) from Asia or India. This group was skating on melting ice outdoors on a rink on Museumplein, with the help of a chair.



Each of these streets near Leidseplein would typically be fairly crowded. All of the coffeeshops were open, and I did smell some marijuana, so apparently some people were smoking, though it could have been the staff rather than customers. And the sex shops were open. I didn't see anyone going into Club Church (a notable gay club in Amsterdam, on the left).


There were some small crowds of tourists in Dam Square. Some posed with horses.

Many restaurants in China Town were open. This - and the birds in the window - were reminiscent of A Christmas Story.



This is the only picture I've taken of the Red Light District since I moved here. Rumor has it that prostitutes and pimps can and will break your camera if they see you taking pictures of the ladies in the windows. I like my camera, so I've decided not to test that rumor. There are usually throngs of stoned tourists shuffling along the canal to giggle and gawk, and there are often rowdy packs of British men on their bachelor parties, drunk, obnoxious, and loud. But the area was quiet and peaceful this morning. There were even some ladies in windows, dressed for business.


While at Museumplein, I checked to see if the Rijksmuseum was open. It was, so I used my museum card to duck in and take a quick look at the paintings while the crowds were light (recall that I paid for unlimited entry to museums for a year).

He seems a little surprised that I caught him at such a vulnerable moment.