Amsterdam Analogue Photo Blog
I was twenty-four when I first started visiting Amsterdam. I was lucky enough to have a friend who used to live there. Many of the places he recommended to me 16 years ago are still worth a visit today.
The Last Waterhole
If you’d been standing with me when I took the photo above, you’d have seen a place called The Waterhole. When I first started going, it was called The Last Waterhole. Although the years haven’t been that kind to it – someone recently described it to me as dingy, druggy and dirty – I seldom miss out on having a beer there when I’m in town. Every night there’s live music with different bands and musicians from across the globe.
Line Drawing
I was walking through Dam Square years ago when a guy got in my face and kept up with me while sketching on a pad. He tore the page and held it up for me. In a 30 second line drawing he’d managed to accentuate all of my worst features while retaining none of my redeeming ones. He must have thought I was the ugliest person in all of Amsterdam. One Euro, he asked as I laughed at the drawing. I wish I had paid up and taken it home. I’d have it framed if I found it now.
Girl on a Train
I saw this very pretty, very well dressed girl on the platform at Central Station one summer as I waited for the train to Paris. I went up and talked to her and we decided to sit together on the train. There was something dangerous and interesting about her that I couldn’t figure out. She was from Morocco and didn’t know how long she’d be in Europe. She’d been moving from city to city every night or two since she got there.
At Gare du Nord she rushed off to a waiting driver. We agreed to meet the following evening, but when I called her the next morning, she was already in Brussels. I did some research and have come to the conclusion that she was a drug mule. Pretty, well dressed women are, or were, less likely to be searched, so dealers would use them to shift their product around the continent.
Eat
- Sherpa Restaurant. Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 58, 1017 RD Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Bojo Indonesian Restaurant. Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 49 HS, 1017 NG Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx. Voetboogstraat 33, 1012 XK Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- La Perla Pizzeria. Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 53, 1015 RZ Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Drink
- Jazz Cafe Alto. Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, 1017 PX Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- The Waterhole. Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 49, 1017 PW Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- H.Murray’s Nieuwebrugsteeg 15, 1012 AG Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The photos on Amsterdam Analogue Photo Blog were taken using a Pentax K1000 and a Canon AE-1 Program.