zirk.us is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Literature, philosophy, film, music, culture, politics, history, architecture: join the circus of the arts and humanities! For readers, writers, academics or anyone wanting to follow the conversation.

Administered by:

Server stats:

746
active users

#amsterdam

105 posts80 participants11 posts today

Thoughts on moving around central #Amsterdam from a brief tourist

There are basically 4 ways to get round in Amsterdam:

Public transport
Bike
Foot
Car

The public transport is excellent. No need to pre purchase tickets even, just tap in and tap out with your credit card and you'll be charged the minimum for your trips. Works on everything. Combined with a little walking, this has you covered. Almost all tourists should do this.

Bike is the famous one. All the locals ride bikes everywhere. Bikes can go almost everywhere, you can always park them, and the infrastructure is fantastic. But both a local bike shop owner and a tour guide advised me against this, and I listened to them. Riding in Amsterdam is serious business, not a leisure activity. Other riders expect you to know what you're doing, and will be pissed at you because you don't. Seriously pissed, not jokingly pissed. Intersections are well designed... for people familiar with them. For locals, those being supervised by somebody who knows what they're doing, or the dedicated cyclist prepared to be humbled. Not recommend for most people.

Foot is an interesting one. Central Amsterdam is small. You can walk just about anywhere in 30 minutes. It's also very space constrained, though, which probably lead to the bike culture. They have made different compromises in the allocation of that space than most places, giving more space to bikes and much less space to cars. But in many places, especially in the very centre, pedestrians are still squeezed. Walking along the canals, for example, is often unpleasant due to lack of space and the proximity of fast moving bikes. The addition of dedicated cycling lanes everywhere also doubles the jeopardy at crossings. Being a pedestrian in Amsterdam can often be stressful.

Car: Didn't try this, and I don't know why you would. Unless you absolutely must because... you're a delivery driver? Or... you live there and need a car to go elsewhere? Just don't. There are few cars in central Amsterdam. It's not made for it. It won't be fun. It'll take forever to get anywhere, and you won't be able to park when you arrive. Don't do this.

A Cartoonish spraycan bySket185, born Sven van Hermon. Sket started in 1984, using names like BASIC, JEL, and SET. After a brief break due to an arrest in 1988, he returned with renewed energy. 🚨🚓👮😅

Sket is part of the “Multi Syndicate Crew” (MSC). 🤝

He’s worked with artists like OXALIEN (in this pic on his right), EDO RATH, ZASE, and NILS WESTERGARD on multiple pieces. 🖼️

#Amsterdam #sket185 #spraycan #publicart #photo #urbanart #mokum #noir #xxx #bnw #photography #concretejungle #artiseverywhere #streetphotography #ndsm #arte #artwork #mural #artwork #painting #blackandwhite #graffiti #msc #oxalien #tag #asa #spraycanart #ox #brickwall #multisyndicatecrew