The Vondelpark, Amsterdam
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Marihuana does not grow in the wild here.
The Vondelpark started out as a space for horse-riding, in the 18th century I believe. This you can still see in the long circular walkway that winds thru it. Therefore, it was also a park for those of high standing. It's still surrounded by the most posh houses in the city.
The park is easily accessible, which makes it THE most popular green space in Amsterdam. It's a stones' throw away from the Leidseplein, a square visited by almost every tram in the city. From the Leidseplein it stretches south, a long thin strip of park.
The park was planned on marshland, like almost the entire city. You can build houses on wooden poles to stop them from sinking into the soft marshland and yes, that's what they did in Am*dam, but how do you stop a park from sinking? You drain it. The park has an extensive drainage system underground, yet still it sinks away about a centimetre every year. When it rains for a few days- and in Holland it's always more- the grass turns to mud, and the fun stops for most people.
Non-sentient Life in the park. Despite all the sinking and the soaking, the park is full of life. There are trees in it that are rare to the Netherlands, and they are rare to me too, so I can't name them. There are rare plants and flowers, and I can't name any of those either. Look! There goes a... not a clue. Besides, it's gone anyway. Other animals are chickens, the omnipresent pigeons, a handful of lamas, some cows, some horses, turkeys and hungarians living peacefully in a fenced reserve. In another section of the park, a wide assortment of roses were planted in a hexagonal pattern, and it's a really fragrant rose garden at that. Many dogs can be seen walking their people at any time of day. A group of greenish-yellow parakeets resides in the park, or so says Crescent (and many other people), but I've never seen them.
Sentient life in the park Besides rare flora and fauna, you meet some pretty weird people in the park too. There's one guy who likes to skate around the asphalt walkway dressed in nothing more than a silver string speedo every summer, just going round and round. He's not alone though: the park is very much loved by in-line skaters, who either bring their own or rent good skates from the pancake restaurant at the south end. The Friday-nite skate in Amsterdam never misses it. Over the years, the amount of skaters in the park has grown so much that pedestrians started to complain, but I think they were run over because nothing has changed.
Anyway, there's lots to do besides skating. There are concerts, both classical and pop (in both Dutch and English), performed by known and not-so-known artists, but it's never complete crap. If there aren't any concerts, there's theatreplay on stage, or dance, and if there's nothing planned around the central stage, it's used by a gang of break-dancers, who practice there. The programme of events for the Vondelpark, which stretches from May to August, is found on the walls of many of the city's bars.
Relax... Of course, marihuana (cannabis) enters into play in the Vondelpark as well. The park is a great place of relaxation. In the sixties, people loved to celebrate the age of Aquarius by smoking a bag of weed and jumping into the main pond naked. Nowadays people consider it relaxing just to smoke a small spliff and lie in the grass. Smoking yourself into oblivion is usually for tourists: for many others, just having a picnic, an outdoor party or a few hours working on your exams, working on the tan or working on nothing at all, is their way of enjoying the park.
Arts in the Park. There is a lot of art to be found in the Vondelpark. There's a Picasso statue (looks a bit like a fish, not Picasso's best work, I'm afraid) in the middle section, and a large statue of Joost van den Vondel (Dutch poet) near the main entrance. A large tree stump painted blue adorns another part. The one thing I still hope to find in the park is the statue of a small boy playing the flute, that's supposed to be sitting on a thick tree branch somewhere. The Nederlands Film Museum, with many old material from the dawn of moving pictures, is in an old stately builing at the north end of the park. Besides these visuals, many musicians of various disciplines and levels of expertise frequent the park. The djembe-ing fanatics are ever-present, but really worth while is a 20 year old virtuoso pianist who brings his piano with him and plays for afternoons on end.
Crime in the park Police in the park are numerous, but they are more laid-back than elsewhere in the city. The Vondelpark is one of Amsterdam's more tolerant spaces (!). Pick-pockets are also quite numerous, because of the relaxedness of the tourists once they get to the park. At night, it's best to avoid the park, say many. True, in the evening it empties out, and lighting isn't perfect everywhere, but I've been passing thru it at various dark hours for three years now and (knock on wood) nothing's ever happened to me yet. There are some homeless people living in it, but they're mostly harmless.
The Vondelpark started out as a space for horse-riding, in the 18th century I believe. This you can still see in the long circular walkway that winds thru it. Therefore, it was also a park for those of high standing. It's still surrounded by the most posh houses in the city.
The park is easily accessible, which makes it THE most popular green space in Amsterdam. It's a stones' throw away from the Leidseplein, a square visited by almost every tram in the city. From the Leidseplein it stretches south, a long thin strip of park.
The park was planned on marshland, like almost the entire city. You can build houses on wooden poles to stop them from sinking into the soft marshland and yes, that's what they did in Am*dam, but how do you stop a park from sinking? You drain it. The park has an extensive drainage system underground, yet still it sinks away about a centimetre every year. When it rains for a few days- and in Holland it's always more- the grass turns to mud, and the fun stops for most people.
Non-sentient Life in the park. Despite all the sinking and the soaking, the park is full of life. There are trees in it that are rare to the Netherlands, and they are rare to me too, so I can't name them. There are rare plants and flowers, and I can't name any of those either. Look! There goes a... not a clue. Besides, it's gone anyway. Other animals are chickens, the omnipresent pigeons, a handful of lamas, some cows, some horses, turkeys and hungarians living peacefully in a fenced reserve. In another section of the park, a wide assortment of roses were planted in a hexagonal pattern, and it's a really fragrant rose garden at that. Many dogs can be seen walking their people at any time of day. A group of greenish-yellow parakeets resides in the park, or so says Crescent (and many other people), but I've never seen them.
Sentient life in the park Besides rare flora and fauna, you meet some pretty weird people in the park too. There's one guy who likes to skate around the asphalt walkway dressed in nothing more than a silver string speedo every summer, just going round and round. He's not alone though: the park is very much loved by in-line skaters, who either bring their own or rent good skates from the pancake restaurant at the south end. The Friday-nite skate in Amsterdam never misses it. Over the years, the amount of skaters in the park has grown so much that pedestrians started to complain, but I think they were run over because nothing has changed.
Anyway, there's lots to do besides skating. There are concerts, both classical and pop (in both Dutch and English), performed by known and not-so-known artists, but it's never complete crap. If there aren't any concerts, there's theatreplay on stage, or dance, and if there's nothing planned around the central stage, it's used by a gang of break-dancers, who practice there. The programme of events for the Vondelpark, which stretches from May to August, is found on the walls of many of the city's bars.
Relax... Of course, marihuana (cannabis) enters into play in the Vondelpark as well. The park is a great place of relaxation. In the sixties, people loved to celebrate the age of Aquarius by smoking a bag of weed and jumping into the main pond naked. Nowadays people consider it relaxing just to smoke a small spliff and lie in the grass. Smoking yourself into oblivion is usually for tourists: for many others, just having a picnic, an outdoor party or a few hours working on your exams, working on the tan or working on nothing at all, is their way of enjoying the park.
Arts in the Park. There is a lot of art to be found in the Vondelpark. There's a Picasso statue (looks a bit like a fish, not Picasso's best work, I'm afraid) in the middle section, and a large statue of Joost van den Vondel (Dutch poet) near the main entrance. A large tree stump painted blue adorns another part. The one thing I still hope to find in the park is the statue of a small boy playing the flute, that's supposed to be sitting on a thick tree branch somewhere. The Nederlands Film Museum, with many old material from the dawn of moving pictures, is in an old stately builing at the north end of the park. Besides these visuals, many musicians of various disciplines and levels of expertise frequent the park. The djembe-ing fanatics are ever-present, but really worth while is a 20 year old virtuoso pianist who brings his piano with him and plays for afternoons on end.
Crime in the park Police in the park are numerous, but they are more laid-back than elsewhere in the city. The Vondelpark is one of Amsterdam's more tolerant spaces (!). Pick-pockets are also quite numerous, because of the relaxedness of the tourists once they get to the park. At night, it's best to avoid the park, say many. True, in the evening it empties out, and lighting isn't perfect everywhere, but I've been passing thru it at various dark hours for three years now and (knock on wood) nothing's ever happened to me yet. There are some homeless people living in it, but they're mostly harmless.
