Amsterdam - Barges, bridges and bicycles, a canal cruise are the perfect way to explore Europe’s largest historic city centre which boasts almost 7 000 monuments.

Amsterdam is located on precariously low-lying ground at the confluence of the Amstel and IJ rivers. Around 1250 it was a small fishing village and was proclaimed a city in 1306. The name originates from “Aeme Stelle Redamme”, Dam in the Amstel, after the only river that flows through the city.

The network of canals was dug from swampland in 1664 for defence and to accommodate Amsterdam's exploding population. With over 100km of canals, two to three-metre deep, they form concentric arcs known as the Grachtengordel. This example of large-scale town planning has never flooded and is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The original plan was to hire a bicycle and explore, but seeing the way cyclists rule the roads added to the challenge of cycling on the “wrong” side of the road. A canal trip held more appeal.

Amsterdam Central Station, a short ride from Schiphol airport, is a gloriously golden Neo-Renaissance brick railway terminus which was completed in 1889.

The gilded clock to the left of the entrance, also showing wind direction, is testimony to Amsterdam’s early reliance on wind to power her sailing ships.

Across the square, the information office is the place to buy tickets for a hop-on, hop-off bus or equivalent canal trip.

Choosing the one-hour “100 Highlights Cruise”, we set off from the eastern dock on a “rondvaartboot”, as they are known to locals, the cabin warm and filled with tables and chairs.

Floating past buildings and boats mirrored in water, listening to historical comment, we passed the Sea Palace, a Chinese restaurant resembling a Hong Kong floating emporium, with seating for 900.

With swans gliding past we entered Oude Schans Canal. Towering above is the watch tower Montelbaanstoren, a remnant of Amsterdam's medieval fortifications, built in 1512. Sailors from the Dutch East India Company would gather here before being ferried to the massive East Indies-bound sailing ships. Today, Montelbaanstoren houses the offices of another water-related endeavour - Amsterdam's Department of Sewage and Water Management.

Rumour has it that the tower garnered the nickname “Silly Jack”, Malle Jaap, because the clock's bells were unreliable and rang at strange times of the day or wouldn't ring at all for many days.

Tall, narrow houses line the canals, each with various gables, all with winches. Because most buildings have steep, narrow, often winding staircases, these winches are used to hoist goods and furniture to upper floors. Houses have sturdy pilings to assure a solid foundation however some appear cockeyed with others held up by huge logs and yet others lean forward. This is intentional so the gable is further out into the street making it easier to haul goods to upper levels.

Taking a left, the white marble Dutch National Ballet and Opera was formed in 1961.

The tour passes beneath bridges: the city has about 1 500. Magere Brug, Skinny Bridge, is the city's best known. The original drawbridge was built in 1691 and connects Kerkstraat between Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht. The story goes that if you kiss your love under the bridge, you will stay together forever.

Another story about the bridge tells of two sisters who lived on opposite sides of the river. Wanting to visit each other but too busy or too sickly to go the long way round and, unable to afford a wide bridge, they built a very narrow one.

Prinsengracht, Prince's Canal is long and wide and is where the city's richest merchants, mayors and most influential regents lived. An address here is still considered to be prestigious with the mayor of Amsterdam as a neighbour, at number 502. This double residence, built in 1665 for slave trader and director of the Dutch West India Company Paulus Godin, has 45 rooms.

On the right, at number 48, stands the 1612 merchant's house “The Three Hills” with a beautifully decorated gable added in a restoration in 1768. Opposite, at number 81, is the oldest residential house in Amsterdam. Built in 1590, it's a traditional merchant's house with a beautiful step gable.

The house at 132 was destroyed by fire on New Year's eve of 2008. It was the stage of a dramatic love story between the rich merchant's daughter Elisabeth de Flines and her father's servant. Despite his power and influence Elisabeth eloped with her lover and the couple had a baby. But her father tracked her down, brought back and then forced her to marry a gunsmith.

One of the most beautiful merchant's houses in Amsterdam is along the Herengracht at number 172. Built in 1617, Guillermo Bartolotti made his fortune as a silk merchant and banker and was one of the richest men in Amsterdam.

Along the way are numerous museums, most with long queues. The Houseboat Museum honours the approximate 2 500 houseboats that line almost every canal, some with gardens on decks and roofs with chairs and tables.

Another museum devoted to Bags and Purses is located in a beautiful 1666 house. It celebrates the 500 year history of the Western ladies bag.

But the most famous, and a must-see, is the historic house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. Possibly the most renowned and widely-read account of daily life under German occupation during World War II, Anne Frank wrote her Diary of a Young Girl in this house from 1942 to 1944.

From her hide-away window, Anne Frank could see the tower of Westerkerk and drew inspiration from the sound of its bells. Completed in 1631 the 85m tower was completed in 1638 and is the highest bell tower and a landmark of Amsterdam. A visit to this Dutch Protestant church is free but is nicer from the outside unless you hike up the tower.

Following the western canal ring, the district Jardin, Garden, later corrupted to “Jordaan”, is thought to be named by Huguenot refugees. Historically a poor area, famous for alms houses and supplying the city with fresh vegetables, more recently its taken on a Bohemian air with warehouses being converted into apartments.

Turning right into Singel canal is the Brouwersgracht, Brewers' Canal, where breweries are located in the heart of old Amsterdam. Unlike the busy canals in the centre the atmosphere here is laid back and relaxed. Most of the tiny houses have brightly painted shutters and the canal is covered in small bridges.

All too soon we dock, heads reeling with information.

Cape Times

Karen Watkins

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