Amsterdam has more than 150 canals and 1,250 bridges, but it never seems crowded, nor bent and bitter from fleecing the tourist.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In Amsterdam, the river and canals have been central to city life for the last four centuries.
I hate bridges. I'm always very insecure on bridges.
The neighborhood where I live has little canals, and there are a lot of houseboats there.
I love Amsterdam. The city is vibrant and alive. It's fresh and so open. It's definitely one of my favorite places.
I can never tire of speaking of the bridges of Paris. By day and by night have I paused on them to gaze at their views; the word not being too comprehensive for the crowds and groupings of objects that are visible from their arches.
Bridges are perhaps the most invisible form of public architecture.
This is a full country. I think 16 million Dutchmen are about enough.
I think Amsterdam is to Holland what New York is to America in a sense. It's a metropolis, so it's representative of Holland, but only a part of it - you know, it's more extreme, there's more happening, it's more liberal and more daring than the countryside in Holland is.
Historic Amsterdam, that old part you first see when you turn up at Centraal Station, may have its monuments, but it's also the most tawdry and overcrowded part of the city.
Stand outside De Eland, on the Berenstraat Bridge over the Prinsengracht, and you see what real Amsterdam life is like.