In a city with so many canals, there are of course a great many bridges
Posts Tagged ‘Amsterdam canals’
Amsterdam Bridges
Posted: December 31, 2013 in Amsterdam, NetherlandsTags: Amsterdam, Amsterdam canals
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Some of the boats which use the waterways of Amsterdam
Having looked at the canal side houses here are some pictures from our recent trip to Amsterdam of the dwellings actually on the canals – The house boats
Views of Amsterdam (2)
Posted: November 9, 2013 in Amsterdam, NetherlandsTags: Amsterdam, Amsterdam canals
How thin is my house!
Traveling around the canals of Amsterdam you soon notice some remarkable houses. The normal canal-side house tends to be very tall and often in the gable you can see a pulley mechanism. The reason for this is that usually the staircases inside are too narrow to enable you to get furniture to the upper floors. So in order to do this, the windows were removable and you hauled the furniture up the outside of your house and then in through the window on the floor where you wanted it. This must have made moving house a very complicated process.
Some canalside houses with the pulley mechanism in the gable
One of the reasons that Amsterdam canal-side houses tended to be thin and tall was that at the time most were built their equivalent of council tax was based on the canal frontage. It was cheaper to build a house thin and deep and some people took this to the ultimate extreme.
Views of Amsterdam (1)
Posted: November 7, 2013 in Amsterdam, NetherlandsTags: Amsterdam, Amsterdam canals
Ask most people for a single word description of Amsterdam and they will probably say canals. They certainly dominate the structure and layout of the city and a trip around the canals is probably the best way to get to look at the houses that line them.
These pictures were taken on a recent trip to Amsterdam that Sue and I took from a canal boat tour.
