Melkweg Club

Probably the most famous club/entertainment complex in this part of Europe, the Melkweg lives up to the hype for most visitors and can be an entertaining place to go even when you don’t recognize any of the names on the bill. It’s actually 5 separate venues in one complex, and sometimes there is a separate admission charge for different things in different rooms. In spite of its overall size and fame, the largest room is smaller than most people expect. The Max has a capacity of 1,000 while the Oude Zaal room holds another 700. There is also a 90-seat cinema, a 140-seat theater, and various galleries and art spaces throughout.

History

The Melkweg (Dutch for milky way) was founded in 1970 when a local theater group took over a disused dairy building just off Leidseplein. It’s been run as a non-profit ever since, although the city has had to step in to prop the organization up at least once recently. The interiors have been continually upgraded and now the entire place feels like an experimental art space, but the two main rooms and the big acts they draw are the main reason for going.

Date: April 9th, 2008 | No Comments

May in Amsterdam

Going to Amsterdam in May is your last chance to avoid the massive summer crowds, and the weather is generally quite pleasant most days, but it can always be cool and gray in Amsterdam during any month so you can never come feeling certain of warm sunshine and blue skies. Since Queen’s Day in Amsterdam is a huge national holiday on April 30, May begins with something of a national hangover, but there are several notable events in the city to look forward to this month as well.

May Events in Amsterdam

Dodenherdenking (Remembrance Day) – May 4 – Everyone who lost their lives in World War II is remembered with a solemn ceremony at Dam Square that begins with the flag taken town to half staff at 6pm and really gets going with 2 minutes of silence at 8pm followed by the national anthem and about an hour of speeches. There are similar ceremonies all over the Netherlands, but this is the major one and is often attended by the royal family. The May 4 date is kept even when it falls on a Sunday, as it does in 2008.

Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) – May 5 – The quiet events the day before are immediately replaced by this national holiday marking the anniversary of the date in 1945 when the Netherlands was liberated from Nazi occupation. Canadian troops were the first allies to arrive, so Canadian flags are part of the decoration. There are concerts and celebrations throughout the country, including quite a few in Amsterdam itself. The most noted events take place in Museum Square in the southern part of the city center, but there are also performances and celebrations in Leidseplein, Vondelpark, the Rokin street area near Centraal Station among other places. There is also a market similar to, but much smaller than, the one on Queen’s Day. There are also gay and lesbian events in different parts of the city, most notably at the Homomonument. Some shops have limited opening hours or remain closed altogether, but most places of interest to tourists will have normal hours on May 5.

Date: April 7th, 2008 | No Comments

Money-saving tips for Europe in 2008

Over at BootsnAll they’ve just published an article full of money-saving tips for Europe travel, which should come in especially handy for Americans since our currency keeps edging toward being worthless against the now-mighty euro. When the euro debuted at just over $1.17 each things seemed about right, and then it marched down to about 82 US cents before starting to climb back up to the dizzying heights of around $1.55 where it stands as I write this.

I remember being in Europe when the euro was 87 cents, although it wasn’t actually in circulation yet. Those were good times for Americans, but now we are getting our ass kicked so we need to travel like cheapskates to even come close to keeping things affordable this year.

Date: April 2nd, 2008 | No Comments