Jordaan, Amsterdam, Netherlands

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One of the most enjoyable neighborhoods to explore in Amsterdam is the Jordaan which has become extremely popular for visitors in recent decades with its many shops, several different street markets, cafés, restaurants, canals and narrow lanes.
There's a casual outdoor bar scene and unique shops individually owned and with a lot of character offering vintage and handmade items.
Crossing over an old-fashioned drawbridge, we’re entering Jordaan from the north end which begins at the Brouwersgracht canal, often considered one of the most beautiful canals of Amsterdam, and forming the northern border of Jordaan, and to the east, we have another border canal the Prinsengracht.
Right alongside that canal you'll find one of Amsterdam's many lively street markets, Noordermarkt, and sometimes you'll get jazzy street entertainment, as we found this morning. Every Monday morning it's a fleamarket selling fabric, some food, secondhand clothing, old shoes, records, etc. and on every Saturday, it's a biological food market selling a wide range of ecological products like organic fruits and vegetables, herbs, mushrooms and cheese.
Although Jordaan does not have a lot of canals running through it there, are some beauties, such as this, further south. We will be starting in the north part of Jordaan in our visit and working down south towards this canal and beyond.
That hungry swan is looking for a handout but it seems like the people are not paying attention, wrapped up in their little worlds.
If you really want to get off track, take a walk around the Jordaan neighborhood.
It's mostly residential, and has quiet little narrow streets. There are some shops, of course, and cafés and bars and restaurants.
Jordaan is an enjoyable comfortable place to live, with an artistic bohemian atmosphere, something like New York's Greenwich Village or Soho, that has attracted a critical mass of hip residents.
There is a peaceful atmosphere since it is slightly removed from the tourists and commercial center of town, yet it's just 700 meters away from the Dam square, an easy 10-minute walk.
It's a reasonably quiet neighborhood. Of course, there's the odd scooter going through, and the occasional jackhammer – they've got a lot of maintenance here with these old buildings, but this is about as quiet as it gets in Amsterdam. There's a few cars can come through here, but not much, not too many people. But it's a fun place to just wander around. You can walk in the street, but there will be a few cars going by, so keep your eyes and ears open.
Most buildings here are quite old, dating back originally to the 17th and 18th century, typically five stories high in a medium density.
By the 1890s there was 85,000 people crammed into 11,000 apartments, making it one of the world's most densely populated zones.
Today the quality of life is very high with a reduced population of just 20,000, many of whom are well-paid professionals, because this is become a very expensive neighborhood – it's gentrified.
There is an exotic variety of ethnic restaurants, avant-garde art galleries, practical shops, like hair salons and eyeglass stores, all of which creates a quite modern and holistic community.
This urban concentration nowadays offers lots of amenities, like restaurants on the corner, little markets for daily purchases, with apartments on the upper floors.
And of course, being Dutch, they've always got their canals for boating recreation. You'll see all kinds of boats out, big and small, including some that you have to peddle for propulsion, and others where you can sit back and enjoy one of the famous tour boat rides of the Amsterdam canals – something you must do when visiting this city.
It is fun and easy to simply wander through the little back lanes of this fascinating neighborhood, spiced up with independent art galleries.
These old buildings originally provided low-cost housing for the working-class laborers who built the city, for hundreds of years. It was a poor neighborhood known for its radical politics and love of music and beer.
However, in the early 20th century, the neighborhood continued to deteriorate, buildings falling down, sewage backing up, so much so the by the 1930s the city had a plan to demolish the entire neighborhood and build modern housing. Fortunately, community opposition held up and fought against this plan for many years and successfully won the battle to preserve it.
But then the rent started going up, and in the 1960s, many of the original residents moved out to more affordable locations. In recent decades the gentrification accelerated, and like in many cities, property values have skyrocketed because it's one of the most desirable neighborhoods of Amsterdam, and a great place to visit.