Hi guys! I just made a little presentation about Amsterdam for my courses English. Check it out :)

Here is Amsterdam on the map of Holland. This city is a leading tourist destination and a perfect spot for business. In Amsterdam, there were over 7 million overnight stays in 2004.

CULTURE

The cultural level in Amsterdam is very high. This city offers a diverse selection of arts, music, theatre, film, dance and a lot of other things.

Art is very important for Amsterdam. The Arts and Cultural Office funds art pretty heavily. There are a lot of preforming arts such as: photography, architecture, writing, movies etcetera. In Amsterdam there live more then 2000 artists and 3000 students who follow courses at art and music academies. Amsterdam counts more then 60 theatres, churches and concert halls, 42 museums and 141 commercial art galleries. You may also find venues, parcs, squares, forests and even boats on the canals.

Museums

One of the most popular museums in Amsterdam is the Allard Pierson museum. You can also visit Anne Frank’s house. I presume that everyone knows Anne Frank? Anne Frank was killed in the second world war after she was betrayed and deported. The Amsterdammers build up special museums, only for children. The biggest museum of Holland is lain in Amsterdam, ‘Het Rijksmuseum’ also called the national museum of Holland. The museum is the biggest in size of the collections, the budget, the size of the building, and so on. There are even erotic museums and marihuana museums in Amsterdam!

Architecture

Amsterdam is one of the most important architecture and design cities in Europe. Walking through this city is a walk in a in an architectual walk through time.

Theatre

Amsterdam plays more then 14.000 theatre preformances per year in more then 140 different venues. From historical halls to modern complexes, or at a former cold-storage warehouse.
Here is for example theatre Boom Chicago. Every night of the week, Boom Chicago presents an English-Language comedy. The comedians improvisate and use scripted material. The actors are professionals who come from the States.

Cinema

There are a few different kinds of cinemas in the capital of Holland. For example the ‘Drijf-in Bios’. You don’t pronounce it like ‘Drive-in’ but in Dutch, ‘Drijf-in’. It’s a bit a play on the word. It’s a special drive in cinema only for boats! And another good thing is that this event is sponsored by ‘Ben and Jerry’s ice cream!

CITY ON THE WATER

Holland proudly presents this year in Amsterdam: City on the water 2005. Amsterdam is called the city on the water because the intired city is surrounded by water, as you could see on the map of Amsterdam. The city of Amsterdam organised a lot of special activities. Late this month there is the largest annual international rowing contest, also known as the International Rowing Regatta of Amsterdam. During the whole year, The Maritime Museum will focus on the Discovery of the World. In this museum you can learn something about the Dutch Explorers.

Amsterdam is a city which has a lot of respect for gays and lesbos. That’s why in August they organise the 10th Gay Pride. The highlight of this event is the Canal Parade on the sixth of August. There is an extensive program of sports, cultural activities and parties only for gays and lesbiennes.

A SMALL FACT…

Everyone in this room knows that orange is the colour of Holland. But I’m 100% sure that nobody knows why. People say that orange is the colour of happiness, success and creativity. Amsterdam’s true colours shine on Queens Day. On Queens Day, which is organised every year, the streets are filled with people wearing orange clothes and flags. All over the city, even on the canals people celebrating the Queen’s Birthday and the spring.