Amsterdam Things to Do

The tulips are coming out in Holland – it must be springtime. Every year, March is eagerly awaited by gardeners everywhere, not just because it’s the time when things will actually start growing again and they can get back outside with their buckets and spades, but because March is the month when the Keukenhof park opens each year for its short two month splendor.

When I was old enough to start visiting bars (18, as I was in Australia), my eye was immediately drawn to those shiny, pretty-colored bottles gleaming on the shelves behind the bar. They were the colors of precious jewels, much brighter than the rainbow. I confess, for a while I drank only things that matched my outfit–again, I was 18. So, it was inevitable that when I got to Amsterdam, I had to seek out the place that made these magical – and frankly sickly sweet – alcoholic tints.

The House of Bols is located at Museumplein in the center of Amsterdam, very close to the Van Gogh Museum (another house of wonderful colors). It has won a Dutch Design Award for Best Exhibition and Experience.