Did you know that...

FUN FACTS

Fun facts of Amsterdam

Did you know that...

1.5 miles is the average distance travelled daily per person by bike.
There are 175 nationalities in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has 6 windmills, but only 1 can be visited.
Schiphol Airport is 4 metres below sealevel.
Each year 8.000 bikes are reclaimed from the water of Amsterdam canals.
There are 240 miles of bike lanes.
Amsterdam has 165 canals.
80.000 cycles are stolen each year.
Amsterdam has 790.000 inhabitants and 1.180.000 bicycles.
Vincent van Gogh Museum has 1.430.000 visitors per year.
30% of the tourist stay in Amsterdam for two nights.
Van Gogh had 1.5 ears, 0.5 was cut off and given to a prostitute.
Amsterdam has 1200 bars.
Coffeeshops may legally only sell you a maximum of 5 grams of weed/hasj.
21 markets can be found in Amsterdam.
The Fo Kuang Shan Temple in Amsterdam's chinatown, was the first traditional Chinese temple in Europe.
Amsterdam has 51 museums.
The first gay marriage in the world took place on April 1st, 2001 in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has 28 parks from which Vondelpark is by far the biggest.
The Amsterdam Arena was the first stadium in Europe with a retractable roof!
Most lights on the red light district have a red color, but some lamps have a purple color which means that there are no ordinary women behind but the "she-males", the women with something extra.
With an average length of 184 cm for men and 170 cm for women, the Dutch are the tallest people in Europe.
In the Netherlands, the highest temperature ever recorded was 38.6 ˚ C. (101 Fahrenheit)
Amsterdam isn't famous for its churches and palaces, but for his monumental houses.

Amsterdam smallest house

Author: Administrator

Tiny houses in Hollands capital

At 22 Oude Hoogstraat in Amsterdam, there's a small house with a clockgable. This house has a width of 2 metres and a depth of 6 metres. Here stands the smallest house of Amsterdam. There is another house, known as the smallest house, along the Singel. This is not correct though. The facade has a width of 1.80 metres, but the house is 16 metres deep and has a backgable of 8 metres wide.

Thieving in Amsterdam

"My bike is gone.."

Every year 50.000 are stolen in the city. By night the Grimburgwal and the Koningsplein become bike shops, where junkies, professional thieves and drunks put their stolen goods on the market. A stolen bike will cost you approximately 25 Euro. But be aware of undercover policemen. If they´ll catch you´ll receive a 200 Euro fine.

If you discover that your bike has gone, it doesn´t necessarily mean it´s been stolen. The government has a strickt policy when it comes to wrong parked bicycles. If your bike is parked on a place where it isn´t allowed, it´s most likely that it is transported to an AFAC depot.

Wanna know if you´re bike is at one of those AFAC depots? Click on the link below...

http://www.afac-amsterdam.nl/bikebase/page.php?id=8&category=item

Tourists in Holland

During a stay in the Netherlands, foreign tourists spend 2.6 billion euros in total over the year 2009. In addition, 1.4 billion was spend on the trip to the Netherlands, which comes down to an average of 404 euros per person.

In 2009, there were less foreign visitors than in previous years. This was mainly caused by a decrease in the number of international visitors with a business motive. Seven out of ten international tourist visited the Netherlands during their holiday, which counts down to 6.9 million visitors. This number has increased further over the past decade, from 55% in 2000 to 90% in 2009.

There has been a remarkable increase in the number of visits to museums and historical sites.