Walking School 04

Summary

The fourth Walking.School excursion took place in Noord Amsterdam on 13 March 2022, starting at 1:00 pm and lasting for a couple of hours.

The walking path was in Amsterdam Noord, a corner of Amsterdam not well known to tourists but with its own unique character. Our trail was mostly linear, starting from the ferry all the way to the Schellingwouderpark and back, with a stop for coffee and tea at the Cafe't Sluisje.

Itinerary Description and Pictures

Spring was in the air in our previous walk, but this time Spring is definitely here. The Sun is shining and the temperature is around 15-16 degrees.

The Tolhuis-Tuin is the former company restaurant of Royal Dutch Shell. It is now an active cultural center. Its garden was once a desirable excursion for Amsterdamers, as it was built before the Vondelpark.

The Willem I Lock that connects the Ij with the Noord-holland canal that runs from Amsterdam-North, via Purmerend and Alkmaar to Den Helder. It was built in 1824

The Ij tunnel connects the two parts of Amsterdam for car traffic. Fans are installed in two ventilation buildings on the banks of the IJ to blow clean air inside the tunnel.

The Shell Tower is an eighty meter high tower on the IJ-bank in Amsterdam-Noord. The tower was designed in 1966 by the Dutch architect Arthur Staal for Royal Shell. In 2016, after a renovation of two years, the tower was renamed A'DAM Toren.

From this side we get a good view of the Amsterdam Centraal train station and the ferries that keep going back and forth across the Ij, connecting the two sides of Amsterdam for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The Mandela / Ubuntu themed hotel.

The IJ is a river that separates the Amsterdam city center from Amsterdam-North. It was originally an offshoot of the Zuiderzee. The name IJ is related to the (West) Frisian Ae, Ee or Die which means water.

De Valk Talent Factory is a youth club in Amsterdam Noord.

Mazazik is a slang arabic world for music. The paintings suggest a link with Egypt in particular.

We enter Noorderpark is a park in Amsterdam-North. It was created in 2014 after the merger of the Florapark and the Volewijkspark that were located on both sides of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal.

Inside the park is the swimming pool Noorderparkbad that won the Amsterdam Architecture Prize in 2016.

The Fiat 500 (Italian: Cinquecento) is a rear-engined, four-seat(!), small city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 to 1975. It did not come out of nowhere but was the successor of an older Fiat 500 model that was called Topolino which means little mouse. Despite its very small size, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical vehicle with large sales throughout Europe. In 1959, Dante Giacosa received a Compasso d'Oro industrial design prize for the Fiat 500.

Not quite like Gaudi's Serpentine Bench in Park Guell, but very nice.