I heard that Amsterdam is the “Venice of the North” because it has a bunch of canals. I think it’s kind of silly that if a city has canals, then it’s considered a “Venice”. Amsterdam isn’t even the only city that is known as the Venice of the North; there is a list of 10+ cities with that honor, including Brugge.

Because I was just in Venice three months ago, canals within the city were just not that unique nor appealing to me. In fact, the canals in Amsterdam weren’t as neat as Venice since there are roads on both sides. Without the charm of the canals, Amsterdam didn’t really have the European flavour and feel to me. The neighborhoods are different and quaint, but the buildings and their step wave-esque facades were not what I expected from European architecture (in fact their most intricate buildings ended up being their malls).

I think it’s because of this reason that I was so impressed when I reached Antwerp. Antwerp was our first stop in Belgium and by contrast their historical buildings were very ornamental in comparison. The Antwerp central station was a beautiful mix of modern construction within a historical setting.

And while old, the buildings seemed to have aged gracefully. In fact I liked Antwerp a lot, maybe because I just came from the uninspiring architecture of the Netherlands, but maybe also because it seemed to be just the right mix of beauty and size for walking around and exploring.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: europe, EuropeMarch2010, travelling