We were in Amsterdam for a few days and as well as the usual distractions the city has to offer, Mum obviously wanted to find as much street art as possible, but there were two places that were a must to visit.
The first place was the ‘If walls could speak’ project at Platanenweg, where ten well-known Dutch and foreign artists were chosen to create ten stunning murals all within the theme ‘Amsterdam for Everybody’. If you want to visit, getting there is easy – just take the Amsterdam metro to the Wibautstraat stop and then take the ‘Platanenweg’ exit. Once you’re outs of the metro, you can’t really miss it.
The second place was NDSM Werf and the first time we had taken a ferry in Amsterdam. Amsterdam’s ferries provide essential, free connections across the River IJ for pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds. For more info on travelling by ferry in Amsterdam, click the link. We took the ferry from Amsterdam Central station direct to NDSM Werf, which took no more than 10 minutes.
A former shipyard located on the banks of the River IJ in Amsterdam Noord, the NDSM Werf has blossomed into an enormous cultural hotspot in recent years. In the summer 2018, the largest street art museum in the world opened its door here and its impressive collection, have put it on the map as an international cultural destination. One of the first things you see when getting off the ferry is the huge portrait of Anne Frank on the facade of the museum. Painted by the world-famous Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, this just sets the scene for what follows, which is masses and masses of outstanding artwork.
Mum could have happily spent hours and hours here taking photos and there were lots of people using the artwork as a backdrop for their own creative shoots. Amazing place and well worth taking the ferry over for.