Amsterdam Centraal

Another small tour I made last week was around Amsterdam Centraal (Central Station). The Mystery Tour was about the oldest buildings of Amsterdam, how the city developed and about certain things that you can see but can never make sense of. It took us to Dam and Nieuwmarkt, the Red Light District and Oude Kerk.
I do like the Central Station building unlike most Amsterdamers. Not because it is practical, but because it is elaborate. But I also know how frustrating it is to have a huge building to be constructed between a city and its sea... Pity. This reminds me of a discussion we had in Istanbul with Umit: Were the wonders of today, such as the Hagia Sophia for instance, monsters of the times they were built in? I would think so. I am sure a number of things that will not be likeable to my generation will be just fine for the next. But still...

I could find no pictures or photos of Amsterdam without the Centraal Station. Interesting, isn't it? But instead, I found a relatively older and romanticised version of the building. There is a fine archive of old photos from the city archive here.

When I think of Istanbul, the city I identify with, I can think of a few smells, and a colour to represent it despite its diversity. The same goes for Niigata (at least the part in which I have lived for two years) and Ankara (where I was -unfortunately- born)... Even Tokyo (more colours and a peculiar smell). But Amsterdam so far doesn't have a distinctive smell or a colour that I can code it into. Maybe I just haven't spent enough time on its diversity yet... Or maybe it is because I do not want to caricaturise the city I live in. Amsterdam is exploited to the fullest extent on its peculiarities. I really would not like to take these on their face value, without any understanding of them at all. As for the other cities, I know for sure that I am being more or less "just" in my perception of them (except for Tokyo maybe...).

But the veil on Amsterdam is so colourful that it takes time to uncover. It is like a veil on which there are very strong colours reflected from beneath, so much so that it effectively conceals the texture of the city from negligent eyes. One simply doesn't want to unveil, as it is colourful, exciting, and very distinct to any unaccustomed viewer. I find that mystery appealing -ok, sexy-. Yes, there is a thick haze that one has to go through to pursue this city. This is similar to Istanbul in a way: Istanbul hides herself among garbage and flowers, noise and crowd, between diverse absolutes in different parts of the city and of course she hides behind her sheer size, so it is extremely difficult to recognise her beauty and elegance. But she always gives you remarkable, yet half-corrupted hints of her once obvious grandeur, while Amsterdam almost normalises its little details by being absolutely abnormal in general. It makes you realise that there is more to it all the time, but very cruelly makes those unreachable too...

hmmm... re-reading what I wrote makes me wonder if I am about to fall in love with it. (and despite my aversion of the term "falling" in the context of love, for some cities I think it is unavoidable to accept and use it. Amsterdam will never love me back, but maybe, just maybe it might reveal some secrets in the not-so-near future...)