Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. It's a city built on swampy(沼泽的,湿地的) marshland(沼泽地) reclaimed(开垦,归还) from the North Sea. Although it has a population of less than one million, it is also one of Europe's major cultural centers.
It's easy to reach Amsterdam by train from almost anywhere in northern Europe, which has some of the most sophisticated rail links in the world.
So this is Amsterdam, bicycle capital of the universe. Check out the bikes. This city's got like 720,000 people but every year they get something like three million tourists, so.
Amsterdam is a compact(紧凑的,紧密的) city and you can see a lot of it on foot, but for longer distances it's worth using the efficient tram(有轨电车) system. The trams run from six in the morning during the week, but start a little later at weekends. After midnight a special bus service takes over. There is another way to get around, that old Amsterdam cliché(陈词滥调): the bike.
Well I'm on the Herengracht, it's one of the most famous canals(运河,沟渠) in Amsterdam. From the 17th century and as you can see, these buildings are sinking into the sand. Have a look at this one. There's a lot of houses like this in Amsterdam. The whole town was built on sand, its reclaimed land and half of it is sinking. Much of what we think of as Amsterdam is the product of the Golden Age of Dutch classicism, the 17th century. It's the quality of the city's residential architecture, which distinguishes it. There are no grand monuments and only a few buildings that impress with size.
There are more than 60 miles of canals flowing in, out and around Amsterdam. It's also a very green city with more trees per square mile than any other capital in Europe. It is said that many residents never use the canals and miss out on the unique perspective of the city that they offer.
Two thousand bridges, 170 canals, it's full of romantic little spots where you can just chill out.
You know Amsterdam is a very cultured city. They got 141 art galleries(画廊,图库) and 42 museums. If you want to see a museum you're much better off seeing a proper one. Now this, this is a serious museum. This is the Reich's Museum. It's full of all the interesting stuff you find in museums but today I want to see is Rembrandt's(伦勃朗,荷兰画家) Night Watch, one the world's most famous paintings. The Night Watch was painted in 1642 by Rembrandt. Its relatively informal depiction of a group of merchants was considered innovative at the time.
Vondelpark is the oldest park in Amsterdam. Duringthe70's, it was kind of like a non-stop Woodstock. Tents set up it was like a Mecca(麦加,伊斯兰教圣地) for hippies, people lived in the park. Although you can't live in the park these days, there's no law against living in the 70's.
Now, this is the Albert Cuyp Market, it's the biggest market in the Netherlands, bits and pieces from all over the world. Most of it like you'd expect from any market just chintzy(便宜的,俗气的) rubbish. But here you can also get a lot of ethnic food, because 40 percent of the population of Amsterdam are from other cultures, immigrant population. So here they buy their salted fish and their tropical fruits. You can get just about anything here.
So that's Amsterdam and to tell you the truth, I'm pleasantly surprised. I was expecting a city full of absolutely stoned(飘飘欲仙的) hippies or some…I don't know what I expected, but what I found was a city full of life. I mean this is the artistic capital of Europe. This is the crossroads or cross canal of all realities. It's vibrant(充满活力的), it's creative, it's special. It's Amsterdam and if nothing else, check out the architecture.
阿姆斯特丹是荷兰的首都，它坐落在开垦自北海的潮湿的沼泽地带上。尽管人口不足一百万，阿姆斯特丹仍然是欧洲主要的文化中心之一。
北欧拥有部分世界上最发达的铁路网络，从那里的任何一个地方乘火车到阿姆斯特丹都很方便。
这就是阿姆斯特丹，世界自行车之都。看看这些自行车吧。这座城市有72万人，但每年来这里的游客就有大约3百万。
阿姆斯特丹是个不大的城市，你可以步行游览大部分地方，但要前往更远的地方，使用高效的电车系统就比较划算了。电车平常从早上6点开始运行，周末的时候始发要晚一些。过了午夜，取而代之的是特别的公共汽车服务。还有一种四处游览的方式，那就是阿姆斯特丹的古老传统：骑自行车。
好，我现在在绅士运河上，它是阿姆斯特丹最著名的运河之一。自从17世纪以来，正如你所见到的，这些建筑正在逐渐沉入沙里。看看这一栋。阿姆斯特丹有许多类似这样的房屋。整座城市都建在沙上以及填海开垦出的土地上，其中一半已在下沉。我们能想到的关于阿姆斯特丹的不外乎就是：这城市是17世纪荷兰古典主义的鼎盛时期的产物。这里极富特色的居民建筑使这个城市显得与众不同。这座城市没有宏大的纪念碑，只有少数几幢建筑雄伟挺拔，使人印象深刻。
流入、流出阿姆斯特丹以及绕城而行的运河超过60英里。它还是个绿意葱茏的城市，每平方英里的树木覆盖面积超过欧洲任一首都的。据说许多居民从未使用过运河，于是也无法领略从运河上欣赏到的这个城市的独特景致。
2000座桥，170条运河，其中遍布了浪漫的小咖啡馆——在那里你可以好好地放松下。
你们也知道阿姆斯特丹是座十分有文化底蕴的城市，这里有141个画廊，42个博物馆。如果你想参观一座博物馆，最好是选择一家比较好的。这个，这是一家严肃的博物馆。这是德意志帝国的博物馆，里面全是你在博物馆里能发现的有趣的东西。不过今天我想看看伦勃朗的《守夜人》——世界上最有名的画作之一。《守夜人》是伦勃朗在1642年创作的，它对在非正式场合的群商人的描画在当时被认为具有革新性。
冯德尔帕克公园是阿姆斯特丹最古老的公园。70年代期间，它有几分像欢闹不息的伍德斯托克摇滚音乐节。搭起帐篷，那里就像是嬉皮土的麦加圣地，人们就住在公园里。虽然现在你不能住在公园里了，但在70年代，没有法律禁止人们在公园里居住。
这里是艾伯街市场，它是荷兰最大的市场，集中了来自世界各地的零散小玩意。其中大多数东西就像你在任何市场能看到的一样，都是一些价格低廉的货色。但是在这里你还可以买到多种有民族特色的食物，因为阿姆斯特丹40??人口是移民，来自其他民族。因此，他们在这里买咸鱼和各种热带水果等，在这里，你什么都能找到。
那就是阿姆斯特丹。说实话，我又开心又惊讶。我原以为这会是一个满是飘飘欲仙的嬉皮士的城市，或是些……我也不知道自己期望看到什么，但我却看到一个充满生命力的城市。我的意思是，这是欧洲的艺术之都。它是现实世界的十字路口，或者说众运河的交汇处。它富于创造性、充满活力、独一无二。这就是阿姆斯特丹，如果对其他东西不感兴趣，好好看看这个城市建筑吧。
