Amsterdam: Highlights Of The Jordaan

One of the most overused words in the Dutch language is the adjective gezellig. Often said to be untranslatable, it can, in context, approximate everything from ‘cosy’ to ‘friendly’, ‘warm’, ‘comforting’ or ‘relaxing’. Pronounced with irony it can denote something that’s a little bit twee, but never unpleasantly so.

The thing about gezellig, you understand, is that you know it straight away when you see it. And should you ever want to see a whole lot of gezellig going on in one picture postcard package, head for the Jordaan. It wrote the book.

The ideal stomping ground or, perhaps more accurately, pottering plot – for those who can’t suffer the indignity of being a conspicuous tourist, the Jordaan has no queues and no must-see megasights, no vulgar ‘it’ bars and few global fashion franchises.

From its tiny, oak-panelled candlelit pubs where the smoking ban quite simply never happened, to its rustic markets, bijoux art galleries and swan-strewn canals, what the Jordaan has in spades is charm.

Once the designated zone for the working folk of Amsterdam and their smelly, industrial enterprises (many of the side streets – such as Hazenstraat – are named after the animals whose pelts were tanned there), nowadays it’s the sheer beauty of the place that is, quite simply, its own effortless justification.

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