amsterdam at christmas

Im currently planning on taking a trip to amsterdam in december, and I was wondering what the citys like in the winter?

 

If you're lucky it snows, but don't count on that.. count on a lot of rain..

 

If it snows its really, really pretty. If it doesnt then it just sucks (well not the city but the weather sure does): rainy, cold, ugh. Im going to Stockholm before christmas, snow guaranteed

 

hiya. as a foreigner, i've found that the winter weather in amsterdam is more moderate than i would have expected, given its lattitude. my friends back home in boston this past winter were telling me about thigh-deep snowfalls and prolonged periods of freezing. here in march we had about a hand's depth of snow that took three days to melt completely -- and it was said to be a ten-year record snowfall.

i'd say that in outlying areas (i used to live in osdorp/de aker) the winter wind and chill feels worse than in the city center.

also see
http://www.postwarmedia.nl/howams_pg/whatsdifferent.html#weather

love
s g collins

 

I meant to say this earlier, but great site btw. I would go so far as to say it's probably the best and most realistic information about Amsterdam that i've come across on the net. Good work!

 

cool, thanks jason

 

If you're there in the first week of December, you'll be in town for Sinterklaas and some of the fun stuff there, like the Black Peters and the likes. That and they were starting to put up decorations for Christmas at the same time.

 

The whole Black Peter thing is more disturbing than it is 'fun', in my opinion (but that's a whole other thread! lol).

 

well, for Americans, it can be disturbing, but Amsterdam is not an American city, is it? Just different cultural practices that resemble St. Nick a lot closer than our own Coca~Cola endorsed Santa Claus

 

well, it's also disturbing to a dutch/australian.

the fact that images of santa and his black slaves continue to adorn the whole country for a month should be disturbing to everyone.also the fact that many dutch childrens first exposure to black people is a story in which they are are portrayed as slaves, is really disturbing.

 

oh come on.. get over it already.. It has nothing to do with black slaves, if you watch dutch childrens tv you'll see how the 'zwarte pieten' are really portrayed.. their not slaves.. I'm really annoyed by these accusations.. It's tradition, it's fun, it's harmless so shut up and buy me some presents and write me a poem on december 5!!

 

many traditions all over the world have nasty origns. maybe it is harmless, but in a time when much of the country is polarized by race, i think it's a little dangerous not to mention offensive to many.

this article provides a very comprehensive discussion on the topic of zwarte piet.

http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/question/jan05/

 

I dont care about the origin of Zwarte Pieten. I always loved them when i was a kid because they acted funny, not because they were black, not because they were 'slaves' (theyre not anyway). Kids arent racist you know, its not a natural thing to be, its something that is taught by messed up adults. All kids love Sinterklaas and his zwarte pieten, and the worst thing you could do is make a big deal out of it and create another problem.

 

myrtje, you kinda just proved my point (read the article, you might actually find it interesting).

 

I love it when black people give me presents

 

Actually Jason, there is another explanation where the black peter comes from and it has nothing to do with slaves.. 'zwarte pieten' come from the legend of Wodan (Odin).. Saint Nicholas, who rides on the rooftops, is the pagan god Wodan [Odin]. . . . Saint Nicholas was also the leader of the wild chase in which the souls of the dead visit the earth. behind him were black ravens.. these black ravens are portryed by the 'zwarte pieten'

So don't believe everything you read.. there are many explanations.. I don't really care actually.. I like the tradition and I hope it never goes away.. I hope the zwarte pieten stay black and not purple like some people suggested..

 

Saint Nicholas and the smurfs.. teehee

 

I always thought vader abraham looks a bit like sinterklaas

 

hehe.. yeah.

Btw.. I heard several stories of black people that got asked for candy by kids during Sinterklaas time.. haha..

 

nah, dont feel like reading it. its all making a problem out of something innocent.