Rooms and doors of Indische Buurt
Homes here are mostly apartments in brick blocks of four floors, some from the early decades of the last century, some rebuilt more recently. The older flats have narrow stairs, compact bathrooms and bedrooms at the back overlooking the inner gardens; the newer blocks near the Zeeburgerdijk have lifts and larger rooms. There are a few small hotels near the Javaplein and the Muiderpoort station. The evenings are relaxed: restaurants on the Javastraat stay open until about eleven, and the rest of the area falls silent quickly after that. Visitors like the neighbourhood because it feels real and because the tram and the train at Muiderpoort make the centre easy to reach. Neighbours in these blocks are used to visitors of all kinds at all hours, and a woman climbing the stairs with a small bag after dinner time does not stand out in any way. Taxis can stop right outside most doors, since the streets are straight and wide enough, and the drive from the centre at night follows the waterfront, then turns inland past the old Muiderpoort gate, which gives the route a small moment of history before she arrives.
