Rooms and doors of Spaarndammerbuurt
Most visitors here rent an apartment in one of the brick blocks, and those flats are compact, often with small bedrooms, steep stairs and windows set in thick walls. Many have been renovated inside with modern bathrooms, while keeping their decorative outside. In the new Houthavens district, apartments are larger, with lifts and views over the IJ. There are very few hotels, and the neighbourhood has no nightlife beyond a handful of bars that close by one. Streets are quiet in the evening, and the local cafés are full of residents rather than tourists. The Westerpark, with its cultural complex in the old gasworks, is only a short walk across the railway, and the centre is reached in ten minutes by bicycle. Visitors who choose this neighbourhood often want to see a different side of the city, and they enjoy the calm when they return from dinner. Bicycle traffic is the main sound after dark, and in summer the small squares keep a gentle murmur of neighbours on benches until late. Nobody in these streets pays attention to who rings which bell.
