Coolest City

Gelezen in de New York Times, herfstreiseditie 2008:

Ik lees het nog eens: "BELIEVE it or not, there are far more intoxicating reasons to visit Amsterdam these days than its infamous coffee shops or its red-light district. Not since the Dutch Golden Age has Amsterdam seen such a creative boom. All along the harbor and in the city’s South Axis area, futuristic buildings designed by architects like Renzo Piano and Rafael Viñoly have been going up — a modernist foil to the city’s venerable canal houses. The country known for Rembrandt and Franz Hals also has modern day counterparts in Amsterdam design stars like Marcel Wanders and Tord Boontje. And the restaurant scene is finally catching up with the rest of Europe. Amsterdam is angling to become Europe’s creative capital, and it’s doing so without even inhaling."

Mooi bericht van Gisella Williams. Maar dat was vorig jaar, 2007. Nu is het Steve Korver, 2008, in dezelfde New York Times: "Art and commerce have always been cozy in Amsterdam. And now, as a building boom shakes up this free-spirited city (cutting edge architecture, a subway line on the way), the Dutch capital has emerged as a cultural juggernaut, with everyone from designers to DJ’s feeling their creative muscles." De Nederlandsde hoofdstad heet de coolste stad van dit moment, wereldwijd. Jammer dat Europa voor Amerikanen sindsdien alleen maar duurder is geworden.