AMSTERDAM, April 30 — When one thinks of Amsterdam, one imagines the canals and the houseboats moored on its banks.
The “coffee shops” that don’t serve coffee but certainly exude an equally distinctive aroma.
The red light district where discreet windows are framed in hot neon pink.
The paper cornets overflowing with fries — the famous Vlaamse frites — that everyone seems to be carrying.
What one doesn’t think of is the ethereal cherry blossoms of Japan during spring. Yet this vision is exactly what you see if you explore past the touristy Damrak area in front of the central train station and head further west to neighbourhoods free of backpacker lodges and overpriced canal cruises.
Westerpark, the city’s green lungs, is already a favourite of many Amsterdammers looking to escape the claustrophobia of work and school, especially on weekends.
About a 15-minute bus ride from the Amsterdam Central bus station, Westerpark was first founded in this working class neighbourhood in 1891 and used to be the site of a considerably more industrial-looking gas factory (Gasfabriek).
Today the urban park has a new life as a cultural centre with street markets and festivals, offering locals a getaway without needing to leave their beloved city.
But come spring and Westerpark is transformed into a little known oasis of snowy white and pale pink petals.
The elegant cherry trees that line its main cycling and jogging boulevard bloom in earnest after three seasons of patient waiting. This ethereal effect is especially startling against the clear blue skies the Netherlands is known for.
Parakeets dance from tree to tree, making a game of spotting these exotic birds (rumoured to be descendants of a mating pair accidentally released years ago) among the Dutch sakura a pleasant distraction.
Amsterdammers in the know come early to get good spots beneath the cherry trees for their own chance at hanami (“flower viewing” in Japanese).
Here the practice is better known as bloem het bekijken and isn’t limited to tulips during spring.
Unlike in Japan, there are no large blue plastic sheets; there are no carefully prepared bento lunchboxes purchased fresh from a nearby depachika (those celebrated underground food halls found in every respectable departmental store) for a picnic.
The Dutch are more straightforward in their appreciation of the cherry blossoms. They just come, sit or stroll, and admire the flowers’ ephemeral beauty.
There is no contemplation of the blooms’ brevity as a metaphor for the brief lives of men. The flowers are beautiful so let’s just enjoy them while they last. And when these have wilted and fallen to the ground? Well, there will be more next year.
Need to get in from the chill? (Even when the sun is out, temperatures can drop below 8°C swiftly during spring.) We head to Espressofabriek, a specialty coffee shop inside Westerpark founded in 2005 by Rick Woertman.
Housed in a two-storey red-bricked building, we are greeted by a spacious café on the ground floor when we enter.
More than that, we are welcomed by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, so inviting after many hours spent outdoors viewing the cherry blossoms. Curious onlookers will discover a roastery on the top floor and wooden picnic benches outside, giving those who don’t mind the springtime cold an al fresco experience.
And what’s on the menu? Well, what better way to warm than with a hot cup of the “soup of the day”? Do note that this selection of heart-warming “broth” never changes here. There’s a good reason for that — it’s coffee, naturally.
Wherever we choose to sit, everyone looks relaxed with their beverages cupped in their hands: a flat white for one, a filter brew for another. We decide on the large windows that give us a great view of the open field outside without any of the chill.
Looking out — where young children run around in play, some kicking a football, and other screaming at the top of their voices; where couples openly embrace and share a kiss or a bite of frikadellen, a deep fried sausage snack (sometimes ambitious couples do both, and not necessarily in that order) — we can’t help but think: this is so very different from Tokyo or Kyoto during those precious few weeks for hanami.
Perhaps this isn’t sakura season in Amsterdam after all, but the city’s very own time of cherry blossoms. Just as fleeting but unique in its own way, suffused with that inimitable Dutch charm. How very lovely indeed.
Getting to Westerpark
Take the bus No. 22 from Amsterdam Central Station. Board at the Station Sloterdijk stop and get off at the Nassauplein stop.
Espressofabriek
Gosschalklaan 7, 1014 DC Amsterdam, The Netherlands
www.espressofabriek.nl
