About town with... Paul Groot
Actor Paul Groot (43) recently starred in the Monty Python musical Spamalot in Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre Carré. He's lived in the Spiegelkwartier in the Centre District of Amsterdam since 2004. Click on the map further down for a better view of the streets in the area.
Living in the Spiegelkwartier
This neighbourhood is usually rather quiet, but the calm on the Prinsengracht is amply compensated for on Queen's Day, during the Gay Pride Canal Parade and when yet another football tournament has been nearly won.
Theatre
When I was 12 years old, I went to Carré to see the musical Amerika Amerika, starring Jos Brink and Frank Sanders. This was probably when my passion for theatre went from low flame to full-on fire. And in the end I got the chance to perform on that stage myself - amazing!
Eating out
Panini on the Vijzelgracht is a good Italian place. Nice and simple, and the staff are really friendly. Blue, up in the Kalvertoren [the bell tower on Muntplein, ed.] serves very decent lunch and offers a phenomenal view of the city centre, including the Spiegelkwartier.
Film
I'm glad that Pathé City has re-opened. I just wonder why the renovations took so long: by the looks of it, all they've done is put in a new carpet!
The Uitkijk cinema on the Prinsengracht is nicely small and intimate. I'm not a fan of the popcorn emporiums, where the floor is sticky and mice are crawling about the place.
Bars
At Café Heuvel on the Prinsengracht there's a photo up on the wall that shows the Dutch illusionist Tommy Wonder, who passed away in 2006. I've got a soft spot for magic. Joop Heuvel, the father of the bar's current owner, was an amateur illusionist and co-founder of the illusionists' club Mysterium.
Art
Last year, a naked man with a towel over his head suddenly appeared on top of the cooling structure where the future Vijzelgracht metro station is being built. As if he was in a steam bath. To me, the sauna man is that fun kind of guerrilla art that causes plenty of confusion.
Architecture
The most beautiful building in the area is De Bazel on the Vijzelstraat, which has housed the city archives since 2007.
For [political satire TV show] Koefnoen we were given permission to shoot a scene there that involved Batman, but eventually it didn't make the cut. Hopefully it'll happen another time.
Specialty shops
The toy store Tinkerbell on the Spiegelgracht sorts everything by age and type of child - the rowdy, the dreamer and so forth. One of my nephews loves dinosaurs, his sister's more into princess gowns. Sometimes I even buy something for myself. No princess gowns though.
Museum
Foam Photography Museum on the Keizersgracht regularly has amazing exhibitions by artists such as Richard Avedon.
Animal life in the Spiegelkwartier
I regularly run into Sinatra around the canals. That's [TV personality] Hans van Willigenburg's dachshund.
Delicacies
Patisserie Holtkamp on the Vijzelgracht remains unsurpassed. Everything there is absolutely gorgeous and delectable. Made with true devotion to their trade.
Spiegelkwartier mysteries
Where have all our letterboxes gone? First the one on the Kerkstraat disappeared, then the one on the Prinsengracht. Without so much as a note announcing where to find the nearest one. It's more like a 'why don't you go and find out yourself' approach. Well done, TNT Post!
Art and antiques
Art and antique galleries and shops are too high-threshold for me, something I have to try and overcome. Peter Pappot on the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat sells silk-screen prints by Peter van Straaten. There's this one where a man's hanging over the toilet bowl at night while his wife, wearing a nightdress and leaning against the door, asks, 'So, who was there?'
Interview by Anne-Rose Bantzinger
Photo by Liselore Kamping
Translation by Sarah Gehrke
First published in the Uitkrant, May 2011
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