About town with... Tijs Goldschmidt
Writer and evolutionary biologist Tijs Goldschmidt (58) has been living near the Spui - 'precisely between [the bookstores] Selexyz Scheltema and Athenaeum’ - since 1994. He takes us behind the scenes of the Spui and the surrounding area in the Centre District of Amsterdam. Click on the map further down for a better view of the streets in the area.
Living by the Spui
It's very quiet. The Spui is a square with Parisian allure. There are few cars and it doesn't have those horribly designed lampposts that you get on the Nieuwmarkt.
Café culture
Not De Zwart on Spuistraat - I live too close to that, which can be dangerous for someone as addiction-prone as me. I always realise this when I see how the regulars with their big beer bellies come staggering out of there.
I like the Grand Café Luxembourg - also nearby - with its canopied veranda, where you get a beautiful view of Spui square. They've recently renovated the place and they do good (by Dutch standards) shrimp croquettes with deep-fried parsley.
And lastly, I sometimes go to De Pilsenerclub, also known as De Engelse Reet (The English Arse) on Begijnensteeg behind the English Reformed Church. Or to De Dokter on Rozenboomsteeg.
Going out
Spui 25, the academic-cultural centre, is a great addition to the neighbourhood. It offers lectures and other events concerning culture in the broadest sense of the term - from science to fantasy, from fact to fiction. And Perdu, a bit further away on Kloveniersburgwal, is an important venue for poetry.
Eating out
Casa di David on the Singel canal is a very decent Italian. And sometimes we get Greek takeaway from Grekas Deli, also on the Singel. The owner is Greek and his wife is Dutch.
Art
Het Lieverdje by Carel Kneulman [the famous statue on the square] is nice, but traditional. What's more intriguing to me is a piece of conceptual art by Lawrence Weiner called A Translation - from One Language to Another also located on the square.
It consists of three book-shaped objects with the words 'A translation - from one language to another' written on them in different languages.
Museum
Castrum Peregrini on the Herengracht. It was founded by the artist and patron Gisèle d'Ailly-van Waterschoot van der Gracht, who's now 99 years old. Michael Defuster and Lars Esbert organise salons and exhibitions there, often showing works by artists from the Rijksakademie.
Animals on the Spui
Once I caught a mouse in my house. First, I put him into the bread bin, to fulfil a lifelong dream of his. After that, I put him into a bag and we went out on the streets. Amazing, how quickly you can displace an animal like that. Where would I set him free? On the square he'd get lost. Or he'd be run over.
But on the Begijnhof [a secluded courtyard surrounded by small houses just off Spui square, originally serving as accommodation for unmarried women, the Beguines] he could easily sneak into the houses of the Beguines or their modern successors. I set him free on the lawn. He was utterly dishevelled and shaking from stress. But I could feel that he would make it.
For a quick bite
I absolutely adore herring. But I never buy it at the herring stall that's directly on the Spui, because the vendor looks like someone I know who I can't stand. Entirely unreasonable, of course, but that's the way these things work. Thankfully, the herring stall on Koningsplein is excellent.
Sports
I'm addicted to zumba. Three hours a week I exercise this swinging Latino dance at SportCity Waterlooplein on the Jodenbreestraat. It's all women in the class except for me, and the instructor is a beautiful Surinamese lady. Without zumba I wouldn't make it through.
Books
I go to Selexyz Scheltema on Koningsplein for scientific books and to the Athenaeum on the Spui for literature. And each Friday there's the book market on the square. One of the booksellers there is my favourite antiquarian Hein Exalto, who has recently reopened his store on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. But actually I'm suffocating in books at home. I should probably move house.
Interview by Anne-Rose Bantzinger
Photo by Liselore Kamping
Translation by Sarah Gehrke
First published in the Uitkrant, April 2011
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