Rijksmuseum

The Barlaeus Gymnasium is a secondary school in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is one of the five categorial gymnasia in Amsterdam, the other four being Vossius Gymnasium, Ignatius Gymnasium, Het 4e gymnasium and Cygnus Gymnasium. It offers a classical curriculum, including studies in Latin and Greek. The school stands opposite the music venue Paradiso, close to the Leidseplein. Het Stedelijk Gymnasium was established in 1885. It is the oldest of the four gymnasia, although its origins stretch back to the Latijnse scholen (Latin schools) whose existence is documented as far back as 1594. Since 1927, the school has been named after Caspar Barlaeus. Famous alumni include politicians Frits Bolkestein, Els Borst and writer Willem Frederik Hermans.

Paradiso is a Dutch music venue and cultural centre located in Amsterdam.

The Spiegelgracht is a canal in the centre of Amsterdam, located near the Prinsengracht. Built in the 16th century, it is a part of the Canals of Amsterdam which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Diamond Museum Amsterdam (Dutch: Diamant Museum Amsterdam) is a museum located at the Museumplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 2007 by Ben Meier of Coster Diamonds. The permanent collection consists of diamond jewelry and gives background information about diamonds. The museum is a member of the Dutch Museum Association and the Official Museums of Amsterdam.

Vossius was a restaurant in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was a fine dining restaurant that held one Michelin star from 2002 to 2003.Co-owners of the restaurant were head chef Rob Kranenborg, maître d'hôtel John Vincke (1955-2007) and R. van Kampen.Vossius was a luxurious restaurant that aimed for three Michelin stars. The owners used the best materials available, including a custom built Molteni stove and ceilings decorated with gold leaf. The project ended in bankruptcy after two years. The economic malaise gave the final blow to the restaurant.

De Balie is a theatre and a centre for politics, culture and media, with a café-restaurant at Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, at Leidseplein in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. De Balie specialises in a number of territories: politics, art, society, media and cinema, and regularly organises programs. These programs consistently bear the mark of a sharp and deeply analytical character; De Balie leaves no questions of social relevance unasked. Through talk shows, discussions, debates and theatre, De Balie mixes several points of view in a wayward and creative fashion. De Balie was founded in 1982 and is situated in the previous District Court, built around the end of the nineteenth century, which moved to the Parnassusweg in Amsterdam. Felix Rottenberg is co-founder of De Balie. Anil Ramdas was director from 2003 to 2005. Writer and journalist Yoeri Albrecht has been director from 1 December 2010, to present. He succeeded Ellen Walraven, who is currently working as a dramaturge at Toneelgroep Amsterdam. The current managing director is Femke Monaghan van Wachem. Next to the direction, the organisation of De Balie contains multiple departments including programming, communications, finances, technicians, building and system management and the Grandcafé.

Holland Casino is a Dutch state-owned company and has the legal monopoly on gambling in the Netherlands, and has fourteen casinos located throughout the country. Profits from Holland Casino go directly to the Dutch treasury. In 2007, profit was around 267 million euros and in 2006 some 263 million euros.

The Amsterdam Pipe Museum (formerly Dutch: Pijpenkabinet, "pipe cabinet") is a museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, dedicated to smoking pipes, tobacco, and related paraphernalia. It holds the national reference collection (nl) in these areas.The permanent exhibition of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum displays over 2,000 items representing the variety of smoking pipes and utensils that have been used in all parts of the world over the past 25 centuries.

In the evening of 6 July 2021, Dutch investigative journalist and crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was shot in the head after leaving the television studio of RTL Boulevard in Amsterdam where he had appeared as a guest. Several bullets were fired at him in the Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, near the Leidseplein, while he was walking to his car. He was taken to the VU University Medical Center in critical condition. The hospital came under heavy police protection that same evening. De Vries died of his injuries on 15 July 2021.

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (Dutch: Kop van een skelet met brandende sigaret) is an early work by Vincent van Gogh. The small and undated oil-on-canvas painting featuring a skeleton and cigarette is part of the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It was most likely painted in the winter of 1885–86 as a satirical comment on conservative academic practices. Before it was common to use live humans as models, the academic routine included the study of skeletons to develop an understanding of human anatomy. Van Gogh was in Antwerp, Belgium at that time attending classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, which he later said were boring and taught him nothing.Van Gogh included skeletons in another work from his Antwerp period, a sketch of a "Hanging skeleton and cat". In 1887–88, van Gogh painted two more paintings with skulls, the only other works of his (besides a drawing from the same period) to use skulls as a motif.The work measures 32 by 24.5 centimetres (12.6 in × 9.6 in). It is considered a vanitas or memento mori, at a time when van Gogh himself was in poor health. It may be influenced by works of Hercules Segers, a 17th-century Dutch artist, or of Félicien Rops, a Belgian contemporary of van Gogh. Although often interpreted as a criticism of smoking, Van Gogh was a keen smoker himself, and continued to smoke until his death in 1890.In 2008, the painting was used by graphic designer Chip Kidd on the first edition cover for When You Are Engulfed in Flames, a collection of essays written by David Sedaris. Sedaris is said to have been "fascinated with the image" after seeing it on a postcard during a trip to Amsterdam.The painting was held by Van Gogh's brother Theo Van Gogh at the time of his death in 1891. It was inherited by his widow Johanna van Gogh-Bonger until her death in 1925, and then by their son Vincent Willem van Gogh until 1962, when it was acquired by the Van Gogh Foundation. It was on loan to the Stedelijk Museum from 1962 to 1973, and has been on permanent loan to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam since 1973.

The Rape of Europa is a painting commissioned by Władysław IV Vasa from the Italian artist Guido Reni, completed between 1637 and 1639 and showing the abduction of Europa by Zeus in the form of a bull. It was later collected by Denis Mahon, who loaned it to the National Gallery, where it is still on display.

Auberge was a restaurant in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in 1980 and 1981.Head chef of Auberge was John Halvemaan.John Halvemaan and his wife Esther (as restaurant-manager) opened the restaurant in 1976. It was closed down in 1981, due to problems with the rent.