June 12, 2009; Groot Melkhuisje Cafe, Vondelpark, Amsterdam @ 11.30
Had a morning meeting at this very pleasant and sunny cafe in Amsterdam's largest and most popular park - Vondelpark.
The park is 120 acres (47 hectares) making it about 15% the land area of New York City's Central Park. But think of this: Central Park has 25 million visitors a year; Vondelpark has 10 million visitors a year; New York City has 8 million residents; Amsterdam had 740,000 residents. So if I make a nice index comparing the relative intensity of park usage then Amsterdam's Vondelpark has a 'park usage intensity' that is 459% greater than NYC's Central Park. If I factor in the difference in park area the 'park usage intensity' increases by an additional factor of 6.6 to 3,030%! And is this important or even interesting? I have no idea, but now you know how my mind sometimes works.
Vondelpark was opened in 1865 in a much smaller form and kept growing into the 20th century when it took its current form. The park has lots of water (not for swimming), playing fields, playgrounds for kids, an open air theater and several cafes.
On a nice summer day the park is indeed used very intensely. Bikers, ball players, skaters and skeelers, sunbathers, walkers, cafe sitters, musicians, dancers, yoga and tai chi practitioners, ice cream vendors, picnickers, potheads, beer drinkers and a host of other characters all combine to give the park an eclectic buzz from early morning to well into the night.