Amsterdam - Vondelpark

This green lung in the heart of Amsterdam is named after Joost van den Vondel, Holland's most famous poet. His statue was unveiled in the park in 1867. The park, Amsterdam's Bois de Boulogne as one newspaper called it when it was opened, covers approximately 48 hectares (119 acres) and is landscaped on English lines, with sandpits and playgrounds, ponds and fountains, flower beds and lawns, a rose garden and a little tea house, a number of different trees and hedges providing homes for many birds. At the time of the "Provos" in the mid-1960s the Vondelpark was inhabited by hippies, but when drug pushing and such attendant crimes as theft became rife, the authorities decided to forbid sleeping in the park at night. During the summer the park is the venue for the Vondelpark Festival and many other programs of music, drama and children's events.