Joris Bakker

I taught history at a secondary school in Amsterdam-Oost for fourteen years before I started guiding, and I still talk like a teacher, so be warned. I live a five minute walk from Waterlooplein, where my grandfather sold fabric at the market before the war, and a lot of what I show people comes from that part of town. I care about dates, names and the address where something actually happened. If a story is only a legend I will tell you it is a legend. My walks are slow: we stop, I read you a letter or show you a photograph from the city archive, and then we look at the same corner as it is now. I speak Dutch, English and decent German. Outside work I row on the Amstel on Sunday mornings and I am still trying to finish a book about the diamond cutters of the Plantage. Groups are small on purpose, because it is hard to hear anything on a canal bridge with twenty people. These days you can join me from anywhere: I walk Amsterdam live with my phone and answer questions on the spot.