The streets at night
De Pijp keeps a different night rhythm from the centre. There are no neon squares and no stag parades, just a long, sociable evening that drifts from restaurant to bar and thins out slowly after one. By the small hours the market street has been swept, the metal stall frames are stacked away, and the metro entrance on the Ferdinand Bolstraat has gone quiet. On Sundays the stalls stay folded all day, and the neighbourhood is at its most relaxed. Apartment buildings here rarely have a doorman, and the front doors open straight onto the pavement, so the arrangement is the same as at a friend's flat: she sends a message from the step and you let her in. Neighbours tend to be young and not easily scandalised, but the walls between the old apartments can be thin. Music at low volume covers more than you might expect, and a bedroom at the back of the flat, away from the street, covers the rest.