Legend has it couples who kissed passionately crossing the skinny bridge over the Amstel River will be in love forever. At least, that’s the version that was played on the narration on the tourist canal cruise.

(Image from Iamsterdam.com I was too busy stealing a kiss to take a photo)

This legend has romanticized the skinny wooden bridge. Couples on our cruise did embraced and kissed passionately when crossing under the bridge. That was almost the only piece of information that got into my mind through the 30 min long narration on the boat coz it sparked fantasy, the fantasy of being in love with someone forever.

Magere Brug has its beauty history, one of the oldest wooden bridge in Amsterdam, used to be skinny barely enough to only allow two pedestrians crossing at the same time back in 1871.  When looking up its story, instead of the everlasting love legend pops up from the search results, it was actually the story of two skinny sisters – named after the “magere zussen” (skinny sisters), it was believed that the well-off sisters who lived across the river from each other built this bridge so that we could visit each other more easily.    

Why am I writing this post? Of course it’s because the memory the lingering but passionate kiss under the bridge still brings butterflies to my stomach.