History and the present converge on Amsterdam's canal belt. Along the canals, the film delves into Amsterdam's heyday in the 17th century and shows how the ingenious canal system continues to shape life in the port city to this day. The documentary looks behind the walls of the magnificent gabled houses, meets one of the last bridge keepers, travels with the floating post office and a flying canal trader, and shows alternative ways of living and working in houseboats and on former shipyard sites. The film portrays Amsterdam as a city that was built by globally active merchants and has not lost its innovative power to this day. Young creatives are conquering old industrial sites and transforming them in innovative ways. For example, by detoxifying chemically contaminated areas with the help of weeds. The concept is called phytoremediation.