A Day in Amsterdam!
The 'City of the Bikes' they call it. What a beautiful city to wander around! I forgot to say hello in my excitement of writing this blog post :P "Hello."
Ok, so back to the blog post, this city was just really calm and relaxing and enjoyable to walk around. Smart houses line either side of the street, a glistening river in the middle with reflections sparkling off of it, a barge cruising down the canal, tourists taking pictures and holding hands, and then you hear it...the tinkling of a bicycle bell. Ring ring!! Which means 'I'm coming!! Move outta the way!' Imagine all of this topped off coolly with a gentle breeze making the tree branches dance and a comfortable heat radiating from the sky. Bliss.
I'll rewind a little and tell you about my trip from the beginning. So, this was a siblings holiday, (well, I say holiday, but it was more of a weekend-break.)
Day 1
We caught a cruise liner from the Port of Tyne from Newcastle all the way to the Seaport in Amsterdam. Did I mention my bro got 'randomly selected' for a pat-down? This is my third time on a liner, and I would happily travel on one of them all of the time haha! Not so sure about aeroplanes though. Since we had to spend a good 15 hours on the cruise ship, we entertained ourselves with going to the Cinema, watching the sea and browsing duty-free.
Woke up work-time at around 6.30 because a) I couldn't sleep well on a moving bed and b) I didn't fancy missing breakfast :P I don't know why, but I always like the breakfast bit on a holiday. Maybe it's the freshness of a new day and the excitement for the day ahead!
Our tour guide even made a weird song singing "Watermelon juicy! Pineapple crunchy!!"
*cue siblings trying to suppress laughing fits out of politeness.*
The City Centre itself was like being in Central London because of the vast open spaces people could chill in, the grand architectures, along with the designer shops, cute souvenir stalls and then some more touristy attractions. We spent a good while trailing through the quaint alleyways and streets (at the same time trying to find somewhere Halal to eat.) That was a mission in itself!
After having visited a museum called Bodyworks which displays real donated bodies, we went shopping! Look at these pretty tulips. Apparently tulips were introduced to Holland by the Ottoman Empire, as a precious gift and then were made famous by Dutch artists through their paintings. This kind of explains why there are tulips running through Middle-Eastern and Islamic patterns. You can buy wooden tulips, like the one below, pencil tulips, pen tulips, keyrings and even real bulbs sold by the pack! Tulips also decorate the planters in streets.
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There literally wasn't enough time in the day to simply explore the entire shopping area properly. See these buildings below? They have side alleyways between all of the shops too! There was definitely a culture shock because of the legal selling of cannabis and its liberal attitude to the Red Light District, because us Brits are more conservative about it.
There was a collection of buildings on the street; some were cosy homes, some art studios and some offices. But again, they all boasted the same Ikea-ish look to them. Black, white, clean lines, simple primary colours, pretty artwork, a geometric patterned rug. For this reason, I'd have to say that more than the shopping area, the street-style was just so cool and chic. All of the houses we walked past had a bicycle or two tied up outside it, followed by a smart planter. That's just standard. Not a single car was to be spotted. And it just gave everyone riding the bicycles a genuinely happy and carefree look.
Amsterdam has lit the travelling-flame in me, and I fully intend on going abroad more often because it was so energising and refreshing!
Next year maybe Morrocco I think...? :P
Shai
xxx
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