A real trip to Amsterdam (and around)

A short entry and some pictures from the trip to Kinderdijk (a windmill field near Rotterdam) and Amsterdam last weekend with a friend from Brussels. I didn’t get to experience Amsterdam as much as I wanted to the first time I went, and this time, with a full weekend, it was more than enough. To be honest I didn’t appreciate Amsterdam so much, even after the second visit. It was touristy, crowded, and dirty. Currently it’s in the same category as Bruges and Paris, my list of “cities I don’t quite like”.

It began with a side trip to Kinderdijk, a windmill field similar to Zaanse Schans where I went last year. We arrived at around 9:30 in the morning, bright and early.

Biking is very popular in Kinderdijk. I think the biking trails reach further into the field than the walking trails so the bikers probably got to see more of the place than those who just walked, like us.

 
Nature is still so very fascinating. More than the windmills, I spent a lot of time trying to capture the beauties of nature around Kinderdijk. When you open your eyes and ears and observe, there is beauty in every unsuspecting corner. I really liked the dragonfly that somewhat cooperated with me as I was taking its picture. What a graceful, elegant creature!

A flock of birds zoom across the gloomy sky in a line formation, aiming towards a windmill as the wind brings them farther and farther away.

In the afternoon, my friend and I arrived in Amsterdam. Here is the Singel canal with the flower market on its right. Though overall I didn’t like Amsterdam, I do admit that its architecture is quite beautiful.

Say cheeeeeeeeese! I love Gouda cheese and Edam cheese, so amazing!

Since we had a day and a half in Amsterdam, we only had time to visit one museum in our itinerary, and that would be the Van Gogh museum, not shown here. This Rijksmuseum is the Dutch National Museum situated in the museums complex. No time for it this time, and I doubt I’ll go back for it 😦

The bathing suits hanging on the wire reminds me of a similar trend in Belgium where different types of shoes are hung on a wire. So far I’ve seen it in Louvain-la-Neuve and Ghent. I wonder if the bathing suit version means the same thing as the shoes…whatever it means, really.

Amsterdam’s charm supposedly comes from its numerous canals scattered all around the city, like the typical one seen here. While I enjoyed Amsterdam’s beautiful architecture, I found nothing exceptionally unique about the canals, to be quite honest. I just wonder what that sign means…no fans allowed?

A last look at Amsterdam on our second and final day of the trip, with some agreeable weather to end our short weekend break.