Thanks to my girlfriend we celebrated my birthday in Amsterdam. I had my birthday only after the trip, but I would not have thought that pre-celebrating can also be so nice 😝. By car we arrived Thursday evening in a hotel in one of the suburbs of Amsterdam. During our time there we always went with the streetcar to the city center, which cost us about 30 min, but the local transport in Amsterdam was very pleasant. It was my first time in the Netherlands and I really enjoyed the 3 days there. Amsterdam is a sweet city with its canals and also the buildings are nice to look at. The houses reminded me a bit of Sweden and I definitely prefer flat sidewalks with a pleasant transition to the street 😅. I've also never felt so comfortable with so many cyclists! Even though many ride very aggressively there, I appreciate them haha. It also seems to be a very international city and even if we have not caught the best weather, everything seems very peaceful and relaxed. From the people, the coffee shops, the candy stands, the flowers or the water around the city.
The tourist things to recommend? Good question, because I really enjoyed just not planning anything before a trip. But I found the Red Light District fascinating. Firstly because I've never seen anything like this lol, but also because I didn't know Amsterdam was known for it. The NDSM, a hall full of art, I also found interesting. However, what even was cooler was that on that day a festival with a lot of funfair rides took place next to the hall. My luck unfortunately failed quickly at one of the grabbing machines. What my friend can recommend is the Moco Museum. Unfortunately, we didn't make it there. But for the next time I would also like to visit the Casino.
Food was also good, maybe too good, because the Korean BBQ at which we were was newly opened with an all you can eat offer. A small trauma till this day lol. But also the sweet Stroopwafel which I have seen for the first time was very tasty. The Chinatown in Amsterdam was smaller than expected, but even there we have not let us take the opportunity to eat there for one evening. However, we can highly recommend the small snack bar Jen's Bing, which serve Taiwanese dishes.
On Sunday we already had to leave again, but we made a side trip to Harlem and the coast. Harlem was such a city where people could imagine to live if the village is too small for them but Amsterdam is too much. So actually fitting for me. Mainly we were there so that I get to see a mill haha. About 10 min from Harlem is the North Sea and as a person who loves coasts, a wonderful place. Lucky with the sun, not so lucky with the wind, the cold and a barbed wire fence on which I got stuck with my coat.
