Okay. I promised I'd write about Amsterdam soon. So here it is. In short Amsterdam is my favorite city in Europe thus far. The people, the food, the canals, the architecture...all a breath of fresh air. Albeit a cold breath. If it wasn't so cold throughout most of the year I'd live here. Forever.
I visited for a mere two days on this occasion with a girlfriend whom I also visited with last year. As it was mid April it was still very cold. I wanted to wait until May in the hopes of encountering some warm weather here but plans didn't match up.
Having seen most of the sites last year we milled about the city very carefree. We visited some old haunts and found some new ones. We had a pretty amazing bagel breakfast, went cheese tasting in various shops, went to Vondel Park and the flower market. We also spent a day at Keukenhof, an amazing garden of tulips in the countryside. Though the flowers outdoors weren't completely in bloom as I suspected due to the long winter, the indoor gardens were stunning. There was also a parade, an annual event on April twentieth, that boasts some incredible tulip floats! Tulip overload.
Also managed to do a supermarket run and stock up on tasty treats which I smuggled back to Spain. I love the variety in Holland as compared to Spain. Maybe the food culture here just seems more similar to what I'm used to growing up in California. Either way I took advantage.
After strolling through the red light district, checking out a few coffee shops and meeting lots of friendly folk I was reluctant to leave. Every smile, every friendly customer service encounter made me more and more reluctant. Seriously, the Dutch are wonderful. And tall. Really tall. It is incredible the impact of genetics on a population. In Spain, I (at a mere 5'5") am tall. Yes, tall. In Holland, I am not. Not even close.
Still though, after one and a half years in Europe I'm amazed at how each country despite being so close geographically is so unique. In every way possible. Different culture, cuisine, language, values. Each offering some contribution to European history, influenced differently by the past. As a history nerd in high school my experience in Europe is like experiencing the vestiges of an age long gone. I suppose that is what fuels my fascination and infatuation with Europe. Ancient Roman ruins stretching across the 'continent' and monuments older than the existence of the U.S.A. all within a two hour flight.
I returned to Spain planning how I could spend my summer in Amsterdam or at least part of it. This, as you will read in the next post, has now been deterred by my new obsession...the French Riviera.
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