A Journey to the NETHERLANDS

Hi All, 🌷✨

I have arrived in the Netherlands! I’ve learned a lot just in the first few days here.  

When arriving in the city, I walked for an hour, then sat outside the Caffe Esprit and had a cappuccino and people-watched. It was a beautiful day.

Canals with bikes

Not unusual to see bikes stacked along the rail by the canal like this

I rented a bike, out-and-about touring for the day. Their bike paths are so well designed throughout the city and around the countryside, riding is an exact science. I rode all afternoon, around the city. Once adept on a three-speed bike, it was easier. I learned to practice the rules and how things works here in Amsterdam, (ringing bell and signaling right/left/straight), it went pretty easy.  Bikes have the right-of-way here…. Cars and pedestrians stop for bikes, NOT the other way around.  The traffic is much-like Prague, cars stop for you, you don’t stop and wait for them.  It feels unusual, but, once you get use to it, you go with the flow. The experienced Amsterdam locals ride with ease, and if you aren’t watching, you might get hit by a bike.  You can tell who is a tourist and who is a longtime biker. The key is always, ALWAYS, look to your left because a bike could be coming from behind and side-swipe you. In the city, you can be riding alongside a well-known mathematician, diplomat with their briefcase in hand or common-folk going to work. There is no ere’s about riding a bike in the city of Amsterdam, everyone does it.

I learned quickly that there is not ‘really’ a country called Holland, instead, it is called the Netherlands. There is an upper and lower Holland in the Netherlands. For some reason Holland stuck in people’s conversations as if Holland was its own country, but it’s not.  The faces of the locals seem familiar, just like in Hamburg for me. As I sit on the train, it was like I saw similar resemblance to my paternal side. (I’ll have to check more into this as part of my ancestry research).

I stay in a little town called Wormerveer outside of the city.  In Dutch it’s pronounced “WERM-pheer.” The small town is very quaint and I comfortably RUN the parameter of this little town in the early mornings.  Everyone speaks English, so it’s quite easy to get around. You can take a direct train from the Amsterdam Central train station. The Wormerveer station is only a short walk over a bridge along the canal.  The train runs every 20 minutes there are two trains to the city and beyond. I quickly learned that you need to take the Sprinters in order to arrive in If you happen to get on the wrong train, you can hop off and go to the next track where the sprinters arrive within minutes. 

I did a lot of walking first few days here, racking up the miles. AND there is so much to see, just in Amsterdam alone. I am glad I planned for a longer trip, so I can spend a lot of days in the city. I have many excursions in the countryside of the Netherlands, can’t wait for this experience too.  

Amsterdam is a very liberal, deeply-rooted, clever, and happy-go-lucky type of city; rebuilt from the ground up, more-than once. It is known for having rich expertise on waterway designs to reduce flooding given the city is built on water.  Many communities (in different countries) seek their expertise when their city engineers are redesigning or upgrading their communities to prevent flooding. It is a science, even the cement is meticulously put together so that the rainwater seeps through the cracks to prevent water build up. 

Artists landed here after having enough of the aristocrat exposure, and since 1500’s or more, they wanted to gain a sense of freedom in their creative approach. This is why you see Van Gogh (The Dutch pronounce it Van Goff) and Picasso authentic works, to name a few, right there in the park. Both of these artists made a large impression on me. 

There are many parks here; one stands out, similar to Central Park in New York, Voldenpark, located in the southwest-end of the city. I rode my bike there, about 4-5 miles of complete and utter solitude and beauty. The greenery and florescent aroma alone made it worth the ride. Many run, walk and sit having  a cappuccino at the cafe in this park. There’s a shelter where I imagine a symphony plays to entertain the park-goers on a breezy afternoon. By the time I was done, I was so relaxed. It made it easier to continue riding around the city.

We spent a day in the city, experiencing tasty Amsterdam cheese and Dutch pancakes. It was quite a treat. 

My first DUTCH Pancake!!!

Spinach w/ feta cheese dutch pancake &

Apple w/powdered sugar

Fresh squeezed orange juice

In Hoorn, we filled the afternoon with stories. Our first stop was a quaint little restaurant, where we met up with our new friend Martin, a long-time Netherlands resident and a good friend of our friend Rachel from the US. We filled our time sharing stories over wine or local beer made by monks from the monastery. It was so much fun, and the afternoon flew by. We saw historic sites while walking the quaint little town of Hoorn located on the lake by the channel. Late in the evening, we had dinner at the historic Hoofdtoren restaurant inside the Historic original massive defensive gatebuilding build in the 1700's.

That’s it for now, I hope you enjoyed my stories so far!!! More to come!!! :D ဗီူဗီူ ဗီူဗီူ 

🏊🚴🏻🙏🏻 🏃🏻‍♀️