Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I traded in my rental car for the train and headed towards central Amsterdam. I was fortunate enough to be staying with locals, my BFF’s brother and his new wife! (Interesting coincidence: I had stayed with this same brother in London 5 years before, when I first had the idea for this adventure. And here I was again, at the “end” of my travels, haven come full circle!). When I had previously visited Amsterdam, I had been impressed with the history and the pancakes, however, I hadn’t been wowed. However, if I’d learn anything during my time wondering the world, was that I enjoyed a place a lot more when I had the privilege to stay with a local host. And after all, this was likely the end of my 4 month stretch of travel, so might as well go out with a bang!
And in another twist of fate, while in London 5 years ago, I had been introduced to some friends of my hosts and one of them now happen to live in Amsterdam and was a city tour guide! There are “free” walking tours all over Europe, designed to give participants a brief overview of the city’s sights and history in a 2-3hr period. And I say “free”, because they rely solely on tips and it’s considered rude not to leave one.
One of the 7 canal rings of central Amsterdam
Amsterdam was experiencing the first nice days of spring. When the weather is warm and the air is sweet. Perfect walking weather! And there’s no better place to hit the pavement than in this Dutch capital. The tour I participated in was jammed pack with awesome tidbits of the city’s history. Here are a few:
- While The Netherlands and specifically Amsterdam are known for their permissible drug laws, it’s actually illegal for foreigners to purchase pot. Shop owners are required to ask for local ID before making a sale, according to Dutch law. However, when this law came into effect, the mayor of Amsterdam declared that his city would not be obeying this rule. You have capitalism to thank for that one!
- The city boasts a whooping 165 canals!
- every year, approximately 10 000 bicycles are removed from the canals
- Amsterdam houses are built on wooden poles. Most were drilled in during the 17th century, which is why many Amsterdam houses tend to be crooked and leaning sideways….luckily, crooked house can rest on their neighbours!
Rijksmuseum
One of the things I was looking forward to visiting after skipping it years ago was the Rijksmuseum, the city’s leading art museum. I hadn’t immersed myself in the art world since Spain, back in November, so I was looking forward to scratching that itch. It did not disappoint!
Three great masters under one roof: Vermeer, Van Gogh & Rembrandt
One of the world’s greatest art pieces and Rembrandt most recognized one: The Night Watch. Like all famous artwork, there’s always a crowd of 30-40 people gathered around, so catching more than a glimpse of this masterpiece takes patience. Interesting fact: The Night Watch isn’t an accurate name as the artist did not paint a night scene, but a day one. The dark colours are simply an accumulation of dirt over the years, leading everyone to believe it was painted to represent nighttime.
This time around, Amsterdam definitely delivered the wow factor! The company was fantastic, the weather couldn’t have been better and I was feeling great. Although bittersweet, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my travels (or the bulk of them anyways).
Now, all I had left to do was settle comfortably in my budget airline seat (did I mention I scored a one way ticket back to Canada for 200$??!! Start the car!), and get ready to resume my “regular life”…
The view from the balcony of my Dutch flat