#Travel_Tuesday: Amsterdam

Have you started to travel especially personal travelling now that the borders are open and restrictions are relaxed? For many avid travelers, the past 2 years have been challenging. When you are used to travelling, being cooped up in your own home is not easy.

In December 2019, just before C19 was a big thing, I did manage to take a 2-week trip over Christmas to Europe. This was the first time for a family trip so far away from home after many years. I travel frequently for business and am used to the finer things in life when it comes to accommodations (clean and good service) but for food, I don’t believe in splurging but I don’t mind paying for a good meal.

I always like to fly in to Amsterdam, a city that I enjoy visiting. One of the reasons is that I choose the flights that land there early in the morning, which means I get a good night’s sleep on the plane before I start sight-seeing. #Schiphol is the busy airport and the trains to the city operate early. I usually have a nice breakfast in Schiphol before venturing into the city. Being their first time in Europe, the girls were excited but fell silent once the wintery air hit them. They got used to the cold quickly and immediately went around exploring the shops outside the airport. There were cafes with their inviting smell of hot brew, a supermarket, florists, bakeries with their more inviting smells all around. Its good to see that the airport is just as I remember it, totally busy but inviting and the girls totally enjoying their first encounter of Amsterdam.

Once we had some pastries and sandwiches and Dutch coffee in us, we took the train into Amsterdam and it was a quick ride to Amsterdam Central. We earlier booked a nice hotel in Amsterdam so we proceeded to drop our bags at the concierge and proceeded to walk around Amsterdam in the cold temperature (below 8o). The weather while cold was refreshing and a good change. We were in Europe for a very specific purpose – to visit the Christmas bazaars, and fairs which usually start as early as Nov till the beginning of Jan in some towns. The atmosphere was magical in these bazaars, Christmassy and cold weather warmed up by mulled wine, hot food and probably a thousand people, bear in mind this was pre C19 days. Point to note however that Amsterdam is a near cashless city with many establishments opting not to be paid in cash.

We finished 1 bazaar within Amsterdam and finally checked into our Hotel #CitizenM Amsteel which was a hip hotel and very clean which we booked online before our trip. Our morning breakfast was in the bakery café located next to the hotel and we were drawn to the smell of freshly baked breads and a small crowd. Having our fill an hour later we went to explore the city, time to be the tourist. There were so many sights to see in this city from the canals to monuments and statues.

We made our way towards the row of colorful buildings along the canals between the Amsterdam Central station and Dam Square. We did our tourist thing taking pictures in front of the #Rembrandtplein, the #National_Monument and even took a trip outside city center to #Madurodam where there are miniature buildings and you can feel like Gulliver. The wind chill was low in that area but it was fun for the family. In total we planned and visited 2 Christmas bazaars, having our fill of Dutch hospitality and food.

We left Amsterdam after a few days onward to our next destination, Germany for more Christmas cheer. More next week…