Amsterdam

Amsterdam - Simply said, I love this place. Above is the train station and this was the start point of many things, as it was central and it was very tourist friendly as the information was just 50 meters away in front of it. It was confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easy. Why do I love Amsterdam? I can't really give an explanation, so perhaps the best way to describe it is - it's a vibrant town and as a city, it has everything, from nature, to sleaze, to nice building, to the arts, to late night parties etc. It feels like, as I told a friend, a mixture of Naples and Venice - simply crazy.. lol. Below are 3 things that stand out for me about this place.

After coming here, I think Rembrandt is a genius. I mean, Van Gogh was great, but I just find Rembrandt to be easier to understand and someone who was able to make his paintings outstanding by the use of light. I mean, using light is an easy concept to know, but to be able to harness it is not easy. In photo taking, it's already like tough, but Rembrandt could harness it in his drawings, so it was really cool - so I look at him in a different light after this trip!

The RED LIGHT DISTRICT - I couldn't really take a picture, so this is the best that I can do. It's a real crazy place, but the prostitutes mainly didn't look super pretty so not sure what markets them, and I think they are really professional or thick skinned cos many people just gawk at them and they gotta continue posing and preening. I think they have cleaned up quite a bit of their practices because frankly, I think Geylang is more sleazy than here. I came here twice, once around 5-6pm but there wasn't much action, so I forced myself to come again around 11pm the second time and it was very different. The whole stretch became alive and had so much more prostitutes standing around. Very interesting!

WINDMILLS!!!!! I went to Zaanse Schans to see Windmills and it was really cool - I was happily bouncing around this small area as I could see the windmills and enjoy the nice walk at the sorta country side like place. This was definitely a touristy area, but they tried to keep as much of the country charm, so they are forgiven. All I gotta say is, I love seeing the windmills and makes me feel that I am REALLY IN HOLLAND!!!

There are still many pictures that I can post, but I can't do everything in one sitting, so I will randomly add things as I go along, I have to jump places because if I chronologically place everything, then I should still only be posting about Bruges... haha