Finally… something decent to put in this travel blog I hold on for too long. My first “Euro-trip” :)
Armsterdam. All we know about Armsterdam is all about (or friends and the media would suggest) is a the home to two things: Red Light Districts (really ball your eyes out deep red) and Green-lookin’ Horticulture (Weed). That was all I know about Armsterdam being a small metropolitan city located in the small marshed country, Netherlands, just right above Belgium and right beside Germany.
Well, It’s a lot more interesting that we all thought (the party aspects of Armsterdam). In a nutshell, Armsterdam is one of the pinnacle and critical historical nations that brought loads of innovation to the things we have today. On our arrival at the Schinpol Armsterdam Airport (with familia), we took the train to Armsterdam Centraal (Armsterdam Central) and check in to our hotel just 5 minutes walking distance.
We spend 3 days 2 nights in Armsterdam and to be honest, a not so enjoyable vacation at the end. I was having a severe cold and fever just days spent out in temperatures from 4 to about -8? Damn… But there are a couple of things I love about Armsterdam. We were at this historical location called the Zaanse Schans, of Zaandam in Zaanstad, Netherlands. Interestingly enough, these old houses were not the main attraction but the windmills or “Windmolen” in Dutch are something to study, reflect and really be marveled with such ingenius inventions that paved the way to the industrial revolution. Windmills were once design for pumping water out of one location to the next. From what I was told from a local, who is our tour guide, these mills were also use for other things like paintmill or Verfmolen and Zaagmolen (Sawmill). These mills become very useful in providing materials for building massive ships for warfare and expedition in a fraction of the time made with manpower. This industrial power led to the expedition and conquering of other nations like Indonesia and South Africa and made them one of the largest empires in comparison with the Portugese and Spanish.
Another great location we were around were the major canals like Keizergracht (Emperor’s Canal) and the Herengracht and even saw lots, and lots, and lots of bicycles parked everywhere. There is even a bicycle carpark 3 storeys high with about a million cyclist in the city itself…
Anyways, besides all the mambo jumbo i am talking about, Food there is expensive but i get to taste things like Hot Chocolate with Rum! I mean wow! That fight the cold real good! Edam’s famous smooth cheeses (pronounce as “Ae Daam” as spoken by Ralph, our tour guide and driver”). Will post pics on the next slide…. Portugal coming soon!
