Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.Ralph Waldo Emerson
After a quick journey across the border, we were in Amsterdam – Netherlands. Now this is one place which most of them have definitely heard and more of a must-do pilgrimage for all the guys. Nevertheless, I was finally here and hoping to do the utmost to hide my excitement.
Join us to Visit Amsterdam.
We arrived close to midnight – but didn’t seem like it as it was so awake! Our hotel was just a 5 mins walk from the station and just tucked into the night.
Waking up early morning, I could see that the pavements below looked weary – something left behind after a rave. A quick morning coffee and we were on our way. We had decided to explore Amsterdam on foot – so no metro this time. Its quite a picturesque city and what best other than to explore it on foot.
We first head south towards Anne Frank house. I still remember reading about Anne frank and her wartime diaries during my good old school days. Anne Frank Huis is situated along the Prinsengracht canal. The structure once hid Anne Frank, her family and four other Jewish people from the Nazi authorities during World War II. It’s now a biographical museum dedicated to Anne Frank.
Next we head north to visit the grounds of Rijksmuseum – a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. I was more interested in the most pictured Amsterdam icon – I Amsterdam. This is located at the back of the Rijksmuseum, and has now become the city’s and its residents collective catch phrase.
Best way to explore Amsterdam is on walk this beautiful canal city – Read more.
The skies had opened up and we had a small drizzle, that didn’t dampen our spirits. The crisscrossing canals, bicycles left across the canal rails and more so the happy go jolly people made the morning really bright. We then head straight to Bloemenmarkt – the world’s only floating flower market.
Further South, we head to Scheepvaart museum which is the maritime museum of Amsterdam. By now, after visiting France and Brussels, we were pretty much exhausted with visiting museums and couldn’t ask for any more but the building itself and its surroundings with the lake is worth visiting.
A further walk down and we reached the Molen de goyer windmill – another of the city’s iconic landmark – national monument. It is the tallest wooden mill in Netherlands.
What makes Amsterdam famous is its vast stretch of canals and they are a must visit. The best option to see these is to explore the city on foot–Please Click here
We then made our way back to the hotel which was right in the centre of De Wallen – which is the ever famous red light district of Amsterdam. We did take a stroll around in the night seeing the scantly clad women in red neon lights and people on the streets staring with wide open eyes. Honestly not to my taste – I simply put it as “Modern day slavery” or “exploitation”. 
Well that’s my perception.
But the night does come alive in Amsterdam. We spent a lot of time outside exploring the gullies – it was so vibrant – lights, colour, music and stench smell of weed. All comes together at night to make Amsterdam live to its reputation.
During our brief stay at Amsterdam, we explored everything on foot. For more info on a route and details, please click here.
If you need any additional info, please leave a comment on this post and I will get back to at the earliest. This way it can help others as well.
This is Aldrin and my partner Amoli. We bring you "Earths Pilgrim" - a unique insight into our travel escapades while leaving life in a cubicle. If you are looking for some inspiration to break the shackles of a regular life, then you are the right place. Read more about us- Click here.