Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Delft, THE NETHERLANDS

10th - 14th September 2017

Enjoying the beautiful weather in Amsterdam

Please note: some images in this post are NSFW

I stayed in Rotterdam at Hostel Ani and Haakien (best hostel in the Netherlands according to the awards on its wall) for most of my time there. A great place to meet interesting people! Good kitchen, free breakfast, activities, quiet location super close to the train station, this hostel has it all.

Everyone tells me that Dutch people are tall. I didn't see many tall people, I think they're just normal height. I felt like I fitted in!

My day trip to Amsterdam was brilliant. Lunch with Tessa (who I met when she was living in NZ), wandering around canals in the drizzle (which occasionally increased to rain), meeting up with Karolin and Mylo again in the afternoon.

Best apple pie in Amsterdam according to Tessa

We spent most of the afternoon trying to find a cellphone shop, which turned out to be a really effective way to see the city.

Dutch cheese is delicious. Also life-sized cow
statues seem to be a thing in Europe

A rainbow! A sign of hope that the weather might improve...
one day

Mylo and I had a laugh at the sex museum.

Vulva cake

Amsterdam is a beautiful city with great atmosphere and nightlife, but it's also super touristic. A fun place to visit, but I'm glad I went to other cities rather than staying there the whole time.

View from a bridge crossing a canal

Back in Rotterdam, I enjoyed wandering around the city, especially with the free (i.e. donation-based) walking tour. It's a very modern city, rebuilt since WWII, with amazing architecture and street art if you know where to look. That's one of the benefits of the walking tours; you find all sorts of cool things you might not have come across by yourself. Other reasons to do it include learning some history, being able to ask a local lots of questions, and basic orientation.

I think these are apartment blocks

This statue of Santa holding a Christmas tree
has been moved around the city a bit. Locals
seem to think it's a little obscene...

Street art is even better when it's interactive.
You can join the chain of people, standing on
the hands of the bottom figure, holding up the
foot of the next figure up

Cube apartments, representing a mountain range

Markthal, the tourist market. Locals shop at the stalls in front.

The rounded walls and ceiling of the markthal look like a game
of fruit ninja

This oddly-shaped construction is actually a
church. I've seen many churches in Europe,
and this remains the most unique.

The busiest port in Europe (and number 4 in
the world), Rotterdam's port is also scenic. To
the right, you can see a floating park, where
you can sit on the grass, have a picnic, and
enjoy the sunshine

The end of my stay was in Delft, where I was hosted by Manuel, an architecture student. We had heaps of fun, he sold me on electronic music, and he gave me recommendations about what to see in Delft. In contrast to Rotterdam, history is alive in Delft.

First and most importantly, the library

Floating houses

The East Gate: twin spires marking the city end of the bridge

The Beesten Markt: you can't buy beasts here
any more, but you can eat at the restaurants
surrounding the square, and enjoy this life-sized
statue of a colourful cow balancing on milk pails

There's plenty of information about the artist
Johannes Vermeer's life in Delft. He lived and
worked here, next to a clandestine Jesuit church
where most of his 15 children were baptised

The town hall

What sort of souvenir shop would it be if it
didn't have a giant wooden clog out front?

The coolest cheese shop with the best displays

I don't think you can leave Holland without
seeing a windmill, so here it is

And the beer

In summary, great country taking climate change seriously (a big threat as most of it is so low-lying), with friendly people and lots to see and do. The only clogs I saw, however, were inside (and outside) souvenir shops.