My First Amsterdam Experience

“Amsterdam has more than 150 canals and 1,250 bridges, but it never seems crowded, nor bent and bitter from fleecing the tourist.”

Julie Burchill.

Before Amsterdam, I hadn’t known Autumn. I mean, I knew what it looked like, I watched Gilmore Girls religiously, but I didn’t understand what Autumn felt like. Moreover, Autumn on the screen is not as powerful as snow in moment framing scenes, so I always looked past it.

Until a few days ago – when I saw it from the window of a taxi that was taking us from Schiphol International Airport to Amsterdam. I was trying to absorb all the new things in front of my eyes. Everything, while thinking, eh Amsterdam lacked greenery. The stupid thing was (I was a little sleep-deprived); it didn’t register in my mind that it was Autumn. But, in my defence, I came from a tropical country. I have only experienced summer all year long, so it didn’t dawn on me right away that those bald trees were due to the change of season.

I was getting inside Amsterdam city. All the yellow, red and gold! My heart beat faster. I was ecstatic, despite being awake for 36 hours. Finally, I was in the movie scene. I was Rori Gilmore, coming home from Yale spring break. I was Ally McBeal with greasier hair, walking back to my brownstone apartment while daydreaming my life away. I was Serena Van Der Woodsen sitting on met steps with Blair Waldorf.

Never in my life have I seen a street as beautiful, so picturesque. Then I saw the canals and the buildings. I was looking at a painting! Row and row of endless images. Can a city be this gorgeous? What more beauty could I see at The Rijksmuseum??

And the taxi stopped. My cousin paid. I guess she must have called my name, but I still had my mouth wide open in disbelief that we were staying in a hotel facing the canal.

At night we took the canal ride, a must in Amsterdam. On the ride, I fought the tiredness of not sleeping for two straight days mixed with alcohol. Feeling half-delirious that I was in Amsterdam.

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Today is my last day in Amsterdam. Even though It has been a fully packed, super educational semi-cultural trip – from the full-on museum day (my fave is Anna Frank Museum to travelling to the Volendam, the village. I feel like we barely scratch the surface, experiencing Northern Holland culture and dressing up like the dutch lady with the red light district tour in between. But I am not completely sad since we will be leaving for Paris, my ultimate travel dream, ever since I did research on Coco Chanel for my Master’s project. And then we are off to Italy – Florence, Pisa, Venice and Rome (my second tick of Eat Pray Love spots).

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