02. Amsterdam

My flight from New York to Amsterdam was smooth, if a bit more uncomfortable than I remember my other international flights being. I landed in Amsterdam with an 8 hour layover and decided to go out and try to explore the city a bit. They have a pretty nice system in Amsterdam for getting tourists easily into the city. The customs is very quick, and to get to downtown, you just buy a train ticket to Centraal Station.

Centraal Station

Then you walk. The area right around Centraal is packed with tourists and tourist-trap shops, so I tried to move away from there quickly.

After about 1 mile, the streets were less choked with people, and I stopped to look around a bit. The city has a bunch of canals running through it which are really beautiful.

Canals

They also have lots of bikes. :-)

After finding a cafe in which to eat a quick lunch, I walked over to Vondaal Park, which is one of the various large parks throughout the city. It was quite tranquil. In some ways it reminded me of Central Park in NYC, though not quite as large.

Vondaal Park

Dutch Crossings (get it, contra dancers?).

Dutch Crossings!

After a stroll in the park, I started heading back to the station. I walked along the promenade along the fine arts area of the city - there was the Van Gogh museum, Rembrandt museum, etc.

Arts District (Van Gogh and Rembrandt Museums)

I was able to find the Royal Concertgebow building. This is the venue where the Dutch orchestra plays their concerts. I would have loved to be able to actually see a concert here. Its acoustics are supposed to be amazing. But had to keep moving.

Concertgebow Building

 After I had returned to the station area, I had some time before the next train, so I decided to head down the road to the national library. It was really beautiful inside.

Amsterdam Library

Finally, got back on the train and made my way to the airport. A short stay in Amsterdam, but it made me want to come back for another visit someday.