Sinterklaas toot toot!

I absolutely love Christmas but I love Dutch Christmas the most. Sinterklaas arrived in Amsterdam on his steamboat this past Sunday. I made sure to be at the skinny bridge extra early to get a good view; and I did!

There are no words to explain what this parade is like. There is so much warmth and joy. The children were singing songs for over an hour waiting for Sints arrival by boat. They patiently waited under the rain. No child was grumpy because of the rain and of standing in the cold. They just waited and waited and sang and sang.

I really don’t know what else I could write to explain the feeling of watching these children super excited sitting in boats or standing on the bridge to wave hello to Piet and Sint. There are just no words. J

Here are some pictures of what went on and if you would like to see pictures from the previous year’s click here.

Enjoy!

October fog

This month has been very foggy here in Amsterdam; but also very sunny.

It has been a strange month.

A few days ago the fog came back again and covered Amsterdam in this beautiful silky veil of gray fog. 

This city is so beautiful in any season, in any weather - ok maybe not under rain. ;)

But here are some pictures of Amsterdam under the fog.

Enjoy!

Beauty

Lately, when I leave the house to walk around the city center (which is actually very rare nowadays considering student life has started up) I have been finding all these beautiful moments. A bit more than usual. :) 

Here are a few pictures of beautiful Amsterdam. Enjoy! 

Pride. Gay pride

Although we have been living in Amsterdam for quite a while we never had the chance to see the gay pride parade that takes place here every August. Usually in the month of August we are on holiday.
This time, however, we saw it.
And...
It was awesome. You feel all this fun vibrate energy. I was very jealous of the people who were dancing on the boat - I wish I was there also.
Here are some pictures of what went on.
Enjoy!

Rolling Kitchen

Another Rolling Kitchens festival for us – our fourth year (you can check the previous years by clicking here)

This year the festival was HUGE. The weather wasn’t really nice on Thursday which was such a shame however the other two days we went Amsterdam brought out the sun for the festival.

We really went all out this year and ate there three times; we always try to go for different foods but we somehow always end in a more traditional side. Burgers, pizza, pulled pork sandwiches…

This time I took pictures with the good old Canon, my iPhone and a GoPro. It was super tricky to do because so much was going on (we even saw a wedding going on nearby)

Here are the pictures of the wonderful, super packed, Rollende Keukens of 2014. The first image is of all the food we ate.. mmmm lekker! 

LIVE(ing) in Amsterdam

This past school year I was on exchange in England but now I am permanently back in Amsterdam again.

Thankfully, every other month I was back in the ´Dam to visit my soulmate.

This time however, coming back and knowing it was permanent brought so much happiness to me.

For the zillionth time Amsterdam made me appreciate all its beauty and simplicity.

There is just something about this place. There really is. I talk about Amsterdam with joy in my eyes and I don’t think people understand. People that come for a weekend can’t understand because they mostly run around to try to see all the tourist attractions and spend time in museums or maybe even in coffee shops.

I think you can only truly understand the beauty of Amsterdam when you are here for about a week and you have the freedom of a relaxing day to grab a bike and explore, go to the park and enjoy the sun, or rush back home after a rainy day to relax and drink tea. The freedom of getting lost, sitting still and people watching.

There are just so many small things that you need to live in Amsterdam to understand why this place has so much charm. So much magic.

I am so glad I am back. I missed living life in Amsterdam.

Here are some quick pictures I have been taking since I have been back. Some of them were taken with my iPhone.

Enjoy!