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! 

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!

Jordaan

There is something about biking through the Jordaan...

I really cant explain it...

I was biking and stopping to take pictures. Here are the clicks. I hope it transmits the feeling I get when I go through the Jordaan :)

Enjoy

Sun in January

Welcome to Amsterdam 2014!

The weather has been good this January. Sunny days, cloudy days, not too cold, bits of rain….  Not too bad. I haven’t taken pictures around Amsterdam in a while so I decided that in the first few days of 2014 it was a nice time to get back into the habit – especially with all these clear skies and people out and about.

Here they are.

Enjoy!

This was also the day that I encountered my name and advice referenced a few times in a book for new expats. I am so happy that I shared my experiences with them and that they actually published some of my tips about living in The Netherlands. Check out the book: Ready, steady, Go Dutch.

One Autumn 17ºC day in Amsterdam

Yesterday the weather in Amsterdam was....AWESOME.

Nice and warm with orange and yellow leaves falling and zooming bikes crunching the leaves as they passed by.

For the first time my bike was TOWED. I still cant get over it, it has passed almost 24 hours and I am still in my own little shocked world, but at least it wasn't stolen! Phew! 

How was my biked towed? 

Well I obviously was parked somewhere I had no idea that I SHOULDN'T be parked. Also, when they were looking for me, the owner, where was I? Snapping pictures along the canal! 

Anyways, what matters now is the great shots I got. I could have got a ton more but I always feel slightly embarrassed of taking photos of people... 

I also went on a boat tour with my class so some pictures are from when we were on the boat. It was a Boom Chicago boat ride, and it was actually pretty nice. We were given a lot of small fun facts so it didn't become a long boring history lecture.

Here are the snaps! Enjoy!