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!

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.

Busy Sunday @ Westerpark [ Neighborhood food market + Cannabis Liberation Day party ]

This Sunday the sun was shinning and Westerpark was packed with different smells and interesting people.

First there was the Neighborhood food market - a bunch of booths with a diversity of foods. I went for Mexican food and my soulmate went for the well known famous burgers in Amsterdam: The Young Pretenders burgers. I really enjoyed taking photos there except it was so packed sometimes it was hard to get that spur of the moment shot.

Right down the path there was a Cannabis Liberation day party - I don't really understand why there is a party for that but yep there was one! You could smell the weed everywhere. There were many booths; most of them were booths giving out free stuff other booths were snacks to kill the munchies. There was a lot more space to take photos but I was a little hesitant. Its a whole different crowd and I wasn't sure how people would feel about me taking photos of them with a joint in their hand.

I was really amused by the whole party in itself, they were giving out FREE space cake, there was this super mellow band playing, people walked around carrying a cannabis plant (wherever they got that from) and there was a bouncy castle for kids. WHAT?! I was amused. Still am.

Sundays like this are what makes Amsterdam, Amsterdam. There is no other place in the world where you can eat Mexican, Indian, Chinese, etc ... food in the sun, in the park, and right down the path have a CANNABIS party. 

I love you Amsterdam, keep the sun coming!

Here are the pics I got to take. Enjoy!

PS: Can you guess which ones were taken at the food market and which ones were taken at the Cannabis party? ;-)

420 @ Westerpark

As most of you know today was 420 the well-known “weed day”.

Well I live in Amsterdam, so how does it work with a day for smoking weed when you can smoke weed every day? I had to investigate! So I went to the park; things were calm and no one was smoking. I went to Westerpark which is on the West side of Amsterdam. However, I do hear that at Vondelpark, they celebrate this day. But at the park I was at people enjoyed the sun instead.

Here are today's clicks!