Journal: in Amsterdam

I must say that Amsterdam has come to the first place of my favorite cities among all the cities I've visited during this journey. And why is that?

Sweater Weather.

I arrived in the city at the second week of May, and the weather was just perfect for me. I wasn't born for hot weather. I loathe it. It's not just because I've had enough of it, but I just can't stand the hot blazing sun. It makes me want to be angry all the time and it annoys me so much. That's why I decided to do this trip in late Spring, not in the Summer. That's why my time in Amsterdam was just as perfect I've imagined before.

On my first day I woke up early and walked along the canal, it was perfect. The sky was blue and the breezy wind blew. 

I remember one of my best friend said that Amsterdam was the city he could capture himself settling down at in the future, because the city is just live-able. 

I think I got his point.

It felt like autumn.

My favourite season is autumn. It was winter back then, but once I experienced autumn in London four years ago and I witnessed how the season changed from Summer to Autumn to Winter during that time, I know that Autumn became my favourite.

It's the colours of the leaves, the sounds of crispy leaves when we step on them, the temperature which starts to drop as the days went by, it's all the coziness.

And this time in Amsterdam, it felt like autumn. 

It was supposed to be late spring, but most of the trees, as you can see, had those colours. 

And almost all the ground covered with fallen leaves and flower petals and when I stepped on them, it reminded me a lot of autumn.

I love them, I really really really love them.

The buildings are so gorgeous.
It amazed me after knowing that most of the buildings along the canals only consisted of seven to eight floors up. I'm not really a fan of tall buildings, maybe because I grew up in the city and here in Amsterdam, I sensed some kind of weird feeling that even though I was right at the city center, I could feel all the peacefulness.
I could just walk and walk and walk along the endless canals for hours and hours and I didn't get tired of it. I didn't feel suffocated and it just felt right.

Vondelpark.

You know I'm a fan of public parks. Every time I go to a new city, I check out public parks more than the main touristic destinations. Weird, I know. But, still. 

Vondelpark reminded me of Hyde Park, but with more lakes. I was strolling around there with a guy I met from Couchsurfing for an hour after I checked a few things out in Museumplein.

I love Vondelpark, but not more than I love Primrose Hill haha.

The city of bikes.

Well, Netherland afterall, the country of bikes. And I love this concept so much.

Less pollution. Healthy. Clean air.

And also the way they parked their bikes along the canal and infront of their front doors which make my heart burst with #ihavethisthingswithbikes.

You know, the thing is, Netherland colonized my country, Indonesia for 350 years but why we didn't really have their influence in our country?

Like, why don't we bikes to school, to work, to everywhere? Why don't the buildings here in Jakarta look like the lego houses in Amsterdam? Why don't the people here as open-minded as the people there? Oops.

Bookstores.

Are everywhere. English bookstores are everywhere. It's not like I couldn't find English book stores in Paris or Berlin, but still. There are so many selections of English book stores in Amsterdam and I loved it. I had five or six bookstores to visit on my list and I think I conquered all of them in two days. 

Pretty doors are everywhere you look at.

London and Amsterdam, why do you have to own so many cute and adorable doors? My heart couldn't take that anymore. #ihavethisthingwithdoors

The city is surrounded by canals.

Which felt like a countryside.

People genuinely speak English I didn't have to feel guilty for.

Sometimes I feel scared, or kind of guilty that I couldn't speak any other language than English. Maybe its just the stereotype, but sometimes asking strangers in Paris scares me. But here in Amsterdam (and also in Rotterdam), everyone speaks English like its their first language and I couldn't be more thankful. 

But, like every other city, there is still one thing or two which I don't like from Amsterdam.

Which is...

The city smelled weed.

Well, pretty obvious since it's legal. But I hate the smell.