Amsterdam: May 21-23, 2024

 

I visited Amsterdam in the Netherlands for the first time in about 30 years. I found many things which had changed and many other things which had not changed. After all, the city was exciting.

Amsterdam is famous for its canals. There are many big and small canals.

This is a scene taken in the western part of the city.

 

The photo was taken near Rokin, central part of the city.

 

People were enjoying a beautiful day in front of the North Sea Canal (200km long) near Amsterdam Central railway station.

 

The city is also famous for bicycles.

There are bicycle zones on most roads. I saw countless of people commuting by bicycles in the morning and evening.

Some bicycles have luggage cars attached. They carry kids as well as goods with their bicycles. (See the 2nd photo)

 The combination of canals and bicycles makes good picture in the city. (See the top photo)

The Netherlands is also known as a country where many social experiments are tried.

There are many window prostitution spots in the red-light district in Amsterdam. The act was legalized about 25 years ago.

 

People are allowed to take soft drags in the coffee shops (not café). I found many shops not only in the entertainment areas but also in residential areas.

 

The Netherlands leads the world in the agri-business. I visited Aalsmeer, south of Amsterdam. There are many flower-business facilities.

The Royal FloraHolland is the world’s largest flower auction company. Countless flowers come in and go out of its distribution center. (See also the 3rd photo) 

Many flowers are shipped to the world by cargo planes from the Schiphol Airport.

 

There are many must-go places in Amsterdam.

There were many people from the world in front of the Anne Frank House.

 

People were watching Rembrandt’s Night Watch in the Rijksmuseum.

 

The replica of VOC (Dutch East Idia Company) ship Amsterdam provided me various information on the history of the country in the last 500 years.