Netherlands

I Amsterdam sign in central Amsterdam

As a master student in the UK, I sure don't wanna let go any chance of having eurotrip in this continent. Tight and dying schedule is one of the constraints to go through on this eurotrip journey. I only had one chance, which is a 2.5-week holiday after term-2 exams, before starting my project dissertation, so I applied for schengen visa long before summer time. It took me weeks to have the itinerary done, but finally it all set up. First country to be visited is Netherlands, as the plane ticket from UK is cheaper than going to France.

Botel (boat hotel)

We arrived in Amsterdam Schipol at night, and then took a train to Amsterdam Centraal, and continued to take a ferry to the hotel. Surprisingly the ferry is free, as a service from the government to bridge from one location to another as dams are everywhere in the Netherlands. We had two overnights at Botel (Boat Hotel), where the rooms are floating above the boat. This is very unique, but quite worth it as the price is affordable. This eurotrip is surely a challenge for me as I have to fast as well during Ramadan. However, this is the only chance for me to have this trip (cries). I bought some foods from Amsterdam centraal for iftar and suhoor before going to the hotel.

Traditional Shoe Factory

Windmills in Zaanse Schans

In the morning we began our trip. We went to I Amsterdam sign, but we didn't expect there would be a lot of people (you dont say). We then walked to Heineken Museum, but we didn't go inside as we have to pay for the ticket (yes we are that cheap bastards). Then we decided to look for day ticket for transport, but we ended up lost in Amsterdam lol. We finally went to Amsterdam Schipol to buy 2-day pass ticket for €26, and continue to go to Keukenhof. Oh if you wanna take picture of I Amsterdam sign, better go to Schipol Airport, as it is not as crowded as in Amsterdam. On the journey, we checked on the internet that the flower festival in Keukenhof had ended one week ago. We then finally went back to Schipol (lol) and discussed where to go next. We then decided to go to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills. We have to go back to Amsterdam Centraal to get to Zaanse Schans by bus.

Agrarisch Museum

Amsterdam Royal Palace

One of many canals in Amsterdam

Zaanse Schans is indeed a beautiful, rustic and traditional place in Netherlands. There are also traditional shoes factory, and traditional dutch cheese factory in Zaanse Schans. I am more into this kind of travelling than visiting buildings or cathedral. After some times, we decided to go home as I was too tired having my first fast with travelling hahah. We took some nap on the hotel, then continued strolling Amsterdam at night after iftar. We went to Red Light district, where yeah you know, a "restricted" area in Netherlands. I love the situation like a lot of people but not too crowded. We had a cup of coffee and chats, and also grabbed some food for suhoor.

Amsterdam City

The next day we went to Agrarisch museum of Amsterdam (not too worth it actually), then visited Amsterdam Royal Palace. This is like the Buckingham palace of Netherlands. We noticed that we still had a few time so we visited Ajax Amsterdam as well hahah, only for a couple minutes though. Before ending our trip, we bought some Indonesian food for our journey to the next trip, Berlin. There are several Indonesian restaurants in Netherlands, and the taste is so good. As you know, we were colonised by this country for hundreds of years so there are many things in common between Indonesia and Netherlands. Mostly Dutch people use bicycle for transportation, as their land is flat and supporting. Overall Netherlands is worth visiting, especially for Indonesians.