A new day was coming, everybody felt more refreshed after a good night sleep. We continued with our itinerary for the day: Amsterdam City and Keukenhoff Garden.
Maybe it's nearing the end of the journey, maybe it's because we were so tired, we went out from the hotel a bit later than usual. We took the train to Centraal Station and strolled towards the Dam Square.
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| Canal in front of Centraal Station |
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| Glorious Amsterdam Centraal Station |
We walked along many alleys and we were attracted by a shop selling doughnuts and waffles. We tried and they were glorious!
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| Who can resist these beauties? |
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| Admiring many sizes of Nutella, which is like the must have in every shops |
The alleys that we passed by had shops at both sides. We kept stopping to do some window shopping and actual shopping. Actually, the price of the stuffs here were considered much cheaper as compared to other part of Europe but maybe they were all past collections.
We walked about half an hour (with all the stopping here and there) before we reached the Dam Square. The alley just emerged to a spacious square that's surrounded by buildings at four side: Koninklijk Palace, Niuwe Kerk, Madame Tussauds Museum, shops, and National Monument.
Dam Square was built in the thirteenth century as a dam to Amstel River and then eventually built to be the city square. There was a shooting on 07 May 1945, two days after German capitulation. Germany started shooting the Dutch from the balcony. Only after a member of resistance shot the person from Koninklijk Palace, the shooting stopped.
The national monument was built to commemorate World War II and the shooting incident.
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| Emerging from Damrak, the shopping alley |
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| Madam Tussauds Museum |
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| Koninklijk Palace |
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| National Monument |
We then took the tram to go to our next destination: Albert Cuyp Market. It's one of my favorite things to do because I love to see that in other part of the world, all cities will need markets and humble buy&sell activities.
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| On the way to Albert Cuyp Markt |
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| The market |
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| Locals are buying and selling, and tourists too |
We did not have much time here because our journey was hindered by the rain that came and went as it pleased. It was quite late and we should get going to Keukenhoff Garden. So, we had simple dinner at one of the udon shops along the market and we walked to Museumplein to see the real famous Iamsterdam.
This is a tourism gimmick of Amsterdam. There are three sets of this giant letters, two are located at fixed location: Museumplein and Schipol Airport while the remaining one is moved here and there so that the tourists can catch it. And yeah, it works, it is now a 'thing' in Amsterdam.
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| OMG, full of people |
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| And no one care about this tiny one |
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| Taking picture with a letter will do |
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| Wefie from the back, less people |
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| Rijkmuseum, the largest in Amsterdam |
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| Bye bye Museumplein |
It was so crowded and we did not spend much time there. In the location, there was Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum too. However, my travel companions were not museum people so we skipped these. We went to the bus stop and waited for our bus that could bring us to Keukenhoff Garden.
From the city of Amsterdam to Keukenhoff Garden, we took Bus 197 to Schipol and transferred to Bus 858 there. It was an hour journey in total, The waiting time was not bad. We bought the combo ticket in Keukenhoff website that covered the entrance ticket and the return bus rides. It cost us EUR 29 (~SGD 45) for the combo ticket.
Keukenhoff Garden is only opened during the season of tulip blooms. We scheduled our trip in such a way that Keukenhoff had already been opened when we visited. The day we visited was the third day it was opened for the year. It was not so crowded yet but not all the flowers had bloomed.
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| At the entrance |
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| Posing with the Dutch Lady |
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| A cute booth near the souvenir shop that sells CD of traditional Dutch instruments |
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| Enjoy! |
So we started our journey inside the magical garden. It was huge and colorful and seemed never ending. Other than the outdoor tulip exhibitions, the garden also host indoor flower exhibitions other than tulips. I was happy to see all the orchids, hydrangea, roses, and all the beautiful flowers. Even though the spring garden highlights on the tulip collections, you will not feel bored strolling here because the garden is designed in such a way that you can enjoy some other things: there are many trees, some small streams, a lake, some cafes, some shops, exhibitions inside greenhouses, a windmill, etc. When it is in the peak of the bloom, you can actually rent a boat and enjoy the carpet of tulips at the back of the garden. It must be magnificent!
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| Me and the flowers |
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| Start wandering! |
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| Happy and pretty mum! |
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| A lake in the middle of the garden |
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| Purple, my color |
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| Experiencing clog |
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| Aren't they adorable? |
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| Indoor exhibition with the artist/designer |
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| Orchids exhibition |
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| The windmill at the end of the garden, there should be a monstrous size tulip field at the back, but it was not blooming yet\ |
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| Cute love garden |
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| Hydrangea all the way |
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| In love |
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| Really in love |
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| The last shot before leaving the garden |
We spent about four hours here and we felt happy to witness such a beauty. We took the bus back to Schipol and then to Amsterdam Centraal Station. That night, we had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant called Betawi. The portion was hugeeeeee and TripAdvisor stated that restaurant as one of the best in town. But still, it can't be compared with the real Indonesian restaurant in Indonesia.
That night, I dreamt of flowers.
Next -
The Windmill of Amsterdam
Love is in the air,
Little Feet
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