After a short break we took last year in Netherlands, we thought of going there again before our trip to Germany. We flew into Amsterdam and stayed there for 5 days. Having had a hostel experience already with our friends, we decided to treat ourselves with a good hotel. We stayed at Doubletree by Hilton Central Station. The location was just so convenient to every place we wanted to go!
Arriving early, we didn’t get our room, so we strolled around the shops at the station and tried Holland’s best fries at Mannekin pis. Each time you go there it’s ought to be super crowded but worth the few extra minutes! Upon freshening, we decided to drive to the windmills which are just about 20 mins from the city- Zaanse Schans! The weather had been rainy & sunny all day long, so we got to see rainbow many times during the day and when I see the rainbow I can go so crazy that even the police wondered why I jumped off the car quickly and ran on the bridge. Little did he know how much I adore them!
The next day, we decided to go to Bruges- The Venice of the North! The cobbled streets, crooked bridges, meandering canals and World Heritage site medieval buildings – it’s so pretty that it’s almost too good to be true! At the heart of the city is the Grote Markt, one can park around it and walk around this pedestrian area which offers many eateries! And when in Belgium, its all about the fries and the Belgian chocolates. We love Godiva and having their chocolate with fresh strawberry is just the best combination ever. There are ample of local chocolate stores which are equally relishing. Belgium also quite popular for Beer lovers, so you got to visit 2be Beer wall in Bruges & do some tastings! We enjoyed a beautiful day here and then headed back to Amsterdam enjoying some food & drinks at the rooftop bar in our hotel.
Being Monday, Shobhit had some meetings lined up around in the country & I was exceptionally free. Thus, I decided to explore Solo today and my first stop for the day was exploring the modern town of Rotterdam. Taking a train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam central station, I was in the city within an hour. The Rotterdam Central station is one of the place worth seeing for its architecture. The city centre is merely a 15 minutes’ walk and is full of restaurants and shops. Walking a couple of minutes extra, you can arrive at the Market hall. Unique is not only its shape and size, but especially the way the different functions are combined. The combination of an apartment building covering a fresh food market with food shops, restaurants, a supermarket and an underground parking is found nowhere else in the world. Just opposite it is the cube houses. The Cubic Houses are a curious and magnificent architectural wonder. These houses are built on a pedestrian bridge. These houses are offered to residents to live & in fact one of them is open for tourists to visit from inside. If you wish to experience a stay, you can rent a room at StayOkay Hostel. Following this, I visited the famous Erasmus bridge and walked from one end to the other.
After a successful visit to Rotterdam, I planned to visit Madurodam- A small town displaying Netherlands in Miniature! Taking a train to Dan Haag Central station followed by a short tram ride, I arrived in Madurodam. It was so much fun seeing the miniatures of the windmills, the airport, railway trains running around, canal boats, the famous monuments of the country & so much more! Not just fun for kids but any age can spend their time here looking at this beautifully done work!
The next morning, I decided to go to Volendam & personally I loved this little fishing village a lot! Full of small shops & cafes across the corner, this little gem is worth a stroll! A walk around the Labyrinth style houses is cool which is so much like a maze that you would absolutely love to get lost.
On the way to Volendam, a stop at the Henry Willig’s cheese factory is recommended and their Pesto cheese is just to die for! After this, I also took a short walk around the countryside of Edom followed by a visit to the Zaanse Schans Windmills again! Oh, this place has some connection with me!
And then the last day when Shobhit got finally done with his meetings, we decided to explore the little town of Naarden which is famous for its star-shaped fort! But before that, we had to have lunch at our favourite Italian joint in Amsterdam- Maria’s for their delicious Red sauce Gnocchi! We took an hour’s boat ride & strolled around the church area in Naarden. Oh what a lovely afternoon overall! And following this, our short break in Netherlands ended and we started with the next leg of our trip to Germany followed by Liechtenstein!
destinuts.com 