Another Wipro colleague took me to Amsterdam for a drink on Friday night since it is my last week here in the Netherlands. After a quick stop at his place to meet his wife and baby boy, off we went to the pub where he hangs out quite often. Translated into English, the pub’s name is The Stork and instead of loud music blaring out of the loudspeakers, this time for a change, it was just loud people. It is incidentally one of the oldest pubs in Amsterdam. Needless to say, lots of ‘senior’ folks who showed up were having the time of their lives. My colleague’s favorite bartender was not present and the reason was that his wife had passed away. That did not deter couple of folks to crack a joke on the deceased lady. Bundled around this corner of Amsterdam were all kinds of pubs. The ones that play loud music, a pub situated in one of the few remaining wooden buildings, a gay bar and for equality, a pub founded by a lesbian in the 1920s.
After a round of ‘biers’ (just one glass of Brand Bier for me), we headed off into the narrow lanes of Amsterdam’s own China Town to eat. Found a Thai place and the food just summed up my fun evening. Amsterdam is clearly more beautiful by night than by day and the Christmas lights just made the place merrier.
On Saturday I had planned to visit Rotterdam come rain, wind or cold, and boy did those 3 come out to party. While Amsterdam gave me a grand rainy and windy sendoff, Rotterdam welcomed me with mighty winds and equally bone chilling cold. Unperturbed, I focused my sights on visiting the Erasmus Bridge (Erasmusbrug), the futuristic homes and in general, the city of Rotterdam itself. Having accomplished the above and walking for exactly 3 hours through the city, it took the wind out of me completely (literally). Got a lot of good pictures (thanks to the sunny afternoon) and some videos which no one will ever want to see. The central part of the city of Rotterdam has a strip mall (to satisfy every man, woman and child) and an open market for flowers, vegetables and the likes. I even got a 2 minute show from an apparently homeless man, dancing to beats of Michael Jackson’s Black or White and Thriller. Brilliant stuff I must say, but then again, he was shooed away from the very busy market place by the police.
A colleague’s suggestion to visit the city of Delft remains unfulfilled but I am sure I have captured the significant spots in Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem and Rotterdam in a 4 week span. As for the Windmills, I really did not miss them much since they are pretty much scattered all over the country and the scenic train ride accounts for a significant portion of these to see.
As I wind up my European tour, a good chunk of work remains to be accomplished in my last week. But then again what are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday for. Friday is an exception though; I am scheduled to fly out.
After a round of ‘biers’ (just one glass of Brand Bier for me), we headed off into the narrow lanes of Amsterdam’s own China Town to eat. Found a Thai place and the food just summed up my fun evening. Amsterdam is clearly more beautiful by night than by day and the Christmas lights just made the place merrier.
On Saturday I had planned to visit Rotterdam come rain, wind or cold, and boy did those 3 come out to party. While Amsterdam gave me a grand rainy and windy sendoff, Rotterdam welcomed me with mighty winds and equally bone chilling cold. Unperturbed, I focused my sights on visiting the Erasmus Bridge (Erasmusbrug), the futuristic homes and in general, the city of Rotterdam itself. Having accomplished the above and walking for exactly 3 hours through the city, it took the wind out of me completely (literally). Got a lot of good pictures (thanks to the sunny afternoon) and some videos which no one will ever want to see. The central part of the city of Rotterdam has a strip mall (to satisfy every man, woman and child) and an open market for flowers, vegetables and the likes. I even got a 2 minute show from an apparently homeless man, dancing to beats of Michael Jackson’s Black or White and Thriller. Brilliant stuff I must say, but then again, he was shooed away from the very busy market place by the police.
A colleague’s suggestion to visit the city of Delft remains unfulfilled but I am sure I have captured the significant spots in Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem and Rotterdam in a 4 week span. As for the Windmills, I really did not miss them much since they are pretty much scattered all over the country and the scenic train ride accounts for a significant portion of these to see.
As I wind up my European tour, a good chunk of work remains to be accomplished in my last week. But then again what are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday for. Friday is an exception though; I am scheduled to fly out.
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