Flying into Amsterdam I was tired but that was masked by my excitement for the beginning of our trip here in the Netherlands. We were met with foggy weather but as we left the airport it had turned to a clear blue sky. To start off the day we had a scavenger hunt which I enjoyed very much and it allowed me to discover some of the many areas around Amsterdam. After the scavenger hunt we got some lunch then headed to check into the hotel and later on we went to our first dinner at a place called Coco’s Outback, I chose the chicken filet which was really good.

What I found very fascinating was the sheer amount of people that use public transport in Amsterdam. Today I believe I saw more buses, trams, and trains than cars. Not only was the public transportation efficient and on time but they were very clean as well. The bikes on the other hand are on another level, I saw more bikes than cars, buses, trams, and trains combined. I also noticed during the scavenger hunt that there were boats on the side of the canals, many of them were pretty big.

The entire infrastructure is different, the biggest roads I saw were the ones coming out of the airport, otherwise everywhere else it was mainly single lane roads for both ways that seem to be surrounded by sidewalks, bike lanes, and tracks for the trams. You might think you are on a very wide sidewalk but then you see a car slowly approaching you. It seems like the car doesn’t belong there just by looking at the road they are traveling on. This is why I think many people in Amsterdam do not use cars. It is more practical and much easier to either use public transportation, bike or just walk.

1 day down and many more to go.