I knew for a fact that the city I'm living in would be a little slow when it came to decorations and holiday vibes. And I am very right. There is little to none and its only two weekends until Christmas. There isn't a Christmas Market let alone any sort of public decorations.
Well, what about Amsterdam?
The thing about Amsterdam is that it's always a celebration. Come December or mid April, it is always a celebration in Amsterdam. It is a nice thing to have a party everyday, but in the long run, all of the parties become just one (and boring).
That may be the reason I thought Amsterdam was a bit "underdressed". Then again, I think it is a bit too early for the party city. The city center is a bit livelier than the the other areas, but that has also always been the case.
Amsterdam has a couple of unique bridges, and on the way to office, I have to cross a very fun one. It is a temporary bridge, and is fun because it is just as wobbly as a trampoline. Fun for me, scary for others. But just before this bridge I stopped to look at this Christmas tree market.
Did I already mention the Christmas's tree markets of Kharkiv? I think I did mention it in my WednesdayWalk in Cologne, Germany. I simply cannot get over how much I enjoy these trees.
These are certainly fewer and much smaller than the ones in Kharkiv. But the trees here are fluffed up and erected to look nice. The ones in Kharkiv were more of a "ya get what ya get".
Albeit not too many decorations, the winter and autumn colors looked somewhat festive. I mean, it's a very cold and wet weather, but since fall hasn't fully gone away, the colors do look festive. But there was a building that made look twice. I almost thought its a colorful poster or a very badly done Christmas led decoration. Take a look.
I have mever seen one of these buildings under construction. These are really, really old buildings and have been here since there were just canals and...buildings. There is no scaffolding on the outside caging the building and the blue cloth added a neon effect with the wooden blocks superimposed against it.
I really thought it was some sort of a decoration. But doesn't it look interesting? I think it does.
This part of the church is being repaired, and instead of using plain boring cardboard to cover up or metal scaffolding sitting exposed, the company has used art to make it look pretty. These are just behind the Christmas tree shop. A lot of places have started commissioning artists to paint murals and do graffiti for such construction zones and for shops. It certainly beats advertisements and unsolicited tagging.
Proof of Amsterdam. This type of scene is iconic for Amsterdam and somewhat unique to the city. A bunch of bikes parked by the road next to cars and at the edge of the canals. I found this interesting because of the tree stump. In Utrecht it is very similar, except some trees are protected by a hole in the pavement. This street doesn't have that.
I do not know why this tree was cut down. In my opinion, the street would look much better with the tree still there. Nevertheless, it does create more space for the bikes and increasing number of cars. But is it really worth it?
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The tree was cut down because it was old and unhealthy, thus dangerous too. Using art to cover the construction site is smart. You don't see it everywhere, that's for sure.
Kind of envy you (in a good way), for walking those streets so often.
That makes so much sense actually. See, since I didn't spend too much time around such things, it didn't even cross my mind. I should go back to monkeying in the concrete jungle.
Often is relative. Plus we all can't have what we wish for. I really wished I lived in Amsterdam haha
Enlarge the picture and you'll see how unhealthy the cut surface is. It doesn't look like the wood you usually see. But no worries as it's going to be replaced, at least I hope.
Amsterdam is amazing but housing and cost of living is not for us at the moment (I think). Maybe one day 🤔
I thought that happened during the cut. See where my head is at? Haha
Yeah Amsterdam is very expensive. Just by sheer luck I wasn't placed there during intake :/
Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure you have a million things to focus on. Besides, not everyone has an obsession for wood 😆
Amsterdam is really a beautiful city, and with more vegetation it would look much more lively and cheerful. The mixture of its preserved architecture with different artistic expressions gives it a great mysticism.
Amsterdam is really pretty. There are many preserved architecture in the city, but the best ones are in the less busier cities. Amsterdam has a lot more to offer, though.
that bridge sounds fun for me but i know my wife would hate it lOL
Thanks for joining the Wednesday Walk :)
Oh yes. It is lots of fun. You can feel yourself bounce with every step. Mist of the people choose to take extra steps instead of using the bridge haha
I guess thats good for some people ot get more steps LOL
The streets there look very nice, oh the little trees, how cute they are. You know, bicycles here in Cuba are very common since there's only few people who can afford a car, but we don't have like a specific place to park them, it's something much needed I think. I enjoyed your walk 😊
I never really knew that bicycles are so popular in Cuba. This is news to me, and thank you for sharing. I'm sure it's easier for people to go around with bicycles.
Yes, it's a lot easier, and more now with all the problems we have with public transport.
So these bikes are then not left on the streets, right, because there is no rack? They are kept inside the home?
Yes, unless you go to an institution like the university, a hospital or a work center where they have a parking lot and there's usually a man there, like a keeper and it normally only costs like 5 Cuban pesos to leave your bike or motorbike there. But let's say you are downtown doing your shoppings, there's no place to leave your bike 🤷🏻♀️.
Amsterdam is a very eventful city, whenever I go there I find something interesting and new. Last year, I didn't see anything special in Amsterdam for the Holiday season except street lights. Have you seen the fallen bikes in Amsterdam Canals??
This street has fence on the canals, so no fallen bikes. I'm sure there are a lot in the center area where there us no fence.