Morning Walkabout in Amsterdam

The big event of the day was to be the bike tour happening later on in the morning but after enjoying breakfast in the hostel I wandered out to explore some of Amsterdam on my own. Enjoying the stillness of the canals, the beauty of the buildings and the chiming of bicycles.

I hadn't been on a bicycle since September when Jamie had come to visit me and we rented bikes. We rode around Stanley Park once and returned the bikes. The ride had been very nice but bicycling in Amsterdam was probably not going to be a ride in Stanley Park. See what I did there?

I walked to the flower market that was more so a bulb market selling very expensive tulip bulbs. Made me think of my mom and wished she was there. I would buy her a tulip if I could. I would buy my mom the world if I had the chance.  The market was interesting in the fact of all the possibilities that can grow in a garden. My favourite part of it were the cacti. So pretty! I could have purchased a few if there was any way to get them back to Liverpool. I am still on the look out for one of my own.

I wandered away from the flower market and took in the architecture.   Something that will catch your eye when you are in Amsterdam is the coat of arms or flag of Amsterdam is XXX. The Amsterdam XXX symbol dates back to the year 1505 when the city was a fisherman’s town, so the coat of arms was established as the symbol for the city itself and it also flew as a flag on all ships registered in Amsterdam. I found a nice little cafe in a square and sat down to enjoy a second breakfast of a croissant and an amazing Chai tea latte. So delicious.

After my croissant and my lovely drink were gone, I parted ways from people watching and headed back to my hostel to join the group for the bike tour.