Amsterdam, Cruising Along Historic Canals

Located in Western Netherlands, this city covers almost 100 kilometres of canals which are mainly navigable by Boats. It was earlier bounded by a moat called Singel which now forms the innermost ring of the city giving it a Horse Shoe shape. Amsterdam is the fourth largest city in Western Europe. From its museums to its historical sights it is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Europe!

It is described as a city of Diversity and Tolerance, it has rich culture because of the immigrants coming from different places and settling here, lively nightlife, International restaurants owing to Amazing food.

Best Sights to visit here:

Van Gogh Museum: This museum has the largest collection of works including 200 Paintings and more than 500 drawings by Vincent Van Gogh. It has more than 2.1 million visitors per year.

Vondelpark: The fact which interests me the most is the Rose garden in the centre of this park which was planted in 1936 and it grows more than 70 types of roses!

The three concentric canals in Amsterdam are Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht.
Herengracht is the first of all the three canals and a place where you find the office of Dutch West India company and one of the oldest buildings with beautiful architectural styles.

Keizersgracht is the widest of three canals and is completely frozen in winters serving best for Skating. The longest one being Prinsengracht.

Dam Square: This has been the places where things like the Vietnam war have boiled over. It is the Real heart of Amsterdam traced by the Royal Palace and the National monument.

Rijksmuseum: It beckons the Dutch Golden Age, it has the collection of masterpieces like The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, The Night Watch by Rembrandt and Portrait of a Young Couple by Frans Hals.

Magere Brug: It is believed that this skinny bridge was made by the Mager sisters who used their wealth to visit each other by this medium. This was so narrow that it was hard for two pedestrians to pass each other and later this got replaced by a wider bridge.

People with a globetrotting palate will have to choose between Kroket (a crispy meat filled sausage), Patatje oorlog, Stroopwafels, Bitterballen (Bar Snack) and many others. If you love desserts as I do then you can end your meals with Bossche Bol which are basically chocolate and cream filled profiteroles and the other one on my list would be Tompouce, a cream-filled puff pastry sandwich.

For all the coffee lovers, you need to visit the best coffee shops here when you’re in this capital of Cannabis Culture. You can try Original Dampkring, Green House United, Grey Area or Coffeehouse smokey too. Here lies the fact that these shops are not allowed to sell even a small amount of cannabis to anyone under 18 and they must also not sell more than 5g to any customers legally.

Amsterdam is chock full of historic and cultural sights, barring that being a Coffee lover this one definitely tops my Bucket List!