Category Archives: Amsterdam

Sunny Sunday in Amsterdam

It was a sunny day. After vegetating for most of the weekend, I decided to step out and cycle around for few hours exploring some of my favorite spots and discovering some new ones.

Reeds with the advent of spring have found themselves growing out of their oblivion. I never get tired of taking pictures of them.

I proceeded to bike towards the sluice locks Oranjesluizen, which connects river Ij with Buiten-Ij. I discovered that it has been around for close to 150 years (opened in 1872).

The red bridge Schellingwouderbrug stood out separating the deep blues on either sides of the horizon today.

What surprised me further was the fact that the water level towards the inland was much higher than Ij.

I leisurely biked around, exploring the dijks on the other side of the sluice locks. The house boats, all bunched up looked exceptionally pretty

The underbelly of Schellingwouderbrug looked quite dramatic and so stopped to capture few shots. I then took the ramp on the right to get onto the bridge itself.

After crossing the bridge, I followed onto Zuiderzeeweg and reached a spot near camping zeeburg. I often pass by this area when I am commuting to work on bike. Today I took time to stop by and explore

Then sunny backdrop was quite deceiving and it was quite cold all throughout my ride. My fingers were going numb and so I decided to call it a day started to circle back home.

Morning Commute

I usually commute to work by the tram, and it involves switching to another tram at Centraal. Ever so often, I either get down several stops earlier after changing or just walk all the way from Centraal to work in Rembrandtplein via the Dam Square and Kalverstraat areas of Amsterdam.

On the lucky days that I am early, I sit down around the area and enjoy some quiet minutes amongst the hustle and bustle.

The Kalverstraat area is devoid of tourists in the morning, which makes for a pleasant stroll. At any other time of the day, it is a full house with barely any space to walk.

Window shopping is a must-do, especially for flowers and clothes.

Way home at night

After having procured a new wide angle lens (Sigma 20mm f/1.4) recently, I have taken to carrying it around with me as much as possible. Ability to capture night scenes in broad perspectives has suddenly broken me out of my usual field of view, and I can feel my vision and imagination expanding in reach. Here are some shots I took in Amsterdam on my way home after my Swimming and Rowing workouts last week.

First snow

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Just like the last time, the first snow of this winter arrived a bit early in Amsterdam, albeit subtly. I stepped out with my trusty camera to take some pictures and managed to drag along a good friend into this arctic expedition of our neighbourhood of Ijburg.

It was a foggy morning and it was cold. As we passed by a lonely and warded off pier, I took a moment to stop and admire the feeling of infinity the veil of fog created.

The shrubs that usually blended into the surroundings, stood out spectacularly against the white(ish) backdrop.

The still water became one with the sky for the border was a grey area (wink wink)

Trees stood solemnly and in solitude, against the sulky feels. We braved the sentinels and marched further.

After the supposed short walk ended more than two hours later, we stopped by a cafe to warm ourselves with some coffee.