Yesterday afternoon I made a walk through the center of Amsterdam. I had planned a very long walk, but it ended in a shorter walk, which was still very enjoyable.
I started at the Central Railroad Station of Amsterdam, because of it location it is ideal to start,
Amsterdam knows many street artists, but sadly mostly are not that talented and just try to grab some money that way. But every now and then you will see an artist who talented and knows what music is… as trumpet player (and his band) that I saw very close to the railroad station.
Then I started to wander through small roads as they can be found a lot around that area of the city. And yes… always when I visit the center of Amsterdam I somehow end up at “De Wallen”. Don’t ask me why or how, it just happens (and Mar.. no comments from your side. The two times you leaded the road we ended up there as well :P). Wisely I kept my camera there in my bag. I think it will not be clever to make pictures there.
After that I reached “De Schreierstoren”. For some reason I like the very old building very much. Maybe it is because the wonderful poem that Bertus Aafjes wrote about this building.
Local stories tell that this tower is named after the sailor-wifes who said crying far well here to there husband when those left for long journeys (“Schreierstower” could easily be translated to “Crying Tower”). This is not correct. A “Schreier” is a corner tower in the defending wall of a city.
When wandering further around I noticed that street names where mentioned in Dutch and Chinese (at least I assume it is Chinese). I never have seen this before in The Netherlands. I considered it fun to see this, but of course this will have its use in this area of Amsterdam.
On the Dam I noticed a dog. It was interesting to watch the behaviour of this dog. His complete body expressed how unsure he was, which was completely understandable with this huge mob of people around him.
At a certain moment I started to get hungry and when I looked for a place to eat I noticed The Kentucky Fried Chicken… and I was lost. I just love KFC. I am fully aware that it is a matter of personal taste, but compared to McDonalds and Burger King I think KFC is the best by far.
After my dinner at KFC (I know… I know…), I wandered a round a bit more. But as I was tired (I wandered also yesterday all day in the zoo) I made my way back to my room. But it has been a good day, a day that will be continued some time soon.
Wow, KFC in Amsterdam bring up good memories of a sad day (for me) when we visited Amsterdam together.
It has been far too long since we hava done something like that……….