Amsterdam - the city, the people, the bicycles

Beautiful window displays and lots of cute souvenirs.

There are more than 6800 old buildings in Amsterdam.

Evveryone rides a bike, young, old, big, small, business, hippie, family, child. I had the most wonderful Dutch apple cake with almond paste and whipped cream. Yum. And I met with dear Maaike at a cute café for lunch.

Stunning architecture from the 16th, 17th and 18th century, 165 cute canals and more than 600 000 bicycles
can be found in Amsterdam.

The workshop - I'll tell you all about in my next post.

Last weekend I went to Amsterdam to join a Create n' Date event that dear Maaike at Crejjtion had organized, some of you might know about it already. I am still high on this experience which was absolutely the best I have had in a long long time.

I arrived early in the morning and although the day was cloudy and grey, I couldn't resist strolling the streets from the Museum district towards the Central station. I fell in love with this town within minutes. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I love everything about this town. The buildings, the trams, the canals, the cafés, the shops, the squares, the puls, the people and the bicycles. I think the bicycles made the biggest impression on me. I just could not get enough of them and they were everywhere. I mean everywhere. Mostly traditional black granny bikes with some exceptions of color sprayed ones and some decorated with flowers. Family bikes with kids put in trailers or on handle bars.

Everyone rides a bike in Amsterdam. I find it so so so charming and healthy. Old ladies showing their panties (ooops!!) riding in knee long skirts. Young men with girlfriends snugging their loved ones waist sitting in lady position in the back. Business men with suits and ties and tied up legs on their pants to avoid getting caught in the chain. Young beautiful girls with long blond hair flying in the wind as they swish down the streets in confidence. I could easily go back to only look at the Dutch riding their bikes. That is pure entertainment and bliss right there.

The people are so kind, everyone I met spoke English really well, the shop employees were so helpful without being pushy, just cool and extremely nice. I met a sweet girl called Agneta at a Sassy Boy shop down town, and we happily chatted about this and that for a good 15 minutes like old friends. And I didn't even buy anything... But  she asked for my business card and maybe she will visit My Rose Valley here in cyber world. I hope you read this Agneta, it was nice to meet you!

I met with Maaike from CreJJtion for lunch and it was like meeting an old friend. We had so much to talk about and 2 hours passed to fast... She is such a lovely girl Maaike. I am sure I will meet her many times more in the future.

I had caffe lattes, fabulous pastries, ate a nice dinner with some friends in the Red Light District... I went shopping and I went to the big event, the Create n Date workshop. More about that in next post.

Kärlek
Annette