Amsterdam, the city of canals, cheeses and herrings. Around 10 years old, I discovered this Dutch capital without knowing anything about the fame surrounding it. I've been trained into a swirl of unexpected discoveries, with a lot of picturesque landscape, adventures on the canals gastronomic delights.
Everything started with a ride on a boat into the "emperor canal" which already sounded like an adventure worthy of a young traveler. The Amsterdam's canals opened themselves to me, and I've been amazed by the beauty and tranquility of the houses with stocky facades, reflected into the calm water. The canals seemed to be the streets of the town, and there's nothing more pleasurable than slowly floating on the watered highway.
But the true treasure of this adventures has been the discovery of Dutch's cheeses, a true feast for my unexperimented taste buds. The rich and varied flavor of those cheeses made me realised that I just stepped into cheese paradise. And then, there was the herrings, a totally new flavour experience.
However, the mystery persists. At this era, I smelled a particular odor into Amsterdam's streets. As a 10 years old, I was far from suspecting the existence of those cafés where we can appreciate a whole other type of "food".
The calm and peaceful atmosphere of Amsterdam, similar to that of the Nordic countries, is another element that I've noticed. The natives seemed to move around at a leisurely pace, a star year away from the frenetic agitation that we find in many other big towns. This calm was still there when I visited Copenhague a few years later, bringing me the feeling that nordic countries share a well kept secret to keep their serenity.
Amsterdam is also an history-rich town, with canals that kept the urban and commercial record for centuries. The architectural planning of the houses near the canal is a window to the past, with their characteristic gables and brick facades.
In the end, my first visit of Amsterdam at 10 years old has been a joyful and surprising adventure, a discovery of the town without any idea of what made it so famous. But, it might be this mystery that made this trip such a memorable experience and full of innocence. After all, there's nothing like discovering with a new look. And maybe, the real trip is the friends we made along the way <3
