An Enthusiastic Traveller

Another sunny day spent well! I woke up, had breakfast at home and went to Amsterdam Centraal. At that moment I didn't know my destination. The plan was to take the first train from first platform. It wasn't exactly platform 1, but 2 and that took me to Leiden, a charming city in southern part of Netherlands. The ride was ~40 minutes. Leiden Centraal First thing I did when I got off the train was to go to the tourist information centre and grab a paper map (for free). Yes! Today I didn't use Google maps and I manage to return to Amsterdam! First stop: Molen de Valk (The Falcon), a tower mill dating from 1743. There is also a museum that you can visit it (I skipped it). Molen de Valk and its reflection in the river It was lovely to walk in the sunshine and enjoy this charming town. Beestenmarkt, a central square which used to be a cattle market in the past One of the busiest canals with a lot of cafes I wonder what's behind that gate Leiden is t...

It's been one month since I moved to Amsterdam. During this time I was busy settling in my new home and I didn't travel faraway from it. But this sunny February Saturday morning I took the train from Amsterdam Centraal Station towards Haarlem. It was the first time traveling with the bike. You are allowed to take the bike in trains any time during the weekend. You will need to buy a `Fietskaart dal` ticket which costs 6.9EUR. And in 20 minutes you are in Haarlem. There I met with the rest of the group, other Romanian expats in Amsterdam. From Haarlem central station we cycled to Zandvoort. The ride took us through Zuid-Kennemerland National Park, a park with a variety of landscapes. If you are like me a beginner with the bike, it will not be easy to get there, especially if you don't have a proper bike, with more gears. But it will be worthing all the effort. Expect some slopes.  View of the park from an observation point  You could see on my face I was struggl...