Amsterdam: In Living Color

24 hours. This is precisely how much time we needed to be completely taken over with Amsterdam.

In these twenty-four hours, we saw much water in the canals and pouring down from the heavens above, brightly shining sun accompanied by dynamic clouds, Rijksmuseum and Vincent van Gogh’s one, old houses, boats, millions of bicycles and toddlers looking like little angels – blond curly hair, blue eyes, and pink cheeks. There was also so much ganja in the air that one couldn’t help, but think about the cliché usually attached to experiencing Amsterdam. Well, I have news for you. The Netherlands’ capital city has way too much to offer and it certainly beats all the hashish related associations.

If someone put a gun against my head and asked me “What was the single thing that impressed you the most in Amsterdam?”, I’d say – van Gogh’s museum. Oh, the colors he had laid on the canvas! There are no words to describe their explicitness and vibrancy… I am so not qualified to speak about it. But I was impressed. In fact, I saw the rest of the day through my lens predominantly in vivid colors. And you will clearly see it in the photos I have decided to share with you below. I saw the city mostly in HDR and tonal contrast, and these are the filters I chose to apply to the photos. There was very little other work done in post-editing.

On the people of Amsterdam side… It seems that having three kids is somewhat a normal thing among Amsterdam’s families. Imagine a bike with a parent and three kids on! Oh, and the adult is talking on the phone while steering the vehicle and handing our objects required by one of the toddlers. It all seems so natural and effortless. I am sure this is not the case, but I sure did not see anyone falling out of the bike or in a canal. I wonder how they do it…

There are a few things you should do when you are in Amsterdam – grab a beer and watch The Nederland national football team play a World Cup game at a public viewing venue; eat Dutch fries (not to be confused with French fries); visit van Gogh’s and Rijksmuseum; get on a boat around the city’s many canals and let the landscape astonish you; and plan your next trip back, naturally.

P.S. Thank you, Didi and Momchil!