Amsterdam is the man

If Amsterdam was a person, I would be urging him to sue the rest of the world for serious defamation of character.

A few weeks ago I visited the famous city and in the process registered my first trip of 2016. I wasn't majorly bothered about going, I was just going for the sake of going. Just another country and city to tick off the list I thought to myself. Well I thought wrong.

The city has flair and style. Even though the weather system is practically the same as the UK, there seemed to be more optimism in the air. All ages and genders were nonchalantly coasting along on their bikes, effortlessly avoiding the trams that were snaking along the streets whilst other people floated along canals on their boats.

Everyone is on the move. This can be slightly annoying when trying to cross the street. I found myself doing a complete 360 degree spin, and constantly doubting if I should step foot into the road at any given moment. Amsterdam has the main road which are for cars and trams. Running parallel are mini lanes which appeared to be designated bike lanes, which mopeds, motorbikes and these small tiny cars could also use. On top of this, the traffic light on the left may be red... while the traffic light on the right may be green. (For traffic going in the same direction).

Often I found myself hopping off a tram taking two steps and realising I was casually standing in the middle of some kind of road or lane. Curbs of any substance here seem pretty rare. Other than the death defying stunt of crossing roads, everything else here is pretty sweet.

The food was good, including some big thing they have about eating chips with a range of all kinds of sauces available for you to drizzle over them. Quirky bars and trendy restaurants line the streets, squares and canals. I stayed in walking distance from Vondell Park, which was lined with a breath taking 4 - 5 story brown brick town houses. No curtains here, just sparkling glass windows revealing exquisite interior design and taste. It's like everyone had style there, and not just in clothes but across their lifestyle. Sometimes, I felt like I was in Canada, America, London, Spain, Italy and who knows where else. It was like some kind of inception parallel universe.

The architecture has a lot of history, and you might even notice some houses are comically wonky due to the fact the city is sitting on top of water which has somewhat compromised the structures. Another interesting thing is many houses are ridiculously narrow. Apparently in the olden days, you were taxed more for having a wider house. So everyone decided to go narrow, and up about four or five stories instead. Infact, the houses are so narrow you can't fit any furniture in through the front door. Each house has a hook at the very top of the house hanging off the roof. They hoist furniture up via a rope and plonk the stuff through the windows, which are taken out for the occasion.

Whilst chilling in my hotel, I could casually tune into BBC 1 and a host of other British channels and radio stations. This just added to the home away from home factor, and slowly I realised I actually didn't want to go back home.

My hotel overlooked a glass box structure that housed offices. I would often walk past it on the way to Lidl's and gaze into the building watching the people busy working and wonder to myself I they were looking to employ any Londoners.

We visited the Henniken Headquarters, cruised along the canals, frequented the bars and restaurants, shopped in the shops and walked the streets setting a step counter record on my phone in the process. Amsterdam is so much more than what its P.R suggests. I was dangerously close to never ever going there, but now I have, I will be returning. In fact for the next two or three weeks after returning to London, all I did was walk about which a face like thunder mumbling under my breath that I wanted to go back.

If Amsterdam was a person, trust me Amsterdam would be the man.

Joshua.