Valencian sun

Last year in the summer, we spent 5 days in the coastal Spanish city of Valencia. It was a city break kind of trip, which I rarely do nowadays. During those five days, we mostly walked around the city centre, enjoying the art, the food and the slow pace of Spanish life. It was fun, especially the opportunity to spend such leisure time with friends. My favourite day of course was when I took a local bus to one of the nearby coastal village, and loved it.


Getting there

The flight to Valencia took us over the Pyrenees, and I could spot some blue lakes down below which sparkled over the mountains. Close to landing, there were many olive and orange plantations everywhere. And all the houses had blue pools in their backyard - it looked like the good life.

Streets of Valencia

It was quite easy to get to the city centre. I took the local metro and then walked 20 mins to get to our airbnb in Carmen. It was a nice walk through the narrow streets of Valencia. You could see that it was an old part of town, with its narrow colourful streets, metal balconies decorated with loads of plants and many squares and churches on the way. The graffiti on the streets was very prominent, and I enjoyed noticing and appreciating it over the weekend. I did not know then, but learnt later, that Carmen is actually famous for all its colourful street art.

The first day, we just walked near our airbnb. The second day we walked around town though without a plan. The next day we visited the local city beach. The fourth day was out of town, to the beach town of Perello. And the last day I did another tour of the city, based on some walks suggested online. And finally saw a lot more of the town. I think the first two days we were walking around in circles to the same areas, and it was nice that I did the more planned walk on the last day. At least I felt I had experienced quite a bit of the town.


The city centre

Streets of Valencia

In Valencia, we were staying in an airbnb in Carmen, which was the old part of town. For the first two days, we would mostly just walk around the city centre, checking out the colourful streets, the parks, the squares, the churches and local art. Given my friend was a foodie, we explored many restaurants too, some good and many not so good.

Valencia at night

There were loads of shopping options and eating places in the centre. It was always very active everywhere, full of tourists. The shops were full of people checking out local stuff, the squares were full of people gathered there to eat and drink. And in the evenings, all these places would be bustling (even more) with people. After 9 pm though - this was Spain 😂. And even at 11 pm, there would be music and a lot of noise outside. As our airbnb was in the city centre, we could hear the noise till very late. And very loud noise ☹️.

Cultural centre

While exploring Carmen, on our second day, we visited a cultural centre, the Centre del Carme Cultura Contermporánia (CCCC), which was a convent now converted into an art gallery. The paintings were nice, but the convent and its central garden was stunning. After the cultural centre, we walked all the way to the Turia Jardin (gardens) and spent some time there - it was huge. (The park is built on the former riverbed of the Turia river). We then walked back into town, walking past grand colourful buildings, old gates, churches and squares everywhere.

The third morning, we explored the university side of town (while on our way to the local beach). It was green all the way and we walked through many parks, most of them full of trees laden with purple jacarandas in full bloom. As we walked from Carmen to the university, the scene suddenly changed from old colourful buildings in the city centre to the modern glass and steel buildings in the university.

Valencia Cathedral

The university felt grand and open. The area was quite empty though, as it was afternoon and quite hot - so all the streets had emptied out. We were planning to take a bus to the beach and were trying to buy tickets - it took us an hour to find a shop which would sell us that as everything was closed for siesta 😂. Finally we were able to buy a bus ticket pack - 10 journeys cost just 6 euros with that card. We then took the bus to the beach. While coming back, we stopped at the Valencia Cathedral and were impressed by the grand square. It was full of activity, with some local markets and loads of tourists there taking pictures.

Turia gardens

The fourth morning we started with a run in the Turia gardens. It used to be a riverbed which was later converted into a park circling the old town. We went running there and loved it. It was quite hot and humid, but still fun to be out and active. There were loads of people running and many activities going on in the park. It was also fun to observe all that it had, small waterbodies, old bridges, and loads of flowers everywhere. Every bridge over the Turia has its own history too.

Plaza de la Virgen

While coming back from the beach that day, I explored the eastern part of old town and realised that it was quite grand. The streets had metal lamps all along its sides. And everything was cleaner and better maintained. Also much richer than the poorer and rundown part of town we were living in 😂. My favourite was Plaza de la Virgen, with its churches and towers all lit up. It looked so grand, so charming, with loads of activity going on there. So I decided to return the next day for sure.

The last day, I finally decided to explore Valencia properly. So I found a walking tour online and then walked around town, going farther than where we had been till then. I realised we had barely scratched the surface of the place 😂. I saw a newer, grander side of town and loved the walk.

I walked past the La Lonja de la Seda, a grand building housing an old silk exchange. The square there was quite grand. And right next to it, was the Central market, a covered indoors market selling loads of touristy stuff. It also felt so much cooler inside than outside.

Colon Market

I walked along the Calle de la Paz, a street with many more modern buildings. I walked on Colon Street, a quiet tree lined street with charming buildings and architecture around. I stopped for a while at the Mercado de Colón, a covered market built in Art Nouveau style with some art and eating shops inside. It was so relaxing to take a break there under the shade, and enjoy the art exhibitions on display.

Plaza Redonda

I walked through many other Plazas (or Placas as they are know) and each one had its own character. Placa del Tossal was where we had gone for drinks one of the days. It was so active even during the day, though looked completely different from the night look. Plaza Redonda was a round square with a fountain in between. In fact, we had our first day's dinner there. And it looked so different during the day.

Valencia Cathedral

Plaza de la Companya had a church and was surrounded by charming old buildings. Plaza del Ayuntamiento was a majestic square with the city hall on one side and other elegant buildings all around, with a green park in between. Plaza de la Almoina had a huge pink stone palace on one side and many charming buildings around.

Behind Valencia Cathedral

The walk from Plaza de la Almoina till the Valencia Cathedral was lined with historic gates and churches and doors and many other lovely views. It was quite nice to walk here, you felt like you had turned up in a different era. I also walked past the Museo del Patriarca, and it was impressive. There was a stunning church next to it, and I attended mass inside.

On this walk, we walked past so many lovely churches on every street. And picturesque churches. The colourful houses, though old all looked lovely, with their facades and their balconies with so many flowers. The whole historic area was huge, and apparently Valencia has one of the largest historic centres in Europe. And it was fun to explore. And then all the art!

Street art

Everywhere in the city centre, there were so many gorgeous paintings on the walls. Everywhere. Some many storey high, some small ones on the corner of the building. Some in modern designs, some commercial marketing on a shop’s shutter. Some with social messages, some just funny. Some colourful and some in monochrome, It was a real pleasure to see them all. And wonder what would have been going on in the artist’s mind when they made it. Here are a few of those graffiti art that I photographed.

Street art

Street art

Street art

Street art

The street art was everywhere, notable though were Carrer de Baix, Calle Alta and Caballeros, these streets were full of art everywhere (and quite near our airbnb).

Placa de la Virgen

Overall, I enjoyed this last day's walk through town. I think I did repeat many streets, but at least I knew what those buildings were. And after this city walk, I had lunch at Placa de la Virgen, with a view of the goings on in the square. And got a feel for what Valencia is all about.


The beach

On the third day, we took a bus to the local beach - Patacona. The bus was very crowded, so clearly it was popular 😂. The whole beachfront was lined with restaurants. And the food, especially the seafood here was better than what we had in the city centre. I swam for a bit too. The water was clean and shallow, though a bit choppy. But given the heat, the swim was very welcome.


The countryside

One of those days, I decided to take public transport and explore the countryside. So I walked to a bus stop, from where I could get a bus to Albufera Park. I saw so much of the city on that walk too, as I had time to kill before the bus arrived. On the bus, I decided not to get off at the park but go all the way to Perello beach. And just enjoyed the ride out of town.

It felt amazing to be out of the city. There was much more greenery everywhere. We passed by the Albufera Park with its marshy lakes. And then rural Spain appeared, with one village after another. All seemed welcoming. Though when I got off at Perello, I wasn't sure I had made the right choice or not. The village seemed empty, probably because it was quite hot

Perello Beach

But once I reached the beach, it was sheer joy. There were restaurants all along the waterfront. I ate at one which was still open at that hour, the Tapas King, a non-descript looking restaurant on the promenade. I had the best lunch of the trip. And the atmosphere was also so warm and relaxing there. By the time I finished my lunch, the sun had dipped behind the buildings, and the weather became more pleasant.

So I started walking along the beach, enjoying the views. The beachfront was lined with holiday homes, and the beach with people surfing or windsurfing. It was so chilled and relaxed there, I ended up walking for almost 2 hours, enjoying the warm breeze. 

Sunset over Albufera Park

Coming back to Valencia took 2 hours though as the bus I was to get on didn’t come, and the next one came after one hour. (I also realised that like in India, buses here don’t always run on time 😂). Plus we got stuck in the evening traffic. But the scenes outside were stunning. I saw the sunset behind the Albufera lagoon and paddy fields, it was just so serene. It made the entire day so joyful.


Eating out

As my friends were foodies, we spent some time trying to find good places to eat, based on their Google ratings. I would say though that the experiment wasn’t always very successful. Overall, I was not impressed with the food we found, though Valencia had come highly recommended.

The first day, we stuck to the Carmen district for our meals. I had my first lunch at a local tapas place, close to our airbnb - Tasco el Botijo. I sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the food, it tasted average though. Our dinner was at a well rated restaurant with apparently the best paella in town, the El Leon in Plaza Redonda. There were live local musicians playing in the square, which provided a lively background for the meal. The paella didn’t, though.

Streets of Valencia

The second day again in Carmen, we found a vegan place for lunch, the Lo de Ponxe. It had quite a unique menu which was quite tasty. That evening we again researched and went to a well rated fancy place called JamonJamon. It was quite upmarket but the food was a disaster and I had to use my emergency chilli pack to spice up the dishes and make them edible. Somehow we were not having good luck with food in Valencia.

We did find good ice cream at La Romano though - it always had long queues outside. We had drinks in the Placa del Tossal that day and enjoyed the vibe. I did enjoy the whole experience of sitting outdoors at the restaurants in all the squares. Everyone would be outside after 8 pm, talking loudly and having fun, with music playing in the background. And everyone would be out way past 2 am! Every day!

The third day we got out of Carmen and found better food - I think that was the trick. We had seafood lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants on the Patacona beach, the La Murciana. We walked in without checking the reviews, and loved the food. In the evening, we tried two places for cocktails in Carmen again. The Cafe Madrid at the Madrid Hotel, a fancy rooftop bar, was quite bad. But a cocktail bar called Santo Remedio was just awesome.

Continuing with my eating-outside-of-Carmen theme, the next day, I had lunch at a non-descript restaurant on the Perello beach promenade called the Tapas King and the food there was one of the best I had in Valencia. The ambience, the food taste - everything was perfect.

Carmen delivered on the last day though. I had my last lunch in Plaza de La Virgen at the Petit Bistro. Its location was its best selling point. It was on this grand square, where you can eat while observing the goings-on in the grand square, with the huge churches, the fountains and all the tourists. It was just so relaxing to sit there, with a cool breeze blowing. I also started talking to an American lady there who was staying in Valencia for a month, evaluating whether she would like to move to Spain or not. The food was ok, but the experience was still fun.


Weather

As it was June, the weather in Valencia was hot, especially in the afternoons. It was still breezy and the temperature would be manageable in the shade. (Interestingly it didn't feel as hot as it showed on the app). Only under direct sun would the temperature be unbearable. So we mostly got out in the mornings, then came back home in the afternoons for a siesta as it was just too tough to be outside (unless you spent time indoors in a shop or restaurant). And then we would go out again in the evenings, when it was pleasant, and sometimes even a little bit chilly.

I loved the weather, especially the heat as it made it easier to relax and slip into the chill zone, not trying to do too much. And the city felt like that too - the squares would just empty out in the afternoon, and the only people outside would be sitting around lazily in shaded restaurants, waiting for the evenings when they could get back to activity again.


Overall, I enjoyed Valencia, but also realised I don’t enjoy city breaks much now. I prefer being away from the crowds, anywhere in the mountains or by a beach works.

Museums in and around Amsterdam

Other Amsterdam blogs

In my first year in Amsterdam, I bought the annual Museum Card for residents which allows entry to most museums in the Netherlands for a year for a reasonable fee. And as 2021-22 was the year of Covid lockdown, and outdoor activities were restricted, I visited a lot more museums than I would normally do. I enjoyed those visits as it was a good way to get to know more about the Netherlands, its history and culture.

I visited around 18 museums during the year, a lot focused on art but many on other subjects. Some were huge ones like the Rijksmuseum, while there were many smaller but interesting ones like the Grachten museum. Here are my experiences visiting them.


Museum Amstelkring (Our Lord in the Attic museum) (May 2022)

This was one of the smaller museums I visited in Amsterdam, which took about an hour or so to explore. Interestingly, this museum with a religion bent, was located right next to the Red Light District which was a bit of a shock to end up at while cycling there. Amsterdam has been a Protestant city for a long time, but given its trading focus, it has also always been open to all kinds of ideas, religions and beliefs. So when the Protestants grew in Amsterdam, some religious persecution began. Still Catholics were allowed to follow their religion peacefully, though in private. So they could not build public churches, but they could still pray to their god in private.

Our Lord in the Attic

So what some of the rich Catholics in the city did was build huge churches inside their canal houses! They would buy multiple adjacent houses, saw off floors within the building and create huge churches inside, hidden from public view. And Our Lord in the Attic was one of those remaining Catholic churches.

It was quite a creditable engineering feat, and lovely to see it. The owner had bought three neighbouring houses and constructed one church within them. It had everything a normal church would have, an organ, seats for the faithful to sit in and so on. It was impressive to see how the floor across two floors had been sawed off to create a huge indoor church - such loyalty and dedication towards one’s religion is saluteworthy. I also loved the views of the canals outside from inside the church.


Anne Frank House (April 2022)

The Anne Frank museum was one of the tough ones to visit. It is one of those museums that you need to book in advance, as it’s a tourist favourite, and the visiting slots get booked a long time in advance. Every time I tried, I would never find any evening or weekend slot available for the next few months. Also, at some level, I was trying to avoid visiting this museum as I expected it to be depressing (having read the book previously). Anyways after trying a few times, I was able to book a 1 hour slot on a weekday evening, and off I went.

The museum is in one of the canal houses in the canal district, and is always surrounded by crowds outside. At the allotted time, the visitors are allowed to walk in, and guided through the house, both the main one in front, and the annex behind, where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis for more than two years with her own family and another family.

The whole tour is around an hour, and takes you through where the family lived. The house had been stripped bare of its contents after the families had been found, and the museum has been kept like that only. When you emerge into the main hall, there are some displays from her diary.

I think for me, there were two thoughts that I had after the visit. One, how did 7 individuals live in such a small space for over two years. Though I guess that would not have been their major worry, survival was. Still it is humbling to see two families try to survive this way. And my second thought was, the museum was anything but depressing. I don’t know how they pulled it off. It felt quite uplifting as they celebrated Anne’s spirit rather than the tragedy of her life’s end.


De Nieuwe Kerk (The New Church) (April 2022)

This is one of the key churches of Amsterdam which is no longer a church given the gradual disappearance of religion from the Netherlands (the majority of the country now is atheist). The church has been converted into an exhibition hall now, and the day I went, there was a display of the winners of the ‘World Press Photo of the Year’ across the last few decades.

The church was quite pretty from the inside and the outside, though not a functioning church anymore. And the exhibition was informative to see. It was also interesting to note, a lot of previous winners had photographed scenes from wars, mostly of children. There is something about that that tugs the human heart.


FOAM Photography museum (Dec 2021)

This is a very small museum in the canal district. I went there one rainy winter day, and saw an exhibition by a Japanese photographer. I found all the photographs too abstract, I liked only one of them. But for people who like abstract work, the museum regularly changes its exhibition, so this could be fun.


Grachten museum (Museum of Canals) (June 2022)

This is a very small museum in one of the canal houses in Amsterdam. It tells the story of the building of the canals in Amsterdam and how it drove the city’s development. There was also a 45 mins multimedia show on how the canal houses were built. I enjoyed it. It was quite eye opening to learn that the houses are all standing on wooden foundations, with long wooden pillars, the bottom part of which are all immersed in water! I wonder how they will all sustain in the long term.


Hermitage museum + Amsterdam museum (May 2022)

The Hermitage is a museum in Amsterdam which used to work like a branch of the famous Moscow Hermitage museum. They would display paintings on loan from the main Hermitage museum. But by the time I visited it, the Russia-Ukraine war had started and the museum had become empty as all the Russian art had been returned. So there wasn’t a lot to see. In fact, the Milkmaid painting from the Rijksmuseum had been moved here and a few rooms were dedicated to analysing the painting in detail. It’s one of my favourite paintings, so I enjoyed learning all the details about it. But of course I missed out on the original Hermitage displays.

In the Hermitage gardens

In fact, the Amsterdam museum which was under renovation had been temporarily moved to the Hermitage building. It wasn’t very impressive though, I barely remember anything from it.

The Hermitage museum building is quite impressive though. It turns out I had visited its courtyard twice before, once to visit a local farmers’ market, and once to sit in a cafe with tulips around, to get some peace during a hectic King’s day.


Het Scheepvart Museum (The Maritime Museum) (May 2022)

Maritime musem

This was the national maritime museum of the Netherlands and I loved it. It’s a huge building on the river IJ, with a few boats floating on the water. The main building is magnificent and looks stunning especially during sunset. I first spent time in the main building, where the displays were mostly paintings about seafaring Netherlands, tapestries and some weapons used by sailors. They were quite beautiful.

Along it all was also a display of the history of the VOC (the Dutch East India company). I learnt a lot about Dutch history there. The Dutch were one of the first masters of the seas. But they fought against Spain, then against the UK and then France at different times in history. After all the wars, they finally lost control of the seas. (Also the alliances between the countries were changing so constantly, it was tough to keep track who sided with whom when). Also I realised that Amsterdam is still a port, and the access is through the North Sea canal. That was built after the North Sea access was lost due to building of the two dykes, the Afsluitdijk and Markerwaarddijk.

A scene at sea

After that, I checked out the royal barge as well as a replica boat showing how sailors would have gone on VOC voyages at that time. It was nice to get onto the ships and see what they would have carried, how much space there would have been, and so on. There was also a VR show on how Amsterdam would have looked then. That was quite a well made immersive video, I liked it.

I spent almost 2 hours in the museum and still managed to see only two of the sections. There were a few other exhibitions going on too which I didn’t get time to see. Overall, I enjoyed the museum and wanted to come back again with more time, but I never managed to do that.


Nemo Science museum (Oct 2021)

This was another of my favourite museums in town that I wanted to visit a second time and never did. The Nemo is a huge museum on the banks of the river IJ near the Centraal Station. The building has an interesting shape and is visible from afar. And the museum inside is a child’s dream. Actually, even an adult’s 😂.

It has five floors of exhibits showcasing real life experiments on how science works. Most of them engage the visitors, where they need to do something to see something happen. It was just so much fun. We had gone with some kids and had to keep our own enthusiasm in check so as not to forget (and lose track of) the kids 😂. I loved all the experiments I did and wish I had done more of these when I was an engineering student. So much of what I did then made sense now.

The rooftop restaurant there was gorgeous too, I went there a few times over the next few years. It gave a good overview of Amsterdam city. And there were events happening there all the time, like once we landed at a Pride concert. I wanted to visit the museum again but that never happened. Maybe I will go to the Science Museum in London sometime.


Oude Kerk (Old Church) (May 2022)

This was again one of the oldest and most important churches of Amsterdam but now it does not serve a religious function anymore. Like the New Church, this has also been converted into an exhibition hall and when I visited, there was an exhibition on display by a Brazilian artist linking religion with the exploitation of black people. The church looked really grand from the inside. It had some beautiful stained glass on the windows. I had seen many paintings of the church in the other museums in the Netherlands. But it looked so empty now, it had an eerie feeling. Maybe because I haven’t seen a lot of non-functioning churches like this before.


Rijksmuseum (Nov 2021, Apr 2022, Sep 2022, Apr 2023)

Tulips outside the Rijks

The Rijksmuseum is the National Museum of the Netherlands. It is a grand building, one of the most recognisable sights of Amsterdam, including a cycle path through the centre of the building. It was apparently built like a church. Outside it there are gardens where people come and paint in summer, skating rinks are set up in winter, tulip gardens in spring and many other events are held there. Its gardens are also where protests and other public events are held.

Cycling through the Rijks

Inside the museum are all the national treasures of the Netherlands. Apparently it owns a million different objects, of which it showcases only about 8000 at a time! I visited the Rijksmuseum three times, so as to see different parts of the museum leisurely. And then I went again for a Vermeer exhibition.

The Milkmaid

On my first visit, I spent an hour in one gallery, known as the ‘Gallery of Honour’. This gallery was where the best and most famous of the Rijks’s paintings were put on display. The showstopper there was the famous ‘Night Watch’ by Rembrandt, though my favourite was the ‘Milkmaid’ by Vermeer. There is something in the painting that the moment I saw it, I just stood there. Observing the milkmaid as she goes about her daily life. No photograph can do justice to the real thing. It was definitely a masterpiece. The rest of the paintings in that hall were still lifes, Dutch landscapes, and the daily lives of people. Most of them had a vivid interplay of light and shadow, which made them very captivating to stare at.

Children of the sea

On my second trip, I spent about two hours exploring the paintings from the 1600-1700s. Unsurprisingly, there were many paintings showcasing the colonial history of the country, with paintings from the lives of the people in the colonies often portrayed more positively than it actually was. Thankfully the Dutch have evolved a lot from there - all such paintings have notes next to it, accepting and highlighting the colonial past of the country, including some of the wrongs it did in the past. I was just happy they were not whitewashing their entire past - it is commendable for a country to accept the realities of its past and move on.

While watching the paintings, there is a lot I also learnt about Dutch art, Dutch history and their way of life. I learnt about the Hague school and style of art, and that a lot of the Dutch painters travelled to Italy to learn painting. Also, they were one of the pioneers of landscape paintings, still lifes and of depicting daily life of the common people, given the relatively less classist society of the Netherlands. I also noticed that Dutch medieval fashion was to have the white collars, which not a lot of other countries had. I also didn't know that Belgium had been a part of the Netherlands (when they were together called the Low Countries) and had split after the war with Spain.

I stopped by the Cuypers library, and what an impressive room that was. We weren't allowed to check out the individual books though, given how old and delicate they would be. I also liked some of the Dutch doll houses on display. They looked cute, the large houses with every detail recreated in miniature across rooms.

Dollhouse

On my third visit, I spent about 2 hours checking out the displays from the 1700-1800s. There was a room with Turkish paintings by Vanmour - they were all so different, and so much darker. I liked Koekkoek, one of the Romantic Dutch painters. His paintings were worth stopping for, as were Kruseman’s. In the 19th century, the number of landscapes increased and I liked them. I also liked some of Isaac Israel's impressionist works.

There were many rooms displaying material possessions of the colonial era, like silver and gold objects, exquisite furniture and so on. I didn't enjoy that section much except some colourful potteries of animals and birds. I don’t think I had finished exploring the whole of Rijksmuseum even after the third visit. But it was my last exploring the standard displays.

Vermeer's play with light

My last visit to the Rijksmuseum was to the Vermeer Exhibition. It showcased about 20 of his paintings from across the world. He also played a lot with light in all his paintings. I loved the ones of windows and women by the windows, always. He painted a lot of upholstery and carpets in detail, which I liked. And as usual, I liked his landscapes.


Van Gogh museum (Nov 2021)

I have been to the Van Gogh museum a few times earlier too, and somehow everytime I learn something new. I wrote an article about the last visit here. It’s a museum I recommend to everyone, even the ones who are not into art and paintings. There is something about knowing about Van Gogh, the person, and his history, which moves everyone who visits the museum.


Van Loon museum (June 2022)

This was another of the smaller Amsterdam museums where you can spend an hour or so wandering around. The Van Loon museum was a typical grand canal house, something all the rich and wealthy in Amsterdam possessed (or wanted to possess) which had been converted into a museum. This was the house of the Van Loon family, a grand house filled with valuable possessions from that era, from around the world.

From paintings by great masters to tapestries from the Middle East to exquisite furniture and so on. It was gorgeous, and fun to visit even though it was an ostentatious display of wealth. I also liked the garden behind the house - apparently a lot of canal houses have stunning gardens behind, all hidden from the general public. Behind the garden, in the outhouse, there was an exhibition of portraits made by the painter Adolf Pirsch - they were all quite stunning.



I also visited a few museums in other parts of the Netherlands while visiting those cities (or National Parks). I must say that overall, I preferred Amsterdam’s. The city is definitely the heart of the country, art wise and otherwise (though the rest of the country doesn’t always agree 😂).


Frans Hals museum (Haarlem) (September 2022)

Peasants returning home

When on a bike ride to Haarlem, we visited the Frans Hals museum which mostly housed paintings. For me, the highlights were some Heda Claesz and Jan Jansz van de Velde’s still life paintings. But overall I wasn’t blown away by any of the pieces. I think the museum was too small to be truly impressive.


Kroller-Muller Museum (Veluwe) (June 2022)

This museum is made up of the paintings owned by the Kroller-Muller family which were then donated to build this museum. And it is located in the middle of a national park, the Hoge Veluwe! Wow, what a location! When we visited it, we spent some time outside in the sun, exploring the sculptures put up in the garden.

The paintings inside were very interesting, and so intense, as each piece had been chosen by the family over the decades. I loved all the cubist, impressionist and pointillist paintings there. They also had a lot of Van Goghs, my favourites being the ‘Flowers in a Blue Vase’ (which I painted myself later) and the ‘Terrace of a Cafe at Night’.

Pointillism

Van Gogh's cafe

Cubism

LAM museum (Keukenhof castle) (Nov 2021)

This was a very small museum in the gardens of the Keukenhof castle, in the town of Lisse. It is dedicated to art related to food. I found some of the pieces very interesting, some very random. Overall I would say, if you are in the area, you can go in. Otherwise you aren’t missing much if you miss it.


Mauritshuis (Hague) (June 2022)

Vermeer's Delft

We stopped at the Mauritshuis museum in Hague on the sunny day we wanted to visit Scheveningen. There were loads of paintings, the most famous of them being ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’, by Vermeer. Somehow I wasn’t impressed by it. I did stop at another painting, a rare landscape. And then I realised it was by him, ‘The View of Delft’. You cannot but stare at this one.

Inside Mauritshuis

There were a lot of Rubens and Rembrandts in the museum too. Rembrandts’ lighting of the characters was just stunning. Also the decor of the museum from the inside was very luxurious - it felt like we were walking in someone’s plush living room.


Museum Prinsenhof (Delft) (June 2022)

We visited the Prinsenhof museum when visiting Delft. It is located in a convent with some beautiful gardens outside. Inside it has many displays of pottery from around the world, including Delft Pottery. It also showcases the history of the William of Orange, his struggles, and how the city of Delft supported him in that journey. It was a good place to learn some Dutch history.


Waterland museum (Monnickendam) (June 2022)

We went up to this museum when we had gone cycling to Monnickendam. It’s a very small museum, mostly talking about the Waterland region, how it conquered and harnessed all the water around, how polders were made and so on. It also gives one a chance to look behind a carillon, the Speeltoren carillon. And see the inner workings of the musical instrument. It was interesting.


Other Amsterdam blogs

Cycling trips around Amsterdam

Other Amsterdam blogs

Netherlands is a cycling paradise, we all know that. But experiencing it is something else. Everyone cycles here. All the time. Come hail or snow or rain or wind, you can’t keep a Dutch person off their bike! And I have seen it myself, it’s totally true.

And it definitely helps that the infrastructure for biking is excellent in the Netherlands (of course it also helps that the country is completely flat!). There are cycling paths of course within cities, but also linking the villages and towns of the country. You can easily cycle from anywhere to anywhere, through cycling paths which are away from the main roads. They are wide, well paved and mostly pass through fields, next to canals and other picturesque locations. Where you are not disturbed by cars or anything else, and can cycle safely.

Cycling towards Muiden

Cycling in the Netherlands is amazing, and is my favourite activity here (whenever the weather is good of course 😊). I definitely am not Dutch enough to want to cycle in the cold, rain and wind! But on warm sunny days, I do like to go for a long bike ride in the country. The routine is always the same – ride through scenic routes to some nearby village or town, explore the place, its museums, churches etc., eat at a nice restaurant by the water, and then cycle back home. These bike rides are excellent weekend activities, a mix of exercise and exploring the outdoors. Below, I am sharing some of the longer rides I did.


Abcoude (35 kms, March 2022, May 2023)

Abcoude is a small town south of Amsterdam, and you just need to cycle next to Amsterdam's Amstel river to get there. The first part of the ride is the same as the bike ride to Ouderkerk which I had done before, along the river, with farms all around. And then you veer off course a bit to get to Abcoude, riding through fields and canals.

Cycling along the Amstel

We cycled along the farms by the Amstel, and then stopped for lunch at Abcoude. That day had turned out to be a sunny but very windy day. So biking though through gorgeous views was extremely tough. At times we felt that we kept cycling but not moving! It was tough. It was too cold that day to take off gloves to take photographs even. So maybe that’s why, this is one of those rides I don’t remember a lot of, except that it was the first one to get out of winter hibernation mode. 

I visited Abcoude once again, this time in summer by car, and was again impressed by the village. This time, we went to a local farm, the Hindenhof and bought fresh milk and other products grown or produced locally at the farm itself. It was fun to check out all the things available there. We then walked around town, along the canals and church, admiring how every Dutch village turns out to be so picturesque.


Amsterdamse Bos (25 kms)

Amsterdamse Bos or the Amsterdam forest is the local forest of Amsterdam. It’s a huge green area about 2500 acres, just a 10 mins bike ride from my place. It has everything – lakes, ponds, forests, parks, cherry blossoms, restaurants, theatres, spas and so on. And it’s very popular with Amsterdammers for multiple adventure activities, like running, walking, cycling, rowing, camping and so on. The Bos is always an easy pick to go and cycle. Anytime, anywhere.

Bos in winter

I have cycled there often, whenever I need to get some fresh air and exercise on short notice. And it’s always a pleasure to explore it. It has miles and miles of tracks, and most of the times we just go wherever the path takes you. All tracks are lined with tall trees, green in summer and bare in winter. There are many water bodies everywhere, and it’s fun to cross the small creeks while cycling.

Bos in winter

I do remember some rides there specifically though. Once was when we cycled there on a very cold and misty day in winter - there was fog everywhere, it was just so magical, I cannot forget that ride. The water bodies, the grass meadows, the people running, everything was engulfed in fog. and felt like a dream. It was also extremely old, but as I had layered up well, so I didn't even notice.

Cherry blossoms in Bos

Another time we cycled to the Bloesempark, which is a cherry blossom park in the Bos. It had rows of cherry blossom trees, laden with pink flowers and surrounded by loads of people. It looked nice. And another time was during lockdown in 2021 winter, when cycling there, we just stopped on a road and just experienced the planes fly by just above our heads as they landed into Schiphol. They felt so close, I felt we could almost touch them.

Walks in Bos

A few times, I went for walks in Bos and always ran into people involved in different activities. Sometimes we came across lakes where people were swimming, sometimes football fields where children were playing, sometimes campgrounds where families were camping for a few days, sometimes festivals where everyone was enjoying the music. And of course, everyone rowing and kayaking in the Bosbaan in any weather, any time of the year. There was always a surprise around the corner whenever I cycled there. I loved the Bos, having a place like this so close cannot be underrated.


Broek in Waterland (64 kms, May 2023, August 2024)

Broek village

The first time I visited this village was when I went cycling to Monnickendam. The ride all through was gorgeous, through green fields with flowers, interspersed with loads of waterways. We stopped at the village of Broek, at the local church which had a cafe inside. As we sat outside to take a break, we witnessed a local parade, where everyone was dressed up and just having a nice time.

Broek village

Then we visited the village again, this time driving there. We walked around in the village and around the church. All around were green fields, and within the village cute houses and loads of flowers along the canals. There was a lake in the centre, and we had tea there. We also ran into an open air festival going on in the village. It was so much fun just to drive out of Amsterdam one evening to such beautiful surroundings, and have a warm cup of evening tea there. Bliss

Lake in Broek

Broek village

Haarlem (45 kms, September 2022, August 2024)

Haarlem is a small city, very close to Amsterdam. It is quite popular with people who like to live close to Amsterdam but don’t like its noise and crowds. We decided to cycle on a supposedly warm day in September. The whole ride was about 45 kms and was mostly next to the road, though patches of it were inside in the greens which made for a fun ride. We however got caught in a rain shower in between and so had to spend some time at an outlet mall right in the middle of Amsterdam and Haarlem.

Haarlem fall colours

Haarlem is quite similar to Amsterdam, with its canals and typical Dutch architecture. In fact, it’s also sometimes known as Mini Amsterdam (it’s on my visit to Haarlem I realised that after a point most of Holland’s towns start looking similar 😊). After reaching the city centre, we first visited the Frans Hals museum which mostly housed paintings. I liked the still lives from Heda Claesz but overall wasn’t very impressed.

The city outside was fun to walk through, especially the main church and square were quite grand and nice. Haarlem is painted quite often in the Netherlands with the church as the highlight. Also Haarlem lends its name to one of the major counties of New York. So it was nice to be there.

The streets next to the canals also looked stunning, with fall colours in full bloom. The ride back was more away from the roads, and so much more fun. And this is the fun of cycling in the Netherlands, you can easily make a day out of it and get some exercise too. Without any planning 😊.

I then visited Haarlem again with friends in summer. This time we drove, and then walked around in the city centre. After lunch, we checked out a few shops and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of shopping there, it was so much better than Amsterdam. Plus with less people there was definitely more time and space to explore everything. I liked the city this time too.


Lisse tulip fields and flower parade (50 kms, April 2022)

Lisse tulip farms

The tulips are quite the high point for the Netherlands, as it signals the start of spring. And the tourist season. I had already been to the Keukenhof gardens and the tulip fields, but I still wanted to bike through them. So one sunny spring day, we set off to see them, without a plan or any information even. We just started cycling towards Lisse, the heart of tulip fields in the Netherlands.

Tulip fields

The ride till there was quite ok, as a large chunk of it was just straight biking along the road, all around Schiphol. But once we reached the fields, it was bliss. There were rows and rows of multi-coloured tulips, anywhere and everywhere we cycled. With cute houses and windmills next to them. And we kept cycling among these enchanting flowers. It felt surreal to be there. Most of the tulip fields had red and yellow flowers, though we saw some pink and white ones too (I saw the white tulips for the first time). Sometimes we got down for a few photos, but for most of the time, just admired them and kept biking.

Tulip fields

The highlight of the day though turned out to be that, that day there was an annual flower parade passing through the area. So all the villages on the route were buzzing with activity since morning as the flower parade would pass through them later in the day. All the restaurants were full, and people were just sitting outside their houses with food, getting ready for the parade to pass by. It felt like such a festival mood, with everyone ready to wave to the tableaus and bands as they marched through.

Flower parade

And it did not disappoint. There was a long line of tableaus, made fully of fresh flowers (hyacinths, tulips and other seasonal varieties) passing by, with music playing in the background. The tableaus were magnificent, with flowers in different colours making it very easy to depict colourful scenes. All the tableaus had a theme and were quite elaborate. And when the hyacinth tableaus would pass, the air would fill up with their fragrance.

And in between there were marching bands from different cities. As well as some businesses marketing themselves. It was fun to sit by the side of the road, and enjoy seeing them pass through. It was so lovely to be there that day. After the long day, we didn’t cycle back though, just took the train back from Sassenheim to Amsterdam (something else that makes cycling easy in the Netherlands, the well-connected railway network allows one to modify rides to even partial rides).

Tulip fields

Over the next few years, I went to the Lisse tulip fields multiple times, at least a couple of times every spring. Sometimes just to Lisse, something just driving through while coming back from office. It was just so amazing to be among the tulips, walk through them, photograph them. I never tired of them. I even managed to once go there on a sunny warm day and get photographed in a saree. I never tired of them, even once. And can go there again whenever I visit the Netherlands again - they were one of my favourite experiences in the country.


Monnickendam (55 kms, June 2022, August 2024)

Monnickendam

Monnickendam is a small fishing town north of Amsterdam, in an area called Waterland. Apparently this whole area was earlier a swamp, and is built on totally reclaimed land. The ride there was through country fields and gorgeous canals. Many of the canals were lined with houseboats all the way, and some very grand ones. Monnickendam was a very picturesque city too, with coloured houses and lots of boats. We walked through its old streets, and went up the church tower museum.

After lunch, while coming back, we thought of going to the island town of Marken for a detour but as it had been a long ride already, we decided not to. And kept cycling back to Amsterdam. This was definitely one of those bike rides where we got too tired, and coming back was a challenge. Especially as the day was extremely windy, and we ran into a lot of closed routes while coming back. But we did make it back, safe and sound.

It turns out I had cycled to Monnickendam a second time too (I had completely forgotten this trip), this time through some stunning scenery along the villages in the north. I don’t think we stopped much in Monnickendam, but we did enjoy that ride a lot. Also because we chose a better route back home and did not have to cycle against the wind the entire time 😅.


Muiden (33 kms, July 2021, May 2023)

Muiden

This was my first long bike ride in the Netherlands, on a sunny summer day. I cycled along the water, towards the city of Muiden. As it was my first cycling trip, I liked it. Though I am not sure if it was that good or not 😊. I didn't know enough about cycling then, so instead of following cycling specific apps, I followed Google Maps. And so the path was sometimes next to the roads or cities, which wasn’t fun. The parts through the countryside were definitely more enjoyable.

Muiden cafe

Muiden was fun though, a small little picturesque village. With narrow streets, old houses and decorated with flowers everywhere. And with a nice little castle in it. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed spending the afternoon there. As it was sunny, it was full of tourists too. Biking back was tough though as it was my first long ride, but totally enjoyable.

Muiden castle

We visited Muiden again once in summer, when we drove there and so it felt a lot easier to get to. We walked around the central town, to the castle, along the sea and then were off to our next stop. There were just so many picturesque places everywhere in Netherlands to go to whenever you felt it (as long as the weather supports you 😂), it's amazing.


Ouderkerk aan de Amstel and Ronde Hoep Loop (40 kms, July 2021, May 2023, June 2023, July 2023, Sep 2023, May 2024, June 2024,, July 2024, Nov 2024)

Cycling to Ouderkerk

This is one of my favourite cycling tracks, as it starts along the Amstel river, within 10 mins of my place. And the whole cycle path is along farms, beautiful houses and people boating in the lakes. It’s a fabulous experience on a sunny summer day. Which was when I cycled there 😊. We first cycled till the town of Ouderkerk and then did the Ronde Hoep Loop. We had to take a few short ferries across the small canals too during the Loop.

Lunch at Ouderkerk

We then took a break and had lunch next to a canal in the town centre. It felt so idyllic, it was perfect. I liked Ouderkerk too. It felt like a nice place to live. I have heard since about people who move from Amsterdam to Ouderkerk, to still be able to enjoy Amsterdam life close enough. And the cycle ride back was as enjoyable as cycling there. The only disturbance were the 100s of racers who frequent this path – they bike so fast, they are almost a hazard to other cyclists' safety. The rest of the ride was fabulous, it is a bike ride I can see myself doing often.

Houses along the Amstel

Over the next four years, I visited Ouderkerk at least 10 times (if not more). It was just so charming, the ride or drive so gorgeous and so close to Amsterdam, it was a no brainer to go there. The cycling path till Ouderkerk was my most favourite, along the Amstel, with picturesque scenes around, grand houses, farm animals and so on. I cycled there whenever I felt in need of some upliftment. 

Waterfront in Ouderkerk

Ouderkerk had a nice waterfront with beautiful houses all along it. And great restaurants on the waterfront. So I also drove there many a sunny summer evening, just to eat along the waterfront or walk in town along the canals, the churches and restaurants. Though I would never take the highway, but always drive through the small road along the Amstel, it added so much to the joy of going to Ouderkerk. It was always a pleasure to visit this small little town, and I miss it.

Walk in Ouderkerk village

Sunset at Ouderkerk

Het Twiske (64 kms, May 2023, swimming in June 2024, driving in Sep 2021)

The Twiske is a huge green recreation area just north of Amsterdam. It was polder land earlier, and still is full of waterbodies everywhere. I have been there before by car, but this time decided to go biking. And what a spectacular ride it was.

Landsmeer houses

As we biked north from Amsterdam, we cycled past some gorgeous villages, like the Landsmeer, Den Ilp, and Jisp. They were full of gorgeous houses with canals all around. And housed in bright green fields, it was so refreshing to cycle there. We also passed by fields with farm animals, where the cycle paths were lined with bright yellow flowers, all along (wild sarson).

Cycling paths

We stopped first at a small café next to a water body, where a group of rowers had come in their boats and were having a lunch break. All at least in their 60s! And then we cycled to the Twiske, taking a break next to the lake. Everywhere there were wild flowers, it was just awesome to be there – definitely one more of my favourite cycle rides. The ride back got a bit tiring, but the landscape kept us motivated. And we reached back on time. I realised later, that this was my longest ride till date.

Swimming in Twiske

In addition to cycling, I also once went to swim in the Twiske. We drove to one of the lakes there, Stroolstrande, which had a nice picnic area. There were some facilities there for changing etc., and a small beach on the lake. So we sat in the sun, and then swam in the lake. There were even swans swimming along with us. Not a lot of people though. The water wasn't as clean as some of the other places we have swum though as there was some algae floating around. But it was still fun 


Vught (20 kms, August 2022)

Vught lake

I did a short course in South Netherlands, near the town of Vught and stayed there for a few days. And as I am slowly becoming Dutch, one of the warmer days, I just picked a bike and went out in the area for a long bike ride. Without a trail, without a plan. Just where I felt like cycling too. We first passed the nearby lake, called the Ijzeren Man (the Iron Man). (One of the other days, I came to the lake to swim too, it was a great experience as it was extremely warm and not too deep either)

After the lake, we just kept cycling along the fields and farms. We saw a few Christmas tree farms on the way. And a few balloons in the air. We also passed by a few other cyclists, they are everywhere. It was a nice refreshing ride, before the winter kicked in soon.


It was always such a pleasure in Amsterdam to be able to just pick up your cycle and go anywhere - you were guaranteed a great day out with loads of exercise, fresh air and stunning views. I miss that now 😔.

(Blog first published in May 2023, updated in Jan 2026)

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