Trip
The trip took place in October, 2018. I flew to Schiphol airport with Bulgaria Air from Sofia and the flight took a net of just short of three hours. As long as the flight to Amsterdam is concerned I can not really add a lot to my previous impressions from this air career - nothing that would make them stand out. The flight back however was quite a negative experience, handled by Bul Air - this was the first time I saw an Airbus with visible rust on the hull from the outside (I thought the entire body was made of duralumin, yet there it was). The inside was no better - for some reason they had not even cleaned thoroughly after the previous flight and the nets on the backs of the seats still contained trash. There was no head support, not even pads to guarantee some basic hygiene. The refreshments were just two or three type of fizzy drinks and the apple or orange juice was only available for children.
The Schiphol airport is a well organized place and despite the significant crowds that queue for security and passport control the waiting times are fine. I collected my luggage almost immediately after the flight.
Taxi services from the airport are very good. The queue does not take longer than a couple of minutes and you will definitely get into a nice and clean car that will take you to the city centre for a typical price between 40 and 60 euros. I got into one of the many Teslas and later noticed that the percentage of electric or hybrid cars on Amsterdam is quite significant.
Accommodation
I stayed at the Bastion hotel in Amsterdam, Amstel.
The reason for the choice of hotel was only its proximity to the offices. I have failed to find the star rating for this hotel on any of their printed materials and I guess there is a solid reason behind this. The hotel is clean, indeed, and serve its purpose to provide a warm and clean place to spend the nights. It is obviously aiming however at a target audience of subcontracted construction companies accommodating their workers for the duration of their projects as you could see a lot of those around. Some of them even left their dirty shoes in the lobby rather than leaving them in the vans. One thing common across the hotel is the lack of space - everything is designed and constructed in a way to save on space and it can get really annoying. I could understand the elevator not accommodating more than three people without they run out of oxygen but the shower cabins and the sinks in the bathrooms were a joke. The sink was so small I could not lean over it to wash my teeth or face - the only way you can do these activities is in an upright position. You need to keep the same position if you decide to take a shower - any attempts to lean down and reach you legs may result into getting stuck.
There was a mirror in the room which was placed perpendicular to the wall, on the back of a 30 centimeters wide wardrobe. Its intention was obviously to allow you to see your body in full height. The height you see, indeed, but the mirror being positioned in such a way only allows you to see your left side encouraging your imagination to extrapolate everything else that might be to the right of your body's vertical axis.
The rooms however offer pretty handy coffee machines and the maids leave you two capsules of coffee every day, together with two tiny bottles of mineral water. Strictly no smoking policy.
Is water drinkable?
Yes, it is, and is considered to be of great purity. It is absolutely safe to drink water from the tap. Bottled water is available everywhere.
Weather
Although average temperatures during autumn in Amsterdam are typically much lower, as locals advised, I was once again lucky with the weather. Temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius, no rain whatsoever. A shirt and a light jacket were absolutely enough. On occasions it got a bit windy but nothing extreme.
Is it safe?
Absolutely.
Cash or CC?
Although I got some cash at the airport (with no extra withdrawal fees) I could have easily paid with a credit card everywhere, even in the taxis.
Vaccines
No vaccines are required for your entry to the Netherlands. And the disclaimer - please do not accept this as a medical advice, it is a must you seek a professional opinion suited for your own circumstances.
General impressions
The city of Amsterdam is a fantastic place. This is the only city where I walked over 18 kilometers in one day and never felt sorry for the pain in my feet. The streets are typically alongside wide water canals so you are always near water. The canals are clean and full of life. You have probably heard of the fact that many people live in their boats, anchored there.
The downtown area gravitates around Oude Church, where most of the touristic attractions are. Those would include the famous red lights district with the narrow streets and all kinds of cafes and pubs and sex or weed shops.
It's full of young people from all over the world, taking advantage of the fact they would be able to legitimately by weed and smoke it. As a matter of fact it is not legal to smoke marijuana outside in the streets but everyone does so and police would just issue warnings. On most cases they would not even bother.
The atmosphere in this part of the city is amazing. The cafes and pubs alongside the canals are always crowded and I would love to be able to return and get another round of the local beers.
The infrastructure in Amsterdam is perfect. All streets do have bicycle lanes from both sides and I must say the priority is for the cyclists. There were many places where the sidewalk for pedestrians was getting narrower and narrower due to topology, yet the bicycle lane kept the same width everywhere - even when the pedestrians could only use the curb for walking.
One thing which everyone will notice immediately is how fossil burning engines are disappearing from this place. A serious proportion of the vehicles in Amsterdam is either using electrical or hybrid engines. And most people are using bikes anyway - there are so many cyclist that it might be sometimes difficult for a pedestrian to cross a lane, especially in the rush hour when people go to or from work.
Electrical plugs
Type C:
Type F:
I hope I was helpful to some of you,
Have a safe trip!
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