When I first arrived in Abu Dhabi, I made friends with some fellow Couchsurfing hosts who are also Asians of Western culture, which at the time was a rare meeting. We stayed friends over the years with a few visits back and forth after they moved on. Our last visit, though, was around ten years ago.
So, when we moved to Europe, I connected with S & Q again.
Finally, after a few planning delays, we were able to make a visit to their home in Haarlem (the original inspiration of NYC’s) and visit Q’s homeland.
We did a lot of walking since my agility on two-wheels is not to be tested for the sake of health and safety. π Overall, I really liked it, but I didn’t love it. One thing that struck me, and I should probably do some research about it, was the fact that much of the architecture seemed very modern. I appreciated the fact that old churches had been renovated to apartments or pubs, but the buildings were mostly contemporary in lot of spaces. This made the place/country feel a little bit sterile or lacking in culture, which is definitely not the case. However, aside from a lot of art museums – which in another phase of my life would have been a massive draw – there wasn’t a lot to show for a country that expanded around the globe, but now only remains on a small land mass.
Anyway, to save on the loading time, here are pics to what I managed to capture of The Hague, Delft, Amsterdam and Haarlem.
I would like to go back when the tulip festival is on (later in March) and to see a few more windmills. So, perhaps another visit will be made in the future!
~T π₯πβοΈ
