26 hours of flying causes delirium.
In my first two hours after landing in Amsterdam, I managed to: miss two trams because I didn't know how to buy a tram ticket (hint: you buy them on board the tram); become lost in the neighbourhood of my hostel because I had no map or internet; find the hostel only to realise I have arrived at the wrong hostel in the wrong neighbourhood; before almost leaving my passport on a tram to the hostel I actually booked.
I heaved a sigh of relief as I let my bags down, and after calming my nerves, I was excited and relieved to be reuniting with friends who I hadn't seen in almost two years: Marah, Renske, Merle and Annelou.
We walked from Central station to Begjinhof, a religious women's commune and courtyard built in the Middle Ages, and one of the oldest in Amsterdam.
Thin-wafer dwellings circle an evergreen courtyard, with gates preventing the public from peeking around all of the houses. But you can still glimpse through windows into a few rooms of people living here. I saw a woman working in a library room, and a neatly decorated tiny studio apartment filled with plants and paintings.
A soft hum of hymns fill the air from the churches singing nearby.
Frazzled from my morning, this Melbournite needed coffee. In "De 9 Straatjes" district, nine streets in Amsterdam with picturesque canals and designer and vintage boutiques, Marah led us to "The Coffee Company", a well-lit, relaxed chain of cafes in the Netherlands where baristas can make filter coffees but also a decent latte.
Next door was an art gallery/zine-making space/bookshop named galerie boekie woekie.
You can smell the old paper as you walked in the door to explore the quirky and interesting collection of art books and independent zines. It sold blank newspapers and cards made from vintage cereal boxes. There were a series of events being held at the space to celebrate its 30 year anniversary which I wish I had time to attend.
Amsterdam's canals interweave the entire city and spread out to the outer neighbourhoods to bring life and beauty to the streets. It was peaceful looking down the canals and seeing people sitting along chatting or riding down with friends. Flowers can be found everywhere bringing splashes of colour to the river.
We ate a late lunch in the Amsterdam Foodhallen, a new-age food court with interchanging stalls serving food from different cultures. You can sit on bleachers looking at a big screen, or enjoy the many wooden crates which decorate the space.
Nearby were various maker market stalls and a vintage cinema. At the entrance sat a mosaic "Woman Friendly City" tiled bench.
My favourite dutch word I learned was: terrasje pikken, which means in literal terms to park in a terrace; but it really just means to drink beers outside in a terrace. As the sun came out in the afternoon, we roamed the streets to find half-decent places to park in.
We briefly passed through the infamous Red Light District, and while it was interesting to glance, the vibe did not feel friendly or comfortable.
Nevertheless, we spent the rest of the afternoon hopping from terrace to terrace drinking local beers, eating bitterballen (vegan ones for me) and chatting about life.
If there is one museum you visit in the Netherlands, it is the Rijksmuseum - the national museum for art and history. The collection is astounding, featuring Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and more. It truly is fantastic, and not one to miss. I'll definitely be visiting again as the collection is enormous, and in three hours I felt like I only scratched the surface.
The first place I visited was Level 2 for the Great Hall, a grand introduction to the museum and its place in the Netherlands. Prominent figures throughout Dutch history line the walls, and I was delightfully stunned by its ornate details.
Another highlight (outside of the collection itself which I didn't photograph) was the Rijksmuseum Research Library, home to the most extensive art history collection in the Netherlands dating back to 1885. There was to be absolute silence in this room, which kept you in a state of wonder as you looked around.
Starving and looking for a half-decent vegan feed in the pouring rain, I found Deshima lunchroom and foodshop, a 100% vegan joint! For lunch I enjoyed plate with tempeh curry, greens, tempura pumpkin and rice with pine nuts and corn and bowl of hearty vegan shoyu soup on the side.
It was the perfect place to escape the rain, read a book for a couple of hours and be comforted by a satisfyingly healthy and nutritious meal.
I was recommended to visit Foam (Fotographie Amsterdam Museum), a place which produced its own publications and space to feature emerging and established photographers.
Two exhibitions contrasted each other: Samuel Gratacap's "Les Invisibles" captured ten years of stories from refugee camps in North Africa, including incredibly moving scenes of people living in camps which had been officially closed and were now cut off from supplies; Seydou Keïta's "Bamako Portraits" highlighted the everyday lives and expressions of Mali people, with a beautiful retrospective film of Keïta talking about his photography process and the incorporation of patterns and colour in black and white photography.
The other exhibition by emerging photographer Thomas Albdorf incorporated a lot of digital alterations and collaging which provoked and questioned my own understanding of photography.
I walked out of Foam inspired to improve on my own photography and explore new places and create new expressions.
I walked back to Central station and watched as people in peak hour walked from the station to find their bike at the giant bikeparking complex to ride home. Such a sight feels futuristic and utopian to Melburnians like me, but it's been the social norm in Amsterdam for so long.
Close by, you can catch a five minute ferry to the north side of Amsterdam. It was a phenomenal sight to see hordes of people streaming in and out of the ferry on bikes, scooters, motorcycles, foot and even tiny cars.
People rush in from all directions as the ferry is free without any tickets required!
EYE film institute preserves and screens dutch and foreign films for the general public in an eye-catching cultural building by the northern banks of the river. There's a museum focused on screen cultures and the evolution of film in a variety of contexts.
I decided to catch the 7pm screening of "The Rider", an independent film about an ex-rodeo rider in America who struggles to find purpose outside of rodeo by Chinese director Chloe Zhao. Featuring untrained actors, an unsentimental director, the film highlights the struggle of a man trying to find purpose when riding, the activity which he lived for, is no longer a possibility for him. I never thought I would cry about a cowboy, and yet I did because I was utterly moved.
When I left the cinema, the sun had come out from the clouds and I soaked in my first taste of European summer. Inspired by my visit to Foam, I tried to highlight the architectural genius of the Eye and its surroundings.
As I walked from the ferry to central station, this old Asian woman meandered in slow motion, while everyone else in the tunnel kept up their dynamic, electrifying pace.
The sky blossomed like a wildflower as I watched the sun come down at 10pm.
Couples could be seen greeting each other on late-night dates. Shops closed, tourists went home, and locals came out to candle-lit bars by the canals or dingy rental rooms around the red light district.
I packed my camera away, caught the train back to my hostel, and wondered when I would be back to experience it all again.
© 2026 Thomas Feng
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