Amsterdam is now behind me now, however I would still like to look back at this year's visit and how it felt to be there again, after all these years.
There is no other place where I feel so comfortable & welcome as in Amsterdam and this is coming from a world traveller. The moment when I step out of Central station and walk into the city, my heart is excited I, I feel rejuvenated and I know exactly what spots I need to check to make sure places are still there. Sure, some would say its dirty, overcrowded with tourists and commercialised - yes it always has been. It is a magnet for people arriving from all over the world, since the very beginning of the town. Behind obvious tourist attractions - hedonism on every step - there is a beautiful architecture, centuries of strange and fascinating stories on every corner, sunny terraces to sit down an write down ones impressions, theatres, cinemas, concert halls, legendary canals & bridges, most of all I love cosmopolitan feeling of the place and the anonymity I feel when lost in the crowd here. When I'm in my own birthplace Zagreb, I never feel same kind of excitement. Here in Amsterdam I don't mind international crowd around me, because it feels natural. You walk in the street and hear several different languages, its not a big deal. Everybody accepts each other with all the differences they bring with them. You eat in a little Vietnamese place and shop at Asian supermarket. Locals - if there is such thing - are people who moved into the city from every corner of the world and they are not suspicious or judgemental, as long as you are well behaved, you are welcome.
Bookshops are still going strong - and believe me, I know most of them, including obscure, little ones, like my favourite place, second-hand English bookshop that I treasure and support trough many years - but unfortunately CD shops have almost disappeared, since nowadays people download music on Internet or simply don't take music seriously anymore. Dear old "Concerto" is still there where I left it and I made sure that I visited it and treated myself with several classical titles that I plan to enjoy now during my vacation. I walked and walked around the town as much as weather permitted (it was cold & rainy most of the time) and gave up on travelling to see "Girl with pearl earring" this time, but visited newly opened Rijksmuseum which was spectacular. I remember when I lived here, it was visible from my attic window so I was never in a hurry to go there and checked it only after a character in Anne Rice vampire novels went there to see some of the portraits of the people he knew in the past.This time I was thrilled to re-visit place again, however it was a bit overcrowded on a rainy Wednesday afternoon so I stepped back each time when the new wave of tourists swarmed the room. Next time I will go there in the morning, before the invasion.
Somewhere deep in my heart I am aware that things might not work out as planned and perhaps I will never return to live here - it is nice to cherish dreams but I am also aware of the reality. Whatever happens, I really enjoy this place.
Now I am back in Croatian countryside where I intend to rest without any plans or obligations for some time. It feels heavenly to simply enjoy and do nothing here, I sleep and entertain myself with music, books and movies without any pressure or time limitations. If I decide to lie down with book in the middle of the day, I don't have to apologise or explain myself to anybody. Its vacation time and well deserved one.
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