7 hours at Amsterdam!

June 2018, it was. I was selected to be a part of Summer Course at University of Antwerp, Belgium. I was extremely proud of myself to represent India in an international level. I was excited , since I would be studying along with students of other countries, and receive first hand experience about their culture.

Though I have always lived in a small little corner of Jharkhand, I had that courage and excitement of exploring Europe. Flight tickets, train tickets, hostels everything was arranged by the University. Passports, Visas and other paper work was done.

And then I left to Delhi from Ranchi and then after a six hour journey, I reached Schiphol Airport.

So, this was my first landing at Amsterdam. I followed the other passengers and led myself to the exit gate. Since, I had sufficient time before boarding my train, I planned to explore the happening city of Netherlands (Inspired from the Bollywood movie, Queen). Oh My God! Such a beautiful city, clean water, so many beautiful bridges, clear sky, cheese shops and casinos.

Since I am vegetarian, I preferred walking down to McDonald's and grab a veg burger. And guess what, I had a smart phone with no internet connection in it. So, those 15 days that I stayed in Europe, I was totally dependent on the open connection of Wi-Fi.

You may call me crazy, since I should have put my international data roaming pack on, but I didn't!!! (Knowingly, unknowingly I didn't think of doing it)

After reaching McDonald's which just down the straight street from the airport, I found they do not have any variety of Veg Burger. Never mind, I did grab a regular packet of French Fries with McFloat. (P.N.: Vegetarians, do carry sufficient amount of packed snacks with you)

Next I saw a banner of sale, and I entered the shop and checked out some winter stuffs, while checking out the label, I found Made in India. I purchased one sweatshirt since I was feeling cold and most importantly, it was on discount. Up next, I thought to visit Madam Tussauds at Dam Square, but it was closed. Hard Luck!

Up next, I thought coming to Amsterdam and not have a boat ride is not worth it. I spent few bucks, took a seat on the boat, and explored the beautiful solid color boat houses with small vases of flowers in it, beautiful inscriptions on bridges. Every bridge had its own story. Story behind houses, story behind restaurant and a lot more, I think if I would have not taken the boat ride, I would have missed so much about Amsterdam.

After getting of from the boat, I went to the cheese store, tasted a few of them, purchased few of my favorites and headed back to station to board my train to another country, Belgium.

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