Exploring The Netherlands: Day 01

Exploring the Netherlands and how we spent our very first day here.

It’s been a long time coming.

I can barely even believe we’re here.

Yet, here we are! Living in the Netherlands for an entire month. It all started when I woke up early one weekend morning, like I always do, thinking about our move to Atlanta. I realized that we were going to have a few days rent- and apartment-free before our drive down the East Coast.

It all spiraled from there. I started daydreaming about extra time in between our move in Boston and our move in Atlanta. At first, I thought – why not take a few extra days and explore? Then, it quickly became why not take a full month and live in Europe? It sounded crazy when I said it out loud.

Like pure pipe dream status.

But, I kept working towards it. I had already been saving for months to make working remotely and for myself happen, when I realized I could transition part of those savings to support a month in Europe. We’re still working while we’re here, and rented out an apartment for the full month instead of staying in hotels – so, we’re actually saving money on rent in comparison to what we paid in Boston. Is anyone else surprised? I surely am not.

Let’s get to the fun stuff, though. Here’s what we did on our very first day in the Netherlands!

Exploring the Netherlands: Day 01

We happened to arrive in the Netherlands on Whit Monday – a holiday here in the Netherlands, which meant everyone was out of work (or so it seemed) and there was music and markets set up around the city. I keep saying it’s like we’re living in a movie set because it’s just that lovely.

We flew into Amsterdam and hopped on a quick train ride to Utrecht. We haven’t explored Amsterdam just yet, but Utrecht has completely won my heart. It’s FULL of cyclists, much like Amsterdam. The roads are split into three sections (generally) – one for cars, one for bikes, and one for pedestrians. The cyclists far outweigh the cars in the area we’re staying in, and I love it. As a cyclist in Boston, seeing a separated cycle track is like a dream come true.

We spent the afternoon and evening exploring our little neighborhood, checking out the local markets, and peeping local cafés where we could occasionally set up shop. We ventured around looking at menus for dinner, and after about an hour finally found a spot. We grabbed a few apps – Bitterballen being one. It’s a traditional Dutch snack that Tim’s talked about before, so it was fabulous to finally try it for myself. Oh my, it was so weird and delicious, and I already want more. Overall, our first day was a dream. I’m in love with Europe and Utrecht, and will be sharing tons more throughout our time here.

In fact, I’ve spent way too much time already thinking about and researching how to become an expat in the Netherlands. If I can find a way to make it work, I would jump at the chance to live here, even for just a bit.

Do you have any summer trips planned? What’s on your itinerary?

g.