NickTheBubble

Back in the Dam 20 years later!

Amsterdam: home to a million bicycles, cannabis coffee shops, the red-light district, the third busiest airport in Europe (Schiphol), an incredible amount of art, and the very cool and often quirky Dutch.

This was the first stop of my 2020 European Tour.

With its canals, architecture, parks, and coffee shops, this beautiful city is so full of character – a great place to start off when travelling around Europe, or, with flights there only taking 45 minutes, even just for a quick city break from the UK. 

It’s a compact city easy to navigate by foot (or if you’re keen, go like the locals and cycle!), so I was able to explore most of it in my short stint here. I decided to even go a bit further afield to the outskirts to experience a bit more of the local traditions.

As we all now know, in these Covid times come many restrictions, so indoor venues like the incredible museums and art galleries Amsterdam has to choose from were off the list. But as the photos show, it wasn’t the weather for sitting indoors.

The Johan Cruyff Tour at Ajax Amsterdam Stadium is a truly great day out and is an absolute must-have on all football fans bucket lists.

From ascending the escalators the moment the tour starts, the experience is magnificent. The club is locally referred to as de Godenzonen, or the Sons of Gods. For us football fans, the reference is obvious – they are one of the most import clubs in European and world football.

These are the actual changing rooms where the current team actually prepares to play. It's a privilege to see the modern facilities and to catch a glimpse of the space that true legends of the game will hold sacred. 

Walking on to the pitch through the tunnel is truly a phenomenal feeling, especially having dreamt about such an experience from young age. The energy of the stadium can be felt even without the fans filling the seats.

It was entertaining spotting unique photos of true Ajax legends around the stadium. I particularly love the young Dennis Bergkamp picture and a celebrating Patrick Kluivert. 

The pinnacle of the tour for me was doing a role play of a player/manager in an interview scenario. It was cool because it was the actual spot that the players and managers reflect live on pre and post games. 

Like any tour, finishing off in a gift shop is standard! It was particularly difficult to resist something from this shop.