Here I am again in Amsterdam! I think has come the moment to tell a little bit about my job. So, I am Dev Engineer at ING Tech Romania, an IT Hub serving the entire ING group. I started working here two years and a half ago and I enjoy it! The people I work with are very cool. I worked for all this time on a project for ING BE, most of the time remotely from Bucharest and from time to time on site in Brussels. Now I'm boarding on a new and exciting project for ING NL and this is the reason of my trip to Amsterdam. I have the opportunity to work for two weeks with the team from here.
It is a change that I wished for it and now I'm outside my comfort zone, learning new technologies, a different culture, making new connections. The first two days here were exhausting. I was not able to do anything after work. I've been before in Amsterdam but for holidays. Now I'm having a different experience.
I didn't get the time to explore more the city but I had the chance to learn more about the Dutch culture from my new colleagues. I still don't get used with the food (sandwiches for lunch, sandwiches for dinner, too much bread for me). For the locals this lifestyle is working because they are exercising more than we do. By the end of the week I got used with the weather (I went outside without hat and I didn't freeze). I like a lot the fact they are using less cash and more the technology. It's for the first time I see shops where you can pay only by card. As people, the Dutch seem to be friendly. We went few times after work for dinner and drinks. Each Friday they are going out for drinks near the office and the bars seem to be like in UK, everyone is standing and drinking beer.
I am pleased to discover some tasteful craft beers. With a beer goes very well bitterballen, Dutch meat based snack. I know I've said I will stay away from sugary products but I couldn't resist to try some desserts from Dutch kitchen.
Homemade apple pie
Poffertjes - little fluffy Dutch pancakes served with maple syrup
Brouwerij ‘t IJ I.P.A
I will add to this some architectural findings. The head office of ING Group and ING Bank is located in the Amsterdamse Poort building in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The building was designed by the Amsterdam-based architect firm Alberts and Van Huut. Nature, which is linked to organic architecture, was the source of inspiration for the work of architect Ton Alberts. The building has no right angle.
The inside of one of the ten towers reflected in a mirror
The model of the building
Continuing my exploration, today I ended up to IJ-Hallen, the biggest flea market in Europe. Daniel, an old friend of mine, was my host today. He was the one who told me about this place. To get here we took from Amsterdam Centraal the ferry service 906 towards NDSM-werf (which was free). 'NDSM' is a neighborhood in the Amsterdam-Noord borough of Amsterdam, built on and using the industrial structures on the former land of the Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM) shipbuilding company. Now is a stunning hangout. Coincidence or not, on this new project we are using a technology called Docker which was built up on the concept of containers. Enough with words I will let the pictures to speak for themselves.
We spent around 2h there. And we din't go back with bare hands.
1. Crocodile ring - 1 euro
2. Bag - 3 euros
3. Dress - 5 euros
From the flea market we went to Pllek ("The Place"), a hipster bar made out of old ship containers combined with lots of glass.
On our way we found this little robot in love
Smile! It's free!
Someone is actually living inside of this unused tram
Trying dancing pose but I have to many clothes on. This used to be a slipway.
The Pllek logo at entrance
Indoor @Pllek. I understood from Daniel that during the night becomes club.
Outdoor terrace
Brand DoubleBock in Pllek branded glass
Oups!
I still have a lot to explore but I will take my time to do it. I know for sure that I will come more often now and I will have the chance to continue my exploration.
We spent the last days of our holiday exploring the classic Dalmatian cocktail of historic towns, jewel-like waters, rugged limestone mountains, gorgeous climate and Mediterranean cuisine of the Northern Dalmatia. Plitvice Lakes In order to have a full day to spend exploring Plitvice Lakes we stayed overnight in the area. It was so quiet and peaceful there! I wish we could have stayed more days to enjoy that serenity state of the place. Being in some way a remote place it wasn't easy to find a restaurant to have dinner, but when we did it was the best. Cevapi, traditional grilled minced meat with ajvar (roasted red peppers sauce) I don't have a sweet tooth but I enjoy trying local deserts. Traditional strudel with cherries - a touch of chocolate makes this simple desert in a delicacy Morning coffee with a view Love is in the air! From the accommodation we had 15-20 minutes drive to the Entrance 1 of the park. We have researched which trails to take and the best views are start
My 3 weeks itinerary through Vietnam ends in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) or Saigon (as the locals know it). I had 2 days and a half to spend here. Here I met again with Leroy, who got to the city one day before me and left one day before I. From Mui Ne I took another bus to reach the big city. As I mentioned before, buses are the most convenient way to travel. If you arrange it through your hotel/hostel the bus will come and pick you up from there. Usually I prefer traveling by train because I can read and stretch my legs whenever I want, but during my stay in Vietnam I got to enjoy the conversations that you can have in the bus. On the bus to HCMC I met a woman who is teaching English to staff of a resort in Mui Ne. She wasn't a teacher but she did this for the past years, traveling around and teaching locals basic English. She was finding these opportunities through https://www.workaway.info/ , a website who connects travellers who like to travel and do volunteer work in the place
After the short stop in Trogir we drove to Pula where booked accommodation for 3 nights to explore the city and surroundings. The country side on the way to Pula The drive took around 6h with some stops on the way. After we checked in we went directly in the city center for dinner. One speciality I saw it on the menu in the area is grilled squid with Swiss chard and potatoes. I was hesitant with the green leafs because they waiters were saying it's like spinach and I'm not a big fan of it. But this one was really tasty! Grilled squid with Swiss chard and potatoes @ Kantina Restaurant The next day we went to one beach in Pula in the morning, another beach in Rovinj in the afternoon and stayed for dinner in Rovinj and explored a bit the city center. Hawaii Beach Hawaii is a pebbly beach, with big rocks but it's worth it! The water is crystal clean and a good spot for snorkeling. It also has some high cliffs that attract the adventurous ones who want to jump in the water
Comments
Post a Comment