Amsterdam 2025

Amsterdam 2025

Amsterdam has always been a special place for me. I’ve visited the city a few times before, but this time it was different. I was there to run the Half-Marathon for the first time, and I could stay longer to explore the city and capture it with my camera.

Arrival

Leaving from Essen, Germany, it’s a relatively short trip to Amsterdam. I took a FlixBus from Essen to Amsterdam, which was not the most comfortable journey, but it was worth it because of the cheap price (about 40 euros round trip) and took only 3 hours. Which is really cheap and fast in comparison to the ICE train.

Departing at 7 am, I arrived at Amsterdam Airport around 10:15 am, just in time to go to the expo and pick up my race bib.

Outdoor ad at the airport
Outdoor ad at the airport.
IAmsterdam sign
Iamsterdam sign near the expo.
NEMO Science Museum
View to the NEMO Science Museum from the train.

Zaanse Schans

After picking up my race bib and checking into my hostel, I decided to take a short trip to Zaanse Schans, a historic village just outside of Amsterdam.

It’s a beautiful place with traditional Dutch windmills, wooden houses, and cheese shops.

The exit from the train station is very unique as there’s a chocolate factory right next to it, and the whole place smells like chocolate.

The only bad side of it is that it’s crowded with tourists. It was a great way to start my trip and get into the Dutch spirit.

Going the Zaanse Schans.
Going the Zaanse Schans.
Going the Zaanse Schans.
Going the Zaanse Schans.
Dutch Windmill.
Dutch Windmill.
Dutch Canal.
Dutch Canal.
Street view from the canal.
Street view from the canal.
Path between two canals.
Path between two canals.
View of De Haal.
View of De Haal.
Dutch Windmill.
Dutch Windmill.
More Windmills.
More Windmills.
Field with cows
A farm field with cows eating grass.
Path
A path around the river where all tourists are walking.
Ducks
Some ducks providing company on the path.
River
View of the river.
Path
Tourists walking viewing the windmills and the river.

On the way back, there was a windmill museum. For a price of 7 euros, you can go inside and learn about the history of the windmills and the Dutch culture.

Windmill Museum
Windmill Museum
Houses
The view of the houses from the bridge.
Houses
The view of the houses from the museum.

On the way back to the hotel, I took a few more photos of the city.

Amsterdam street.
Amsterdam street.
Amsterdam canal.
Amsterdam canal.
House on the canal.
House on the canal.

Amsterdam at night

The Race

City Exploration

All photos taken with either a Sony A6400 or iPhone 16 and edited in Darkroom.