Amsterdam, the largest city and capital of the Netherlands, is also the country’s biggest tourist-draw. However, neither the Dutch government nor the head of state resides in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam was a financial and political powerhouse in the 17th century and most of the city’s famous canals and architecture are from this era. Not only are the canals beautiful, there are also a great means of transport around the city.

The flight from Budapest to Amsterdam by KLM takes about two and a half hours and we arrived at Schipol airport in the late afternoon, where we were pick up by my old friend of more than 40 years, who resides in Amsterdam.

The Central Station of Amsterdam is the main hub of transportation in the Netherlands. Regional and international trains passes through the station all day long and the station is also the transportation center for the city’s trams and buses. Following are photographs of the buildings around the station.

The city is linked by many narrow streets and smaller canals and within the city limits there are more than a thousand bridges. The canals are sealed from the North Sea via locks, purportedly a Dutch invention from the 14th century.

For shopping, there is a factory outlet near Amsterdam, where branded goods can be had at discounted prices.

Next to the factory outlet, is the Batavia Wharf, where they are reconstructing a replica of the famous dutch sailing ship of the 17th century called the Batavia. There is also an old dutch sailing boat of the 17th century moored at the seaside.

Amsterdam is one of my favourite city in Europe. As we will be driving to Sembach, a small village near Kaiserslautern in Germany to visit another old friend the next day, further sightseeing in Amsterdam will have to wait until our return to Amsterdam from Germany in the next few days.

All images shot with the Nikon D810 with Nikkor 18-35 f3.5-4.5g lens and processed in adobe camera raw and photoshop.