I’ve lived in Amsterdam for almost three years now but, luckily, I still find places I’ve yet to explore. I’ve pretty much limited my scope to where I don’t have to change trams more than once, which is actually a large swath of the metropolis, but have never made it to the eastern part of the city. At least now, after our little extravagant lunch excursion, I can say I have. Not that Frankendael Park is representative of the entire district, but given that it’s such a nice piece of green surrounded by residences and offices, it would be nice to think so.
First impression — there’s a lot of birds over here!

Playgrounds, nice bike and walking paths, and plenty of space for men and domesticated beasts to run around in. All well-kept and in working condition. There was even an area with little private gardens, complete with mini-storage barns, for those in the neighborhood who want to do some serious gardening.

Many years ago while riding the commuter train from Rotterdam, I once thought those small plots of land I saw whiz by my window, with their little ‘houses’, were where poor people lived, not knowing that there weren’t really poor people in this country – at least not in the conventional sense. Welcome to the developed world, indeed.

A little envious that there’s always plenty of green space in all parts of this city, in stark contrast with what I grew up with in Manila. Over there the birds would surely have been harassed and had rocks thrown at them by street urchins. If I were a bird, I’d certainly feel lucky to be in this part of the world.