Raju's Wanderings

From Amsterdam, I went to Bruges in Belgium. "Why Bruges, why not Brussels?" you may ask. I went to Bruges simply because everyone goes there, and it is supposed to be a more touristy city, the so-called "Venice of the North" because of its extensive canals. Brussels was supposed to be just a busy city, and it was when I went through it. It had been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and everyone and their cousin advertised a trip to Bruges from Amsterdam.  The building on the right side of the street is where I stayed. You can see a miniscule signboard with "Snuffel" written on it. The street was indeed beautiful. The reception of my hostel where I stayed.  The entire population of Belgium, the county is around 11 million as of 2018, which is slightly more than my city of Hyderabad at 8.7 million. The population of Bruges, the city is about 117,000. Banjara Hills, a locality where I stay, will have slightly more. ...

I began my trip of Europe with Amsterdam - the place with the dam over the river Amstel and the capital city of the Netherlands. They are so called because they are the low-lying lands near the sea, from where a tiny group of sailors and entrepreneurs set out to colonise and conquer the world! Population is one way to get a comparative view of European countries. As a citizen of an Indian city like Hyderabad, I will say the Netherlands is twice as large. Hyderabad’s population is 8.7 million, while Netherlands is 17.1 million, just a little smaller than Delhi at 19 million. Mother carrying child on a bicycle. It is difficult to imagine today, how such a tiny little nation that goes around mostly on cycles and public transport could actually become the East India Company ruling trade to India in the 1600’s. We have to tear ourselves away from the cute version and imagine a bloodthirsty war-mongering seafaring nation with mighty ships and a navy. But then they were eventua...