Amsterdam visit

Hi World,
I have not written a blog earlier. But thought of starting one today. Reasons include available waiting time and content to write about & during my travel. And today looks as good a day as any.
To set the context I am currently on a 2 week business trip to few places in Europe and in US. I am accompanied by my colleagues who has been to these places earlier and is a very good guide. I am staying in most of the places for a day and may not have adequate time and information to form a judgement about the places I am in. But I have some observations which I would like to share with all of you.

I started on Nov 22nd from Mumbai. First time in Swiss airline and experience in the flight from Mumbai to Zurich was good. Good service, individual monitor with multiple program option even in economy and good leg space made the trip comfortable. Due to some delay, had to rush through Zurich airport to catch the connecting flight to Amsterdam. Hope to get a glimpse of Zurich airport while returning and also some time in future when I wish to visit Switzerland.

Amsterdam. My first stop. Apart from other popular attractions, this city is known as city of canals. (Some day in future I want to visit Venice and compare the water based communication). I went for a stroll in the evening as we had some time. Weather was cold, but not yet chilly. We walked through various roads, crossing many canals. I was not able to see tulips which flowers during summer, but saw tulip bulbs being sold at few places. People on the street were very lively. Many seemed to be tourists. Lots of people were on cycles. I appreciate the initiatives by most of the European countries to promote cycling. They have dedicated lanes, numerous parking & locking places and also easy loading in trams & trains.
Another things which impressed me and is different from other European cities, is that this city in English language friendly. Most of the shops had English names and streets and directions were also understandable.
Every European city has a main street where people gather for any celebration and this is a place for shopping. The same in Amsterdam is Dam Square. This had a tall pillar like structure (couldn't figure out the significance) and streets in various directions. We had hot french fries with mayonnaise sauce (local speciality) along with chilled Heineken beer. Cold weather, hot fries, cold beer - neat combination.
In the late evening, while we were looking for place to eat, we saw few kids ice skating. I had seen this on TV earlier and to watch live, the balance and speed live is fun.
Next day after our meeting, we headed to Amsterdam Central station to catch a train to Paris. While sitting in the back of the taxi, I observed that people are following traffic rules quite well.
We took the train Thyrsus. It s fast train (300 kmph) and modern with wi-fi connection available. We crossed Antwerp, Brussels (we came here later) & Hague. It is a multi country train where we passed through Netherlands, Belgium and France. Thanks to Schengen visa, traveling across Europe has become very convenient.
Being an optimistic I dream of a world where traveling across the whole globe becomes that easy, with borders becoming more a line on the maps rather than division created by us. Reminds me of a line from a poem I read in school - 'Good Fences make Good Neighbours', taken from Mending Walls by Robert Frost. Getting philosophical!
Hmm. I think this a long enough post for 1st post. Let me stop now. My flight is after an hour, but let me move about the Minneapolis airport to observe some more so that I can come later and blog about it.
In my next blog I would continue writing about my onward journey.