So here I am, Amsterdam. This time not as tourist, but as a participant of important event (:

Devops days Amsterdam.

It's not as big as FOSDEM, but is pretty interesting. There is a huge hall for speakers and small rooms for discussions of topics defined by participants.

For those who's bored enough, there are demonstrations held by companies to advertise their products. They try to attract people with free gifts (t-shirts, pens, etc) and talk visitors to share contact details, so sales person could give a call.

Cute lunch breaks :)

In the evening they made a feast for attendants. The food was just delicious. These guys really know how to cook (:

They even brewed a special beer for the event.

In the night already I decided to join Belorussian colleagues to enjoy England vs Belgium World Cup game. It was funny that almost the entire pub was pro-England and only one guy with Belgian scarf supported Belgian. Anyway there was no fight in the end. Netherlanders are very friendly.

Even though it's not my first time in Amsterdam (and Netherlands), there are still things to see. E.g. firefighters enjoying sunny day (:

Strange bridge which I frequently saw in strange lists like "most beautiful bridges in the world". Looks like a normal bridge, not sure why it got to such lists.

The only way to explore the city is bicycle! Amsterdam was created for it.

Attention to the roof: swing!

The city is crossed by the huge river (for some reason I was pretty sure it's a sea already). The only way to get to another side is a free ferry. It goes every 5 minutes at no charge. Locals told me there will be a metro station soon, but who knows how soon :)

I've never been on the other side before. There are cute houses next to the riverside.

Then a bit of non-living zone...

...and you're at old NDSM wharf which is open huge graffiti exhibition.

Looks great. Some things were being repainted right during my visit.

A bunch of tourists. Just like me.

View from the riverside.

A bit of random street.

Huge flower market.

I've no idea how I could miss it in my past visits.

Couldn't miss the windmill.

And of course canals.

Every time I visit Amsterdam my impression is exactly the opposite from the last time. Looks like I figured out the secret: the less time I spent in tourists crowd, the better the impression is. I definitely would visit it one more time.

I definitely already have a picture from this place, but couldn't help myself but take another one.