Last year I moved from Berlin to Amsterdam and maybe it is time for a quick recap and share my experience. Overall it is very positive. The life is very convenient. Amsterdam has less than a million citizen but it seems as busy as in any other big city. I am staying in the Jordaan with plenty of food options, most things are reachable by foot, some by bicycle. I have super markets around the corner that are open every day of the week and even on some public holidays.

For my workout/gym I found the Healthclub Jordaan which not too far away from where I live and I go there frequently. It is a reasonable sized gym and has all the machines to do the work out and I seldomly have to wait for a machine to be free. Staff is friendly and helpful and the facilities are clean. Employees respond to email quickly and it is quite personal.

One of my re-explored hobbies is to play Tennis and I found the Amsterdam Tennis Academy ran by Ingemar van der Waal. Before I mostly played on clay court but since last year I mostly play indoor at the Frans Otten Stadium. Ingemar is organizing different groups on different levels and I enjoy practicing there. The groups are mixed in gender and nationality and it is quite nice to practice hard and then chat with the other players. When there is an empty spot in another group you might be able to play more frequently than expected. My play and fitness greatly improved and I enjoy my bike ride through the Vondelpark to the courts.

Amsterdam has good public transport with Trams, Buses and Metro. Their contactless ticket system works in Amsterdam, in their national train and in many (all?) different cities. When Amsterdam is too small one can easily take the train to Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven or other places. Sometimes there is scheduled maintenance so be sure to check online if your train will operate. In general the trains seem to be on time most of the time and most of them have free wifi. And if The Netherlands are too small there is a Thalys to Paris, Lille, ICEs to Germany and with Schiphol an international airport that can be quickly reached by public transport.

I was a visitor to the Amsterdam Medical Centrum (AMC) and it is nicely organized. If you have an appointment at their policlinic and are lost there are people at the entry helping you to find your way. Blood tests are perfectly organized (reminding me of movies where vampires run the blood bank). Wait time is very little as well.

There is a tech scene in Amsterdam with plenty of meetups every week. It is a good way to leave my home office, learn, interact and get some free food. It is a great experience.

And in general most/all people/staff will speak english with you. This ranges from doctor, to pharmacy, to the post office, to the mail man, delivery persons, ordering food. And to conclude so far the experience here is just great!