Okay here some more thoughts on my game
Settled Utrecht 2W of horsies cos that looked like a nice spot with good food, some cottage rivers and barb defense.
Figured out rather quick that i will need spawn busting warris too, mainly north of Amsta and towards the map center.
Delayed BW till after Oracle techs, wheel, pottery and writing.
CoL looked very tempting, so i focused on Oracle and skipped GLH.
No Reli isn't much fun, imo. And i planned using bulbs towards Astro rather than for Philo, so no Taoism.
Switched into Caste for 4 scientists running in Utrecht, and teched Mono before for Org. Reli.
Very helpful soon, cos Amsterdam cannot be whipped and besides Glib + NE i also needed other stuffs like Granary, lighthouse..
I stayed rather small early, with barbs being nasty and so much else to do besides Settlers.
When i had my GS for an academy in Amsta, i switched into slavery for expansion, and also teched Monarchy before for HR.
Aesthetics and Lit also fairly quick, then i went for music.
That's some distractions towards Astro, but a free GA helped me farming great scientists and i bulbed Machinery, Optics and 2x Astro later.
I think only after that i unlocked Philo with Meditation.
Interesting was that neither Shaky or Hatshy had a coastal city, and i shipped 2 settlers and even 1 worker over for trade routes
Then i went towards Edu and Lib, took Mil. Tradition and continued "as normal" with Curis and later Cavs
Best units here imo, they arrive faster for shipping over seas, and with Hatshy + Pacal + Stalin on 1 continent, 2 movement was great.