July 24th - July 26th Amsterdam
July 29, 2015
Well what seemed like forever to get here finally did and I was really excited for a few reasons. First, I was going to Amsterdam for the first time. Been wanting to do that for years and finally got the opportunity. Second, I was going to make my trip up there by high speed rail. And third, needed a break.
So the day comes to take my trip so off I go to the main train station in downtown Stuttgart. I find my train, carriage and seat, located in first class of course, and sit down. As it turned out, my carriage on the train was empty except for me so I had a nice, comfortable and enjoyable ride to the German/Netherlands border where I changed trains. The first train was super clean, nice and had WI-fi on it so I could update things. The second train, while nice, was missing the warmth and WI-fi and just seemed to be ok. I know, I'm complaining about a first class train that had no WI-fi or stupid stuff like that. I was on my way to Amsterdam.
I started seeing the lights of the city and was getting excited with each passing moment until we finally pulled into the station. I got off the train and made my way out of the station only to find I had no idea where I was heading. It was midnight and the place was crazy packed full of people on bikes, trams carrying people and cabs. I made my way to the Metro and got on a train that took me near my hotel, where I walked a couple of blocks to it and checked in. I got to my spacious room on the third floor of this very nice hotel and got cleaned up and went outside to explore.
By this time it was almost 1 am and the streets were packed full of people drinking, smoking pot and waiting to get into clubs and also at walk up restaurants. It was very much insane and after a while, reminded me of more like Spring Break than anything. Everywhere I looked I saw people with beers in their hands and also joints. The smell of pot in the air was almost overwhelming. I made my rounds through the city and even stumbled across the famed Red Light District. It wasn't what I was expecting but I'm not sure if I was expecting anything. After having what seemed like every prostitute knock on her glass window for me to come in, I just shook my head and kept walking by, I found an Irish Pub where i was able to sit down and have a Guinness. I also grabbed a few slices of pizza a few shops later and finally headed back to my room by 3 am.
I awoke to thunder and rain and looked out the window and saw gray skies. I was hoping it would pass and stupid me left my jacket in Germany. I ended up leaving the hotel around 10 am and walked out into a slight drizzle. I was OK with that but after some touring by foot through the floating flower markets and other places, I got a Red Bus ticket and was going to catch a tour but that's when the floodgates opened and a torrential downpour ensued along with gale force winds that caused the entire city to shut down. No buses, no boats, no trams, no trains throughout the day. I ended up going back to my hotel and waited. Not very happy about the weather as it said nothing about this when I looked. Finally, about 3 hours later, near 8 pm, the weather cleared and I went out again to try to get some late tours throughout the city. After also doing some night touring and getting some cool pics, I grabbed something to eat and called it a night around 1 am.
Sunday morning was beautiful. But of course it was as I was leaving at 2:30 pm. I got up early and was able to jump on a Red Bus Tour and saw some more interesting places of Amsterdam like Anne Franks house and learned why some of the houses appeared to be leaning. I saw the last windmill located there and had a decent time. If only I would have had more of it. I wanted to take a canal boat tour but they were so crowded and my train was leaving before I could have made it back to the station so I didn't do that and hopped on my train.
This is where the trip got really fun. The first train I was on got into the fist station late so I missed my connecting train. I talked to the information guy and found a train heading to Cologne so I jumped on that and it too was late getting in so I found a train to Heidelberg and then jumped on a train to Mannheim. On my way to Mannheim, I encountered my first train person who was asking for tickets and when I showed her mine, she said I didn't belong on that train. I explained it was because of my first train being late that I missed my other ones so I was trying to get back to Stuttgart any way I could. After a few minutes she finally relented and said good luck. Once in Mannheim, I found a train to Tubingen and figured I could find a way back to Stuttgart from there since it was pretty close. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the next stop was going to be Stuttgart Central so I made it back after only 8 hours and only 5 trains. I took the train from the station to my stop and walked the half mile to my apartment. What a day.
So I made it to Amsterdam and back so I can check that off. While it is an interesting city, I don't think I'll be going back there. There really wasn't anything that made me feel like I missed out while I was there so I think I'll just look forward to another adventure.
Until then...
Bill out
So the day comes to take my trip so off I go to the main train station in downtown Stuttgart. I find my train, carriage and seat, located in first class of course, and sit down. As it turned out, my carriage on the train was empty except for me so I had a nice, comfortable and enjoyable ride to the German/Netherlands border where I changed trains. The first train was super clean, nice and had WI-fi on it so I could update things. The second train, while nice, was missing the warmth and WI-fi and just seemed to be ok. I know, I'm complaining about a first class train that had no WI-fi or stupid stuff like that. I was on my way to Amsterdam.
I started seeing the lights of the city and was getting excited with each passing moment until we finally pulled into the station. I got off the train and made my way out of the station only to find I had no idea where I was heading. It was midnight and the place was crazy packed full of people on bikes, trams carrying people and cabs. I made my way to the Metro and got on a train that took me near my hotel, where I walked a couple of blocks to it and checked in. I got to my spacious room on the third floor of this very nice hotel and got cleaned up and went outside to explore.
By this time it was almost 1 am and the streets were packed full of people drinking, smoking pot and waiting to get into clubs and also at walk up restaurants. It was very much insane and after a while, reminded me of more like Spring Break than anything. Everywhere I looked I saw people with beers in their hands and also joints. The smell of pot in the air was almost overwhelming. I made my rounds through the city and even stumbled across the famed Red Light District. It wasn't what I was expecting but I'm not sure if I was expecting anything. After having what seemed like every prostitute knock on her glass window for me to come in, I just shook my head and kept walking by, I found an Irish Pub where i was able to sit down and have a Guinness. I also grabbed a few slices of pizza a few shops later and finally headed back to my room by 3 am.
I awoke to thunder and rain and looked out the window and saw gray skies. I was hoping it would pass and stupid me left my jacket in Germany. I ended up leaving the hotel around 10 am and walked out into a slight drizzle. I was OK with that but after some touring by foot through the floating flower markets and other places, I got a Red Bus ticket and was going to catch a tour but that's when the floodgates opened and a torrential downpour ensued along with gale force winds that caused the entire city to shut down. No buses, no boats, no trams, no trains throughout the day. I ended up going back to my hotel and waited. Not very happy about the weather as it said nothing about this when I looked. Finally, about 3 hours later, near 8 pm, the weather cleared and I went out again to try to get some late tours throughout the city. After also doing some night touring and getting some cool pics, I grabbed something to eat and called it a night around 1 am.
Sunday morning was beautiful. But of course it was as I was leaving at 2:30 pm. I got up early and was able to jump on a Red Bus Tour and saw some more interesting places of Amsterdam like Anne Franks house and learned why some of the houses appeared to be leaning. I saw the last windmill located there and had a decent time. If only I would have had more of it. I wanted to take a canal boat tour but they were so crowded and my train was leaving before I could have made it back to the station so I didn't do that and hopped on my train.
This is where the trip got really fun. The first train I was on got into the fist station late so I missed my connecting train. I talked to the information guy and found a train heading to Cologne so I jumped on that and it too was late getting in so I found a train to Heidelberg and then jumped on a train to Mannheim. On my way to Mannheim, I encountered my first train person who was asking for tickets and when I showed her mine, she said I didn't belong on that train. I explained it was because of my first train being late that I missed my other ones so I was trying to get back to Stuttgart any way I could. After a few minutes she finally relented and said good luck. Once in Mannheim, I found a train to Tubingen and figured I could find a way back to Stuttgart from there since it was pretty close. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the next stop was going to be Stuttgart Central so I made it back after only 8 hours and only 5 trains. I took the train from the station to my stop and walked the half mile to my apartment. What a day.
So I made it to Amsterdam and back so I can check that off. While it is an interesting city, I don't think I'll be going back there. There really wasn't anything that made me feel like I missed out while I was there so I think I'll just look forward to another adventure.
Until then...
Bill out
Posted by Bill Bickford.