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Europe: 48 Hours Later (NL)
After our brief day in Paris, we hoofed it to Gare du Nord to start the next leg of our trip.
As a side note, I'm typically a Marriott type girl. I don't like camping or roughing it. Need at least one rolly suitcase, and I like to pack enough shoes to be sure I am comfortable wherever I go. Basically, I like to have options. I also usually bring my laptop, enough backup cables and an extra external HD just in case I run out of room on the CF cards.
Not this time. We were backpacking... and not even backpacking the way true backpackers do it. I had this chumpy, a big rucksack that is by no means the kind of doohickey that towers over your head when you're really on the road:
Electronically I was only carrying my iPhone (on airplane mode the whole time, but it's my point-and-shoot), my camera and a couple of lenses.
OK, so we arrived at Gare du Nord, completely unaware that anything is amiss. We did notice that for some reason all the computers were down so you couldn't purchase tickets except through the ONE international trains window at the back of the building. The line was absolutely insane. We knew that there was exactly one Thalys train that we needed to catch to be in Rotterdam by a certain time, and if we waited in that line we'd miss it.
So we ran to catch it and hid in the dining car until the dude with the handheld came by. I broke out the first full sentence of French that I was allowed to speak since landing in France.
Of course, he replied in English. :wxwax Why do they always do that?! I want to practice!
(We found out later that we escaped just ahead of the wave of fuel shortages and strikes that caused the country to be on total lockdown. Yikes!)
When you buy your tickets on the train, you're kind of a last-class citizen. You pay probably 3x as much as the regular far, plus you don't have a seat so you're constantly being evicted from every seat.
We were relegated to jump seats in a vestibule behind a car full of students. They thought we were really funny for some reason.
When we got into Rotterdam, it was raining of course. The one thing I always love about the Netherlands is that it's got some very turbulent weather.
But it is always so wonderful to see my good friend Ivar, and the flat, efficient, friendly country that I seem to visit on a regular basis!
(That pub had amazing tomato soup)
Since moving to NorCal, I've been riding my bike a lot. And despite how much heavier the European bicycles are and how they are pretty impractical when you're dealing with hills, I have severe bike envy.
The sun came out for a bit, several times.
We hunted for baking soda, ate frites, bought teapots, drank tea, and at least some of us were looking forward to getting a proper fix of Indonesian food (which they do not do very well in SF, sorry to say).
And whenever we stopped for food, all the cameras came out. All of them.
That was actually at the restaurant where I was smooched by a crazy old woman in the ladies room. :huh
As is the nature of a busy, whirlwind visit to see good people, you often forget to take the camera out and shoot. There's plenty from these scant two days that didn't get recorded and I'm a little sorry about that. But if you're ever in Rijswijk, I highly recommend the Grand Winston Hotel for über-modern rooms and stellar service... and arguably the best breakfast bar you'll find in the Netherlands. :lol3
Sadly, we had to skip out of town very very early that Sunday morning to catch the next leg of the trip. The portion that would be a true test of how much I've learned at sprachschule.
As a side note, I'm typically a Marriott type girl. I don't like camping or roughing it. Need at least one rolly suitcase, and I like to pack enough shoes to be sure I am comfortable wherever I go. Basically, I like to have options. I also usually bring my laptop, enough backup cables and an extra external HD just in case I run out of room on the CF cards.
Not this time. We were backpacking... and not even backpacking the way true backpackers do it. I had this chumpy, a big rucksack that is by no means the kind of doohickey that towers over your head when you're really on the road:
Electronically I was only carrying my iPhone (on airplane mode the whole time, but it's my point-and-shoot), my camera and a couple of lenses.
OK, so we arrived at Gare du Nord, completely unaware that anything is amiss. We did notice that for some reason all the computers were down so you couldn't purchase tickets except through the ONE international trains window at the back of the building. The line was absolutely insane. We knew that there was exactly one Thalys train that we needed to catch to be in Rotterdam by a certain time, and if we waited in that line we'd miss it.
So we ran to catch it and hid in the dining car until the dude with the handheld came by. I broke out the first full sentence of French that I was allowed to speak since landing in France.
Of course, he replied in English. :wxwax Why do they always do that?! I want to practice!
(We found out later that we escaped just ahead of the wave of fuel shortages and strikes that caused the country to be on total lockdown. Yikes!)
When you buy your tickets on the train, you're kind of a last-class citizen. You pay probably 3x as much as the regular far, plus you don't have a seat so you're constantly being evicted from every seat.
We were relegated to jump seats in a vestibule behind a car full of students. They thought we were really funny for some reason.
When we got into Rotterdam, it was raining of course. The one thing I always love about the Netherlands is that it's got some very turbulent weather.
But it is always so wonderful to see my good friend Ivar, and the flat, efficient, friendly country that I seem to visit on a regular basis!
(That pub had amazing tomato soup)
Since moving to NorCal, I've been riding my bike a lot. And despite how much heavier the European bicycles are and how they are pretty impractical when you're dealing with hills, I have severe bike envy.
The sun came out for a bit, several times.
We hunted for baking soda, ate frites, bought teapots, drank tea, and at least some of us were looking forward to getting a proper fix of Indonesian food (which they do not do very well in SF, sorry to say).
And whenever we stopped for food, all the cameras came out. All of them.
That was actually at the restaurant where I was smooched by a crazy old woman in the ladies room. :huh
As is the nature of a busy, whirlwind visit to see good people, you often forget to take the camera out and shoot. There's plenty from these scant two days that didn't get recorded and I'm a little sorry about that. But if you're ever in Rijswijk, I highly recommend the Grand Winston Hotel for über-modern rooms and stellar service... and arguably the best breakfast bar you'll find in the Netherlands. :lol3
Sadly, we had to skip out of town very very early that Sunday morning to catch the next leg of the trip. The portion that would be a true test of how much I've learned at sprachschule.
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Ana
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My website: anapogacar.smugmug.com
Ivar and Tomato Soup, again???
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Apparently!! There were other similarities too, from what I saw:
Thanks guys! Maybe we'll see more Euro-Dgrinners next time we're across that way.
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