Railing thru Europe: Stop 7.1 The Netherlands – Amsterdam

Posted by ourjotterbook on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 · 2 Comments 

Under normal circumstances, the train journey from Paris to Amsterdam should take roughly 4 hours. However, upon realizing that we would need to top up an additional 40 Euros or so each for reservation despite having Eurail passes, we decided to opt for slow local trains instead. See, the problem with the Eurail pass is that some countries in Europe made reservation a compulsory even though the first class carriage is often quite empty but still you will need to pay between 3-20 Euros for that seat like we did in Spain and Italy. Whereas, other parts of Europe, you could wave your Eurail Global passes like a golden ticket and hop on as long as there are seats available. I mean, this should be the case isn’t it? We didn’t spent so much on Global passes and then having to be ripped off by so called reservation fees. Therefore, in order to make your Eurail passes more worth it than buying point to point tickets, you can avoid paying reservation fees by opting for slow local trains instead of high-speed trains. You can check your slow train connections > under products, select <without ICE, TGV etc>. Ultimately, it is still up for you to decide between time and money.

We got our tickets, paid $0 reservation fee! That is 80 Euros saved to let us go further!

I must really commend this exceptionally helpful guy at the ticketing counter for making the effort or even bother to (Trust us, we have met lots of bitter ticketing attendents in Europe with “i hate my job” written all over their faces. They couldn’t care less if your life depends on getting from one place to the other and simply entertain themselves by throwing passengers’ ticket and change on the table in a rudely manner. Usually, we just smiled and thanked them. They are not going to pass on their negative vibes. It is too bad you guys hate what you are doing. *smile*) spend a great deal of time searching for an alternative route for us as there were some problems with the local train connections which i suggested to him earlier. While finally printing the tickets, he was gleefully telling his colleague beside him (even though i don’t study french, but i bet it goes something like this) “guess what, it is a connection from Paris to Amiens, Amiens to Lille, Lille to Mouscron, Mouscron to Bruxelles and Bruxelles to Amsterdam.” Yes…, this was all the connections we had to take to reach Amsterdam. From 1230 hours to 2200 hours.

View outside Gare de Lille Flandres

At Lille, we had slightly less than 40 mins before our next train to Mouscron. We sat at the station to have a quick bite. Then, i went outside the station to grab a quick photo and stayed on to look after our belongings while J went to the loo. He also mentioned that he is going to take a walk outside. Therefore, i reminded him to be snappy as we only have about 20 mins as the train leaves at 1608hrs.

Well, 15 mins passed, still no sign of J. Where did he go? I thought initially that he was just going to step outside the train station, have a quick glimpse at the surroundings, breathe the air like i did but he seems to be taking too long. At 1600hrs, i was staring at my watch and every minute ticks like seconds. 1601..,1602..,1603…I was fuming at this point! I was adamant that J was going to get my hairdryer treatment (ala Fergie) when i see him and as much as i hate to pollute the sophisticated french city with my profanities. I mean what the heck was J thinking? I reminded him how much time we have and what time the train would leave! It was getting ridiculous and I wasn’t able to reach him on his mobile as our prepaid cards only works in the UK if we call each other.

At 1606hrs, i could see our train approaching the platform in the far distances. Anger turned into crazy random thoughts.

1) Toilet door wasn’t working properly, J got stuck in the toilet???

2)*touch wood* but J got st*bbed outside the station!!?? (Which i thought was highly unlikely. I mean Lille is a seemingly lovely city and people flocked to Lille annually for their Christmas market. Surely, such malicious crime can’t happen right outside a station and there was clearly no source of alarm. Commuter were moving in and out of the station minding their own business.)

3)*touch wood* J got kn*cked down by notoriously reckless french drivers!!?? ( I didn’t think J went too far off given the short period of time and i could see the main street outside the station from afar. Everything seems usual, no slowing of traffic, no gather of onlookers, no sound of siren, absolutely no feel of tension in the air.)

4) J happened to pass by a pregnant lady whose water bag broke and the lady held onto J, screaming that she was going to give birth??

While all these thoughts were running thru my head, i picked up J’s backpack and haversack plus my own backpack. I now have 2 backpacks front and back and J’s haversack. All 3 weighing a total of at least 30kg? On top of that, i had to drag along a trolley bag. ( I hated the trolley bag btw it was such a pain and a burden especially on cobbled stones streets, steps and stairs. I guessed the reason we brought it along was because we couldn’t bear to part with our comfort items and tech gadgets for 2-and-a -half-months that regrettably we have over-packed for our maiden backpacking trip. The next time, we are definitely gonna do it more like a true blue carefree backpacker with only the bare essential upon our shoulders so that we could wander more freely.) Ok, back to the image of me prancing around the station with 2 big backpacks, a haversack and a trolley bag keeping a lookout everywhere. People looked at me baffled as to what am i doing with so much stuff on me.

I watched desperately as our train for Mouscron left on the dot at 1608hrs. J was still nowhere to be found. Something really went wrong? I certainly hope that it was either scenerio 1) or 4).  I was even beginning to imagine how am i going to break the news to J’s parents if it was 2) or 3). Although, at the back of my mind, there was a 5) where he unbelievably forgotten the time he needs to be back. (but who does that!) Anyway, at this point, what’s worse was my bowel got nervous too. Torturously, I can’t even go to the ladies with all our backpacks and trolley. Furthermore, i had to stay in sight range to where i was sitting so that if J turns up i could see him.

After 10 agonizing minutes, J showed up nonchalant at 1618hrs wondering why am i carrying everything on myself? I asked him, “What time is it now?” He said, “18 minutes past 4.”  Unbelievable as it can be, 5) was the correct answer. He thought the train leaves at 1623hrs!?!? I can never understand the logic and how the figures “1623” went into his head. I told him 1608hrs several times and to come back within 20mins but he took at least 30mins. Tell me, how does 1608 and 20 link to 1623??

J’s short term memory amazed me sometimes but this tops it. The reason i go into so much detail was because i was afraid J would one day forget this predicament he put me thru.

Guess where did J went during those 30 mins?…………………….

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He went to queue at a supermarket to buy Tropicana juice and even told me they are having a twin deal  O___O””    J was extremely lucky that day because it could have been a domino effect where we are going to miss all our later connections to Amsterdam due to his blander. We might be stranded somewhere with no lodging while being charged for “no show” at the lodging in Amsterdam which we pre-booked. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

About 10 mins after i found J, there was another train to Mouscron. Me and J quickly hopped onto it. The next bit is quite an embarrassing experience for me but i have decided to share it since it’s part of travelling experiences.

As mentioned earlier, i was dying to go to the ladies while looking for J. Therefore, immediately after we boarded the train, i headed for the toilet. I sat on the bowl and was so glad that finally i am able to relieve myself. That was when i saw a small notice in front of me that goes “Strictly forbidden to use the toilet when train is at the station”….. I am sure you can imagine how i felt at that point of time. I had no choice but to “hold” and waited till the train started moving. I “released” the moment it moved out of the station. While i was doing my business, it felt really weird as i could hear the sound of the tracks very vividly. Like really close and it seemed to come from the bowl. I looked down and to my astonishment, whatever that came out from me went straight down onto the tracks!!! My first instinct was, did i went into a faulty toilet? but then again, maybe because it was a really old train therefore it still uses a “stone-aged” method of disposing waste and toilet paper directly onto the tracks just like those kelong (wooden houses built on stilts that sits at sea mainly used for fishermen) that deposit waste directly into the sea. Whatever it was, i quickly finished what i was doing.

I was actually still upset with J’s blunder but i had to share my ordeal with him. We ended up laughing because it was really funny and i did when back to google and indeed some old trains still has toilet that direct waste to the tracks. I felt relief that i wasn’t “littering” their tracks. It was meant to be that way.

When we reached Mouscron the train to Brussels that we were supposed to take had already left but we were delighted to find out that there was another train to Brussels in an hour's time

We passed by this small town on the way the way to Brussels. The town derives its name from the stream that passes through it and has no relation to the English word.

When we reached Brussels, everyone was watching the World Cup at the train station.

Belgium is the origins of Tin Tin!

When we were on our way to Brussels, the friendly Belgian train conductor had a chat with us. He recommended that we should try some belgian beer like Duvel and Trappistes. Subsequently when we reached Brussels we bought the beer that he recommended as well as some belgian chocolates which we could enjoy on the way to Amsterdam. It’s such a pity that we didn’t spend enough time to see Belgium as we stayed an additional day in Paris for Disneyland.

This vending machine sells stuff for fans of the oranje, from flags to banners to snacks!

We reached Amsterdam at bout 10pm but the sky is still so bright!

I fell in love with the city the moment i step out of the train station. Amsterdam has distinctive architecture

There are loads of cheap snacks in the Amsterdam supermarkets! We took the opportunity to grab a handful!

A mischievous anonymous artist left his masterpiece on the cobblestone at the Oudekerksplein (old church square)

This church is located at the red light district, reason being that patrons at the red light district would ask for forgiveness after their 'business'.

A pissoir! Conveniently located for men to take a leak! Our walking tour guide told us the female population protested as they also wanted pissoirs for ladies so they can be like the men who use the toilets for free and they went to the oldest bridge in Amsterdam and took a piss. The government relented after that debacle and granted the women to have pissoirs of their own. However, those were removed in due time because of misusing purposes. Therefore women in amsterdam still have to pay to use the toilets.

There are many "coffee shops" in Amsterdam where people would stone and get high for hours.

This building contain a hidden church where people would gather discreetly and pray due to differences in religious belief during the dark times.

Chinatown in Amsterdam

The Fo Guang Shan He Hua temple is the largest buddhist temple in Europe

The Nieuwmarkt, located in chinatown and next to the red light district

The Headquarters of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

There is even a museum of the drug

The Nieuwe Kirk (New Church) of Amsterdam

Colourful coffee place to grab a ice blended coffee on a hot day!

Magna Plaza shopping centre

Statue of Multatuli (Edward Douwes Dekker) famous dutch writer

Traders in the past were taxed according to the width of their house therefore it attributes to Amsterdam unique slim and tall houses. The red building with the 2 windows is one of the slimmest house we've seen

Thats a piece of Dutch Cheese...

Gable stones in the building serve as 2 purposes, to decorate the building and also to tell us about the owner.

An artist representation of David and Goliath.

The Begijnhof is one of the oldest inner courts in the city of Amsterdam.

One of the 2 remaining wooden houses in Amsterdam

The filming location for Ocean's Twelve where the meeting of George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon took place.

The cat probably got stoned too much sleeping in the "coffee shop"

The queue to visit the Anne Frank House Museum

Statue of Rembrandt

World cup fever at its highest in Amsterdam as the Orange army marches on.

The red curtain window cubicles on the left are where the ladies stand to tempt patrons. This picture is taken during the day and our guide told us that it is strictly prohibited to take pictures of the ladies unless you want to be chased by a mob of angry sex workers! There is even a walking tour where ladies who used to work in the red light district would give an in-depth tour of what goes behind those window cubicles.

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam undergoing reconstructive surgery

De Gooyer Windmill

Amsterdamers used the pulley system to move or carry stuff

Heineken Brewery

The Rijk Museum

The Van Gogh museum

Next Stop, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Luv Yee