Out of practice.
This phrase describes how I feel both with regards to writing a blog post and travelling in general.
My business of Academic Smartcuts is fully booked, and co-trainer Dan Allwood and I have been focusing on developing new training programmes and refining old ones. This has left very little time and the headspace necessary to write.
Meanwhile, the last time MrElaineous and I left the country was in March of 2020, returning to the UK just a week before the pandemic lockdown began. The last time we visited mainland Europe? We’re still debating that. Both the date and the location are a mystery, at least without digging through old photos or travel receipts. It may have been a trip to Barcelona. Or potentially an academic conference in Stockholm. Either way, it’s been a while since we’ve had to dust off the old passports.
But my parents are slowly ticking off bucket list items. Last year it was the white chalk cliffs of southern England, with a visit to the Seven Sisters and a stay in the incredible lighthouse of Belle Tout. This year is further afield: the tulips of the Netherlands.
This is a far more complex expedition than anything I’ve organised in recent memory, involving multiple trains across several countries, booking activities relatively last minute, and facilitating my parents’ first visit to a non-English speaking country.
It was not the most auspicious of departures. Less than an hour before we were due to head to the train station, MrElaineous managed to spill white exterior paint on our front pathway. After 30 minutes of hosing the area and trying to sweep the resulting slurry into the grass, we had to call time, change our clothes (we looked like a Jackson Pollock painting), and try not to worry about what we were going to come home to. We needed to replace the pathway anyway, and this has ensured that it jumps to the top of the priority list.
The train we were meant to catch to London was then cancelled.
We got there eventually, staying overnight at a hotel across from St. Pancras station since we had a very (VERY) early start the next day. I assumed that there would be few crowds at 4:45 am, the time we were advised to arrive for the first train of the day. I was wrong. There was a surprisingly long queue snaking around the Eurostar departure terminal and the train itself was completely full once we boarded.
I had also assumed that an early morning train would be relatively quiet. Again, I was proven wrong by a group of twenty and thirty-something men off for a stag-do in Europe. They did not use their inside voices, despite the dozens of people around them trying to sleep. Herds of Brits have a bit of a reputation abroad, and this group demonstrated it had been earned. Indeed, many countries are trying to curb British groups like this, and I have to admit they have my sympathies.
Fortunately, we lost the stag-do in Brussels. Less fortunately, my father’s camera also went MIA when we changed trains. On the off chance someone finds a Canon digital camera circling the train network of Belgium, it looks something like this (photographed with my parents’ travel mascot, itself a replacement for the one they lost last summer … yes, I’m going to invest in AirTags or something similar).
Arriving in Amsterdam Centraal station reminded me of the discombobulating effect of travel. There’s being immersed in a new language (although English is widely spoken). There’s the need to orientate oneself in a completely new location; by the end of the week, we were zipping around Centraal without any problem, but it took a little time to get our bearings. There’s finding a loo … and needing to pay for it (however, even toilets have gone contactless, so you don’t need to save your change).
Inside, Amsterdam Centraal feels like a modern, bustling station. It even has a shopping mall running through a passage that connects one side of the station to the other, with buses, trams, ferries, and of course trains delivering thousands of passengers each day right into the heart of the city.
Step outside the building, however, and you’ll find yourself looking at a structure designed by architect Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1889. Cuypers is known for his design of the Rijksmuseum, and there is a family resemblance between the two buildings: red brick, ornate towers, and detailed façades. This fascinating blend of old and new would continue throughout our stay in the Netherlands.
One of our first stops (after the loos) was at the iAmsterdam visitor centre, where we purchased iAmsterdam cards. These provide free travel within the city and entry to a lot of museums. I’ll write more about them in a future post, but overall, they worked well for us … even if it seemed like a lot of money up front.
Beyond the iAmsterdam card and its associated mobile phone app, I ended up collecting a plethora of apps during this trip. The first two I downloaded the week before leaving: Bounce and Luggage Hero. These allow you to see where you can drop your luggage if you have time to explore before your onward journey. This time around I stuck with the nearest option: the lockers just outside Centraal station. They’re convenient but not cheap. They’re also a bit of a novelty; most lockers at UK stations have been removed, so I am actually looking forward to giving these apps a spin on future UK trips. But I digress …
We were barely out of the station before we encountered Amsterdam’s famous bicycles. More on that in a later post, but let’s just say that they keep you on your toes: always look both ways when crossing any road and watch out for the red bike paths.
We safely navigated the area around the station and headed for the water. Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the North: it has over 1200 bridges that cross approximately 60 miles of canals. Its inner ring of waterways—known as the Grachtengordel—is a UNESCO heritage site that dates to the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. They are well worth seeing from both land and the water itself.
One of the last-minute(ish) activities I had booked earlier in the week was an all-you-can-drink cruise along these canals. As we headed out to find the boat, I discovered that there are A LOT of different canal tour companies, all with their own offerings. You can do wine and cheese, New York pizza, all-you-can-eat (and drink). Big boats, little boats, all price points are catered for.
And I wholeheartedly recommend doing at least one. Ours was lovely: it was a good introduction to the city’s history—it’s celebrating its 750th anniversary this year—and a chance to see the city’s distinctive architecture from a different angle. Gliding along under blue skies and the bright spring sunshine felt like a dream after leaving London at 6:00 am. The drinks were a nice bonus!
Once we were back on dry land, we walked along the main tourist route into the appropriately named Dam Square: it is the original site of the dam on the Amstel River which gives the city its name. Today, it is a hub of history and activity. On one side is the 17th century city hall which became a Royal Palace in 1808 under Louis Bonaparte, younger brother of Napoleon. It was under construction during our visit, but it appeared to be suitably grand under the scaffolding. On the other side is the Nieuwe Kerk: the “new” church, although it dates from the early 15th century, so not that new. Trams ding their way through the hustle and bustle, protestors stake out a pitch to make their case, and hundreds of pigeons descend on tourists who willingly feed them. It’s like a mixture of Trafalgar Square (before they removed the pigeons) and Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park that somehow manages to feel like a piece of performance art.
For a late lunch/early dinner I turned to the crowdsourced reviews of Google. A well-rated Thai restaurant caught my eye, and we gave it a go. It was incredible. We had managed to time it just right that it was practically empty, but it was on a main street so we could people (and bicycle) watch while eating. My father’s verdict: “Best pad thai I’ve ever had.” To be fair, all of the food we had during our visit was pretty good, but this was the first indication of the cultural melting pot that is modern Amsterdam.
We meandered back to the station to collect our luggage then headed to the hotel. It had been a long day … and our trip was just beginning.
THOUGHTS ABOUT EUROSTAR:
My last trip onboard a Eurostar train happened before I met MrElaineous. Since that was nearly 20 years ago, I wanted to share a few suggestions about train travel from London to mainland Europe.
- Double check times/cost. Trains are better from an environmental perspective, and they can also be time and cost efficient. If you’re travelling from the UK, it’s worth comparing the price and timings from your local airport. There wasn’t much difference for us, but the tipping point was that Eurostar has fewer luggage restrictions. In addition, our trip was incredibly punctual both ways, but obviously this cannot be guaranteed!
- Check the routes. We normally wouldn’t need to change at Brussels, but the direct route between London and Amsterdam wasn’t running due to maintenance during our trip. However, it’s back online now; I would recommend seeking out direct trains if possible.
- Join the Club. You can earn loyalty points when you travel which can be used for upgrades and discounts.
- Book early. I am now subscribed to the Eurostar mailing list, and they seem to have regular sales. Booking early will also help you secure lower cost tickets, although if your schedule is flexible, they might also have last-minute specials.
- Bring food. Although there is a café car available on the train, you have more selection and better prices if you purchase food to bring with you. But check what’s legal when you’re crossing country borders. The UK issued a regulation during our trip that forbids the import of dairy products, including in sandwiches. We came *this* close to bringing back Dutch cheese.
- Consider upgrading. If budget is less of a concern, I would suggest upgrading from standard class.
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