London / Peterborough Part I

I leave my Amsterdam hotel room before the sun comes up and walk the 30 minute walk over to the train station with plenty of time to spare, before catching a train to the Hook of Holland. I've ridden enough European trains this summer, that this one should be fairly routine, but as the time approaches closer and closer to departure I start to get worried when the sign on the platform I'm supposed to be on, doesn't show the train I need. I see a family of American's and ask if they are going the same way as I am. They say yes, but are looking just as worried as I am about the train. 5:00am approaches and there's still no sign of the train so we frantically look around at the other platforms to see if there's a train. No luck. We eventually find a station agent, and he informs us that the train already left on a platform around the corner (there was a change that was announced in dutch!). I start to panic knowing that if I don't get to the ferry by 7:30am, I will then have to wait until 4pm before the next ferry arrived. The station agent points myself and the stranded American family to a train that's about to leave. He says its a bit slower, and we have to change trains in the Hague, but there's a slim chance we may still be able to make it in time. We hussle aboard, and I chat a bit with the family I just met. They're from Philadelphia, and were in Amsterdam visiting friends. We all cross our fingers, and end up pulling into the port at about 7:25am. Everyone is already aboard the ship and we run with luggage in hand through customs. I'm relieved as I run up the ramp to find the colossal Stenalines Dutch Flyer still docked in port. The ship is a behemoth, and has 2 movie theatres, a casino, bars, restaurants and room for thousands of people and their cars on board. I settle into my chair and just read and sleep during the 6.5 hour journey.

We dock in Harwich and I breeze through customs, stopping to chat a bit with the agents before I board my train that takes me to Victoria station. My final destination is Stepney Green and seeing Jazzy after 3 very busy weeks apart. We spend a couple of hours sipping tea and catching up, and I try and fill her in on some of my more memorable trip moments. I feel good knowing that I'll be finishing up the last 9 days or so of the trip with Jas, and that it will be with family that I haven't seen in about 8 years or more.

Given that we have so little time to spend with everyone, we decide to call my Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Catherine in Peterborough (which is about an hour north of London), and make plans to meet up tonight instead of tomorrow. We rush to get to the station, and in all the commotion of purchasing tickets and running to the train, we manage to lose them. We probably could've just stayed on without the ticket people checking them, but because we don't know the system or how much fines will be, we decide to play it safe and get off at the next stop. We buy another couple of tickets (they aren't cheap either!), and end up being over an hour late by the time we get into Peterborough.

My uncle is there waiting for us at the train station, and we get back to his place (where we'll spend the next few days). My aunt, uncle and cousins have really bent over backwards to host us. My cousin Alexander even had to give up his bed so that Jas and I would have a place to sleep. Its so late when we get there that just my Aunt and Uncle are still up. We chat and have a snack, then turn in for the night.

The next day, they take us to a quaint little village just outside of town called Stamford. We go to a nice tea shop for lunch, walk around a bit and just explore some of the shops. After explaining my broken camera story, my aunt and uncle decide to surprise me with an early, very unexpected, and very very unnecessary birthday gift. They buy me a new digital camera to replace the one that died in Belgium. I was totally shocked when they handed it to me, but we definitely did make good use of it during the rest of the trip.

My older cousin comes round for a visit, and we catch up for a while, then my grandpa comes over and we all go out to a really nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We're stuffed to the gills, and decide to take my aunt & uncle's dog Bonnie out for a walk, and burn off some of the excess calories we consumed. We spend the evening just relaxing; chatting and watching a few of the several thousand tv channels my uncle has on satellite.

We get up the next morning and meet my cousin Ronnie and his wife for brunch. Again its more catch up, and chit-chat, then after a brief pitstop at their house to meet their lovely deaf dog, we head over to the football (soccer) pitch and watch him play. Its a successful result for their team, then its back to my Aunt & Uncle's for a big dinner. We go out with my cousins for a couple of pints and a game of pool, but don't stay out late as we have an early flight to Scotland the next morning. My Uncle has the unenviable task of getting up at 5am (on a Sunday no less!) to drive Jas and I out to Luton airport, which is over an hour away. We were spoiled absolutely rotten by my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and leave Peterborough eternally grateful for their amazing hospitality. Once we arrive at the airport, we discover it packed to the brim with travelers (even though its 6am). This is actually the busiest travel weekend for the UK as the schools have just wrapped up there. We spend about an hour just getting to the check-in counter, but with all the other travelers in the same conundrum, are pleased that we still catch our flight. Its farewell to England (for now), and on to more family fun in bonnie Scotland.

Amsterdam de Eerste

Amsterdam Day 1:

Our train pulls into this watery city in the early evening, and we hop on the tram to check into our hotel room. Upon check-in, the girl behind the counter informs us that we can do whatever we want, but not to smoke hash in the rooms because it could stain the paint (she said something along those lines anyway). I've checked into a fair number of hotels in my time, and I can honestly say that its the first time I've ever heard that from a desk clerk! But after all, this is Amsterdam, a very very surreal place (as we were about to find out). Our room is nice but small, complete with 3 single beds (think goldi-locks and the 3 bears) and a large window. We unpack a bit, and decide to walk around the town and get familiar with the city.

As we walk I'm struck by similarities to Venice, with the many narrow canals and elongated motor boats drifting under footbridges. Architecturally its fairly bland (for European standards!) and nothing really sticks out in my mind. We walk past the sex museum, then decide to ditch our prudishness at the door and go in. We're greeted by an animatronic flasher, a staircase with bums on the wall that pass gas as you walk past and other silly and totally graphic items throughout the building. The museum "tries" to seriously outline the history of sex, but mostly its just filled with all sorts of naughty pictures and the like. We giggle and laugh, but soon grow tired of the place, so we decide to stop and grab a pint at a waterfront tavern. Ouch! We never asked the cost, and were gouged for 19 euros for 3 pints of not so stellar Stella. We make a pact to always ask the cost before buying beer from here on out.

We walk around some more and eventually stumble into the red light district. For those that haven't seen it, this touristy area is complete with scantily clad women standing behind glass-doored, low-lit rooms awash with neon red and purple lights. Its completely bizarre, and unlike anything I've ever seen. You aren't allowed to take pictures (we saw one guy trying, then one of the women ran screaming from her glass enclosure telling him to delete the picture). There are also plenty of sex shops, peep show booths and places offering live shows. As I walk I'm surprised to see tourists of just about all ages walking around, all of them soaking up the spectacle that is the red light district. We stop for one more pint, before calling it a day, then head back to our hotel to rest.


Amsterdam Day 2:

We sleep in, so our first full day starts late (10am). We start by making our way over to Anne Frank's house. I've never read her diary, but its still a fairly neat place to see. The information is well presented, and gives enough of a background that reading her book is not a prerequisite for visiting the place. Its fairly packed, and because you actually walk through her old place, is completely stuffy in the non air-conditioned heat. We leave there and I discover the difference between a cafe in Amsterdam, and a "coffee shop" in Amsterdam; there's really quite a disparity between the two! If you actually want a cup of coffee, you'll have to go to the former. We decide to check out the latter, just to see what they're all about. Its basically a regular bar, but with a glass display case where you can purchase marijuana and associated paraphernalia. We decide to order a beer, play some pool, and watch some of the other patrons indulge. Its interesting for a little while, but the novelty quickly wears off, and we decide to go out exploring some more.

We walk through one of the main plazas and find Madame Tussauds wax museum. We contemplate checking it out, then see the astronomical 23 euro entrance fee. Too rich for our blood, we start to leave when one of their ticket agents informs us that she would knock 3 whole euros off the ticket price. Me being the "frugal" Scotsman that I am brush off the paltry discount, and after a bit of negotiating, we get three tickets for 10 euros a piece... sometimes being cheap has its advantages after all. The museum itself is pretty much like the one in London (which I had been to in the past). We, I mean Julie, snaps lots of pictures with her camera. Highlights include Sean Connery, Mao Tse Tung, David Bowie, Bob Marley, and Albert Einstein.

We're pretty exhausted after all the walking, and have a lot to pack in the next day, so we order some extremely delicious cones of french fries called "vlamse frites" completely slathered in gooey mayonnaise, and call it a very early night.


Amsterdam Day 3:

Well rested, we get up and start our day by seeking out the Vincent Van Gogh museum. It sits in the middle of a large park, surrounded by a few other museums and galleries. There's a really good chunk of his work on display there, though only a few of his masterpieces. I'm really struck by how he's able to create such strong work with so few strokes. I leave the museum with an even stronger appreciation for him and his work.

From there we walk over to the "Heineken Experience". Its essentially a brewery tour, but they don't actually do any of the brewing there anymore. For 10 euros you get to tour a former brewery complete with large bronze kettle drums, interactive games, perpetual brand identification, crass self-promotion, 3 glasses of watery Heineken beer, and a half-pint glass that's yours to keep at the end of the tour. Still worth the money given the fairly expensive prices for everything else in the city.

After that, we rent "canal bikes". These are identical to the paddle boats you see at places like Ontario Place. Brad (the workhorse of our trio) does most of the paddling, and Jupo and I take turns at the helm, as we explore some of the canals, and generally try and get out of the way of the motorboats. Its a lot of fun, but also a fair amount of work for how far you travel.

Our daily exercise complete, we head back to the hotel to change and check up on neglected email, then its off for dinner and a pub crawl around some of the bars.


Amsterdam and The Hague Day 4:

Our last day together consists of taking an hour train ride out of Amsterdam to the Hague. The main reason we're here is to check out the MC Escher collection in the Het Palais museum. Its something that I've looked forward to for quite some time, and I more or less dragged the other two into it (though I suspect they enjoyed it just as much as me). Escher is my all time favourite artist, and I love the mathematical nature of some of his work. The Hague sports the only permanent Escher collection of prints in the world, and all of his famous stuff is on display. I get to see "the portrait gallery" up close and personal, and later I find out that Julie and Brad clandestinely managed to purchase a copy for me (thanks soooo much guys!) There's also a neat virtual reality headset that Julie and I put on, and we get to explore Escher's world in 3-d. We compete against other headset-wearing foes in a series of Escher themed puzzles, but I do terribly and actually end up feeling a bit noxious by the end of it. We walk around a bit and try and avoid the rain. We don't get to really explore the Hague, but some of the buildings are appealing, and it seems like a fairly relaxed, but small city. We grab the train back (I beat Brad in a game of crib), and we decide on our favourite dutch meal (Vlamse Frites!) for dinner.

We all have to be up extremely early the next day (me at 4am for my train-ferry-train-tube to London, Brad and Julie at 6am for a flight back to Toronto), so after dinner we decide to take in a flick. Choice is limited, so we end up suffering through a sneering, grimacing, crying Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds. Blecch! Its a unanimous 6 thumbs down from the 3 of us, but serves its purpose. We pack up our stuff and say our goodbyes, and the next morning I'm out the door before the sun rises en-route to catch my train.