Amsterdam

I thought Amsterdam would've been one of my first European experiences.  As it is, it wasn't.  Of course, that's mostly relative because in 20 years I'll look back at my second year living abroad and remember I went to Amsterdam and think, "that was one of my first European cities."  However, presently, closing in on the end of my two years living abroad and Amsterdam coming midway through the second year, let's just say I thought I would've seen it by now.  Nevertheless, it is the first European city I've visited with friends, so that's something.

The Netherlands is a bicycle riding utopia.  It is everything anyone who has ever commuted via bike could ever dream of: dedicated bicycle lanes (everywhere, including along highways), right of way (cars stop for bikes), respect (everyone moves when the bell is rung).  Heaven.  Thanks to my friend's itinerary recommendation, we decided to rent bicycles for a day for a self-guided windmill tour outside the city which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.  If she hadn't made the suggestion, due to the budget nature of my travels, I would've opted out of this particular experience and just spent another day walking around Amsterdam, not even seeing a windmill.  That would've been a travesty.  If ever in doubt, €13 for a 24 hour rental is a killer deal and worth every cent (and the sore butt). Do it!

Although the Dutch are famously tolerant, I found that, in Amsterdam at least, this does not necessarily translate into good-natured, polite, nor particularly friendly.  My experience left me with the impression that Dammers are honest, blunt, and perhaps not terribly inclined towards sarcasm.  I imagine they are lovely people once you get used to their ways.  Unfortunately, since I was in town for less than a week, I didn't have time to test this theory, though I still left believing I liked them more than I didn't.

Amsterdam is very picturesque.  The canals are gorgeous.  The cute, crooked houses are adorable.  The small streets, especially The Nine Streets (De Negen Straatjes), are worth a day's meander.  But, the Red Light District (De Wallen), especially at night, is not fun at all unless you like stag parties, ogling crowds, and a tense atmosphere.

Amsterdam is very disorienting.  I doubted my compass on many occasions because I was certain north was not where it was saying it was.  But, the compass was always right.  Never doubt the compass.

Amsterdam is a lovely city and The Netherlands is a lovely country.  I'm glad I finally had an opportunity to visit and look forward to exploring the country further.  Shout out to my buddy T-Bird for joining me on this adventure.  Especially when travelling on a tight budget, travel can become routine.  It's fun to inject a new perspective and I hope to have her perspective on many trips to come.

The Journey: Edinburgh to Amsterdam to Brussels to New York City to Baltimore and Reverse

On a Saturday in early June, we experienced the best travel day ever.  We took the train from Dundee to Edinburgh and, to save money, we walked about a mile (with our bags) to the stop for the local bus to the airport (£1.40) rather than the Airport Express bus (£3.50), which picks up right outside Haymarket rail station.  We've done this once before and it was pretty straightforward but this time, due to construction for Edinburgh's tram, it wasn't as clear cut and we wound up getting lost.  We arrived at the airport less than 30 minutes before boarding.  Luckily, we were flying KLM (instead of one of the discount airlines) and we got the VIP treatment (escorted to the front of the line to check our bags) upon arrival.  We cruised through security and made it to our gate with time to spare.

Schiphol Train Station

The flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam took us only about an hour.  We waited longer at the airport, for our bags and the train to Brussels, than it took to get there.  We grabbed the train (€25, first class) from Schiphol to Brussels Central (an excruciating 2.5 hours) and arrived at our flat in Brussels about 30 minutes earlier than expected, around 11PM.

The trip from Brussels to New York City wasn't as pleasant as our first leg because a) the Brussels airport is shit and 2) our flight was connecting rather than direct, but the flights themselves were fine.

Comte de Flandres metro station

Getting to the Brussels airport is pretty easy (subway and bus, €3.50) and Air Canada was a nice enough airline.  We could've done without the 1.5 hours in Montreal but the flights only cost £230 so if the connection made the trip £500 cheaper then it was well worth it. We arrived into LaGuardia and took the bus to the subway to our hostel in the Bowery ($2.50).

For our trip to Reisterstown, MD we had to get creative.  We took the Megabus from New York to White Marsh, MD ($9.00), a suburb northeast of Baltimore.  From there we took a local MTA bus ($1.60) into Baltimore where we then grabbed the subway to Owings Mills ($1.60).  Our only option at this point was a cab and, luckily, there's a taxi rank right outside the Owings Mills station.  The taxi from the station to our resort cost $30.00.

Happily, we made a friend over our weekend at the resort willing to drive us into Baltimore.  We forced $20 on her for the inconvenience though, since she would've been travelling in the completely opposite direction otherwise.

Megabus, Baltimore to New York City

To get back up to New York we just reversed the above; local bus to White Marsh and Megabus into New York City.  Once we got to New York we had to make our way to JFK which required the subway ($2.50) and the AirTrain ($5.00).

Our flight back to Brussels was uneventful.  This leg was on Brussels Airlines and, besides the flight staff seeming rather surprised to be there, the flight seemed short and the seats were the most comfortable we've experienced in quite some time.  We arrived in Brussels an hour later than expected, around 7AM.

This next portion was one of our worst travel experiences ever.  We had hoped to simply reverse the above but the bus ticket (€3.50) is only good for a free transfer to the subway within an hour from purchase and we were stuck in a Brussels traffic jam for just over an hour, missing our free ride to Gare du Nord.  Not wanting to pay again we decided to walk, venturing forth with a compass, no map, and luggage.  We eventually got to Gare du Nord around 10AM and checked in for our 12PM Eurolines bus to Amsterdam (€9.00) only to be told that it was going to be late and not to expect it before 1PM.  It eventually showed up at 1:45PM.

We arrived at Amstel station in Amsterdam almost two hours later than expected.  Furthermore, for some reason our Google map had placed the distance from Amstel station and our flat at a mere 1.4km.  The reality was that Amstel station is 5km away from our flat, which makes a huge difference.  Had we known the actual distance we would've sprung for public transportation.  As it was, we just walked.

The train from Amsterdam's Centraal station to Schiphol airport was €4.05 (including €0.50 credit card fee because only Dutch bank cards are accepted for no-fee processing).  Schiphol is a wonderful airport but we didn't have much time to explore before boarding.  Our KLM flight back to Edinburgh was uneventful and we were home shortly thereafter, 17 days after beginning this journey.

This trip had many legs and, though the return trip from Amsterdam to Brussels and the bus ride from Baltimore to New York City were very long, it didn't feel as though we spent a huge chunk of time travelling.  Even at the end of the trip, the two solid days of travel (from Baltimore to Amsterdam) had almost been completely forgotten, though I fear the horrible Eurolines experience will stay with us for quite some time.