Goedemorgen!

Caught the train from Liverpool St. In London to Harwich Int'l port where we got on the ferry to the Hook of Holland. Oh, random note. The train station charged £0.30 to use the bathroom. Psh. Ok, so the ferry was NOT what I expected. it was more like a Carnival cruise ship. It was huuuuge and very nice. I love the Dutch already. It had nine decks with two restaurants, two bars, a casino, duty free shop, etc.

I was even more Surprised by our "berth" aka cabin. All I expected was two beds. Not only did we get that, but a private bathroom with a shower as well! This was a big deal. I wasn't anticipating a shower until Amsterdam, so I was more than thrilled. The ferry was set to depart about an hour after we boarded for a seven hour ride to Holland. We basically threw our stuff down and went to the bar for a Heineken. Luckily they accepted pounds as we didn't get Euros yet.

The crowd at the bar was more "Grumpy Old Men" than "American Pie" so we finished our beer and went to bed. We had to get up at 6am in order to have enough time to shower, pack, and pay €10 for breakfast. Rip! It was halfway decent though. I felt the boat moving while I was trying to shower. Weird.

So the boat arrived, we got off, and found a train. Apparently there is no direct train to Amsterdam so we had to board a train to Rotterdam to connect. We arrived at Rotterdam station in less than an hour, and somehow made our way to the Amsterdam Central platform. Like IDIOTS, we got on the first train that pulled up. I forgot this isn't the Morse redline stop. Oops. But yeah, we asked and found out the train was going nowhere near Amsterdam. Luckily we got off before it left. The next train that pulled up was actually going to Amsterdam, and we're on it now. Should be there within an hour.

London was easy compared to Holland because English was the main language. Now everyone is speaking freaky deeky Dutch. It's a pretty country though. I hope we can find our hostel more easily than out London experience. We are staying at the "flying pig.". This should be interesting...

That's all for now. I'll post again when there is more to report.

Tot ziens,
Kevin

Posted with LifeCast