Juleferie - Amsterdam

I left on the 19th of dec and caught the train to Amsterdam. I had to change twice on this trip. The first leg was from Vejle to Hamburg. This leg I watched a movie. When I got to Hamburg I had 2hrs before the train left. I went for a wall through the city. It was good being there before it made it easier to find my way around. Down the walking streets there were lots of little stalls selling Christmas things. I was going to buy something but there was too much to choose from. After walking through Hamburg, I headed back to the station and waited for 30mins for my train. The train I caught was a sleeper. It left Hamburg at 2030 and arrived at my stop at 0500. I got a little bit of sleep. The cabin I was in only had 2 people in it. An elderly lady and myself. The beds were comfy but the elderly lady was snoring most of the night. My next stop was in Leige Belgium. I had 15-20mins before my next train. The good thing was it was the same platform just different track and was already there. This train was a local train. It took of to the Netherlands border town Maastricht. When I got there I had 5mins to find out where the train was and get on. I just missed it. The good thing was the next one arrived 30mins later. I got it. Now on to Amsterdam. I got to Amsterdam at 0900 on the 20th. It was a very long train ride. The first thing I did was get a map of Amsterdam. I also bought an iamsterdam card. The card had access to the public transport and all the museums in Amsterdam. After I got what I needed I went to the hostel to drop my bag off them off to see what Amsterdam had to offer. The first thing I went to was the Allard Piersen museum. This had history of the Egyptians and the Romans. Went to Amsterdam historic museum. This had all the history of Amsterdam from the time it was first settled to today. I really enjoyed that museum. After that I went for a wonder through Amsterdam. I got bit lost but found my way again. I ended up coming out at another museum that I was going to see. Once I looked at that one I headed back to the hostel. I stayed at the hostel for a couple of hrs and slept. I went out afterwards and had a look around the walking streets and bought some food for dinner and also for lunch the next day. I got back to the hostel at 2130. I went straight to sleep when I got back. In the morning I had my alarm set for a 730 wake up but I ended up turning it off. I got up at 800 instead. The hostel I stayed at had breakfast as part of the price. This was good. I got a really good and big breakfast. After I had to pack my bag and leave the hostel. The hostel allowed me to leave my big pack in a locker. When I was ready I headed off to the hortus. This was botanical gardens. It had these large buildings with different environments. There was one which was dry and one which was humid. In the dry one there were plants from Australia, Africa and a few other places in the wet was all the tropical plants. It was great seeing some plants that I knew. After the hortus, I went to the Dutch resistance museum. It had history about the ww1 and ww2, depicting what the Dutch had to in through. There was a fair bit on the treatment of the Jews. After this museum I went to the Jewish history museum. I thought this might be interesting. It had history about the treatment of the Jews during the war and also on the rituals of the church. When I finished looking at that museum I went for a walk to the train station. Instead of going to the train station I find small markets. This was cool. I got some small things for my family. So them I start heading to the train station but get lost and find myself walking straight through the red light district. While walking through I stumble across a church. It was right in the middle of the red light district. I had a quick look then finally headed to the train station. I caught to tram instead of walking because time was getting the better of me. I went to the station because I needed to reserve a seat on tug train to Paris. When I got into the service centre I found out that it was going to take me forever to be served. I ended up waiting for 30-40mins before I got served. Once I had finished I went to the tram and caught one to Anne franks house. This was a really good experience. I got to see things as they happened. The story came alive. The museum is the house that Anne Frank and her family were actually hiding in. It took you in through the office/shop that was at the front through to the secret rooms that were hidden in the upper floors of the warehouses. When I was finished there I was ready to move on to Paris. It was only 1630 and my train didn't leave until 1854. I went back to the service desk to see if there was any chance that I could get an earlier train but there wasn't it was all booked out. My train ended up arriving late. This wasn't good because I had to make a connection at Brussels to go to Paris. When my train arrived the connecting train was sitting at the platform ready to take off. I ran as fast as I could with a large bag on my back and a medium one on one shoulder. I just made it I had enough time to have a quick look at my ticket and find out which carriage I was meant to be on. When I found it I got on to find someone sitting in my seat. This was fine the person that took my seat because she wanted to sit next to her partner. Now I am sitting on the train to Paris writing a very large blog entry on my mobile. I'll let you know what happens later when it happens. Farvel. Well I am still sitting on the train to Paris. We have had to stop due to the previous train. Is this the train that I was on or is it another one? Well I’m not sure. I just hope that we get going soon. I really want some sleep and it is now 2330 when the train was meant to arrive in Paris. Now I’ll arrive in Paris at 0000. This means I won't be at my hostel until probably 0030. Oh well just hope I get to my hostel safely.

Pictures of Amsterdam Here.