More Transport Troubles on our way to Amsterdam!!

Monday, July 12, 2010
We started off the day with a great breakfast included in the hostel. So we grabbed a quick bite and headed down the mountain to the bus stop. The bus was late but we thankfully had a lot of time before our train left. When we arrived at the train station (Gare) we found our platform and were ready to go. Ettelbrook is a small place and the train station was pretty minimal. We are used to the trains being labelled so we know what train is what. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case so we had to ask the conductors. We waited until 941 when our train was due to arrive, and when it finally did arrive right at 940, we couldn’t find anyone to ask to make sure this was our train. But, we figured it was and the previous people told us it would be the next train so we jumped on and asked straight away. This passanger that we had asked said it was going to Luxembourg (the opposite direction from Liege) and we quickly tried to turn around and get off. The train door shut and we were stuck on this train to Luxembourg. Damn!! So we found the conductor (who spoke only French and Luxembourg) and asked her for some help finding a new route. She didn’t really understand where we wanted to go and we had a lot of difficulty communicating with her. So we took it upon ourselves to figure it out whilst sitting in first class . Here come the critical thinking and problem solving skills that Nursing has so wonderfully taught us. Haha. So we found out we could catch a train from Luxembourg to Brussells and then Brussells to Amsterdam. The trains left every hour or so which was great and we didn’t need a reservation. We only had 2 minutes when we got into Luxembourg to switch trains to avoid waiting an hour so we ran our butts off, found the platform number and got on that train. Phew! So we were off to Brussells and very excited to have figured it out and not have another Mont-St-Michel “incident”. Luxembourg to Brussells was about a 3 hour train ride but it was still early and we had only one change to make until we arrived in Amsterdam. Well, about an hour south of Brussells, our train stops in a small station called Citey (small town Belgium). We were told that we had to get off the train as this one wasn’t able to get through. After some asking around and some scary translating skills, we discovered that there was a huge storm in Belgium and there were trees blocking the tracks. So, we were told that buses would soon be arriving to take us to somewhere closer to Brussels and then we would have to figure something else out. We were also told that there were no trains running in Belgium and we were stuck until further notice. We met a few people (2 germans going to Amsterdam so we stuck together, 1 aussie trying to get to London, and an American trying to get to Brussells). So we tried to figure out a way to get to Brussells and didn’t have any luck. About an hour later, 1 bus arrived for about 200 people. Haha it was mayhem. The street was blocked, the bus was surrounded with people and only a few got on. We were not one of the “lucky” ones to get on the bus. However, the bus did a U-turn around the block and kicked everyone off. At this point there was news that the train would in fact run and we all got on the train. There were so many people that we decided to not fight the crowds and just go sit in first class again and play dumb if we were told otherwise. Worked like a charm. So after a few minutes the train stopped at another station and we were all told to get off and wait for further instruction. A new train then showed up, and we all rushed onto this one. There were several announcements about where you were seated and that some cars were added but you couldn’t get off at certain stops from these cars etc. It was really quite hectic. Anyways, we were finally on our way to Brussels. When we arrived, there was a train due to Amsterdam in about 30 mins so we took this opportunity to grab some dinner and drinks. We got this train and it was a “Harry Potter train.” We had taken one of these trains before but only for a short distance. They were the trains with the cabins and six seats in each. It was fun to ride in but it had a real 70’s decor going on. It was groovy! So as if our day hadn’t been crazy enough, when the conductor came around to check our tickets, he told us that our rail passes hadn’t been activated and that they were not valid. He was saying that it was 12.50 fine each to activate and was really giving us a hard time. We tried to explain that in Belfast we had asked about activation and were told it was fine and it didn’t have to be stamped. He didn’t take too well to this and was getting kind of mad at us. He ended up letting it go and saying that we had to get it activated in Amsterdam before we travelled again. It’s funny, we try and plan and do everything right and still get screwed over. Oh well! Kavorcka mama, Kavorcka! Anyhow, at about half 8, we arrived in Amsterdam!!! Yeah!!! We were so excited to get here and only have a short walk to the hostel. So we walked to our hostel which just so happens to be right in the middle of the action, one block from the red light district. So we got checked in and to our pleasant surprise it was nicer than we had anticipated. The reviews online were really poor and we didn’t expect much but our options were limited as everything else was booked. So we decided to go check out the town a bit. We grabbed our tourist map and were off. We stopped in at a coffeeshop for a bit and just looked at what there was to do and where it was on the map. Not feeling overly ambitious we just walked around near our hostel and checked out the red light district. It’s funny because it is super busy and not as weird as you would imagine. O.K. its strange to have prostitutes in windows propositioning people but its where everyone hangs out and party’s. It was cool to see anyhow. We went back to our hostel and went to bed.