Germany - The Rhein

2 July 2010

The next day we wanted to get to Germany for a cruise on the Rhein.  First we took the train from Amsterdam to Cologne (Koln) but there was a problem with the train so we had to change trains at Antwerp.  The car we go onto was extremely packed.  Then it turned out the car we were in had no air conditioning.  Then some people came in who had seats reserved so we had to move and Matt had to stand.

After awhile I decided to try some other cars.  I found out there was plenty of room in first class and we had first class Eurail passes.  (Laurie had paid a little more for the first class upgrade).  So we moved to first class which was not crowded at all, very comfortable and had nice air conditioning.

We transferred at Koln to go to Koblenz.  I was able to start using my German now.  We went for tickets to the cruise but found out the 6 PM cruise had been cancelled.  We decided to stay in Koblenz and the lady at the cruise booth suggested the Hotel Morjan which had free breakfast and a nice dinner.

We had gotten to Koblenz at 3 PM so we were able to spend some time shopping here. The weather was very hot, must have been in the mid 90’s, we got very hot. I finally found a discount store with .5 L pepsi for .5 E. Matt dropped a jar of Nuttella and we told the clerk but she said don’t worry about it. I saw a harmonica shop that had some melodicas and a harmonica with bells and another with horns.

We ate supper at the hotel. Laurie had gulash soup, I had pork on noodles and Matt had bratwurst with potato salad. It was a good meal but we made the mistake of ordering two waters which cost 2 E each!

That night we went for a walk to Deutches Eck, the corner where the Rhein & Mosel Rivers meet. There is a huge statue of a Kaiser with a Valkyrie.

A Day in Amsterdam

1 July 2010


The next day I took a walk and got some pastries for breakfast at a bakery.  I searched for a take out coffee shop but couldn’t find one.  It turned out we had free coffee at the hotel but I didn’t notice until the next day.  Amsterdam was rather easy to get around in because most people spoke English but a bit more difficult because I did not know any Dutch even though much of it is similar to German.

In Amsterdam Laurie and I went for a walk in the morning but due to the spoke like nature of the city we walked further than we intended.

In Amsterdam we first went to the Rijks museum.  This was a combination history/artifact/painting museum with many of the large famous Rembrants & Vermeer paintings including the “Girl Pouring Milk.”  “Girl with a Pearl Earring” was on loan to den Haag.  We bought a train ticket to get to Centraal Station and then another for 24 hours.  (We thought we had to go to Centraal station to get the travel pass)  Unfortunately we could have gotten the 24 hour ticket at the VVV by the hotel.

For lunch we had sandwiches from vendors outside the Rijks Museum.

Next we went to the Anne Frank haus which made us all cry.  The windows are always kept with black shades to remind people what it was like while they were in hiding.  After that we went to the Van Goh museum so as not to waste our day and stayed until closing.  Next we went to look for supper downtown.  We went to a dutch pancake restaurant.  The pancakes were poor, burnt crepes & syrup was extra for 9 E each thin pancake.  We found out we should have looked for food further out of town as those places were packed with people.

After dinner we took Matt back to the hotel then Laurie and I went for a walk through the RLD.

London to Amsterdam (Bus/Ferry/Train/Taxi)

30 June 2010

The next day we traveled to the Netherlands.  We had hotel reservations in Amsterdam for that night that we had already paid for and were non-refundable.  After checking out of the hotel in London we took the C2 bus which goes all the way to Victoria Station.  Bought three one way tickets for the C2 double decker.

Next we went to the coach station to take a coach bus from London to Dover.  We had walked past the coach station the day before after the play so we would know where to go.  Got the coach to the Dover Ferries line which allowed P&O passengers traveling on foot.

The ferry went to Calais France.

We activated our Eurail pass in Calais.  From there we caught trains.  First from Calais to Lille Fr.  In Lille we had to catch the train to Brussels which we nearly missed.  For one thing there was a time change (1 hour) between England and the continent.  It also turned out that a reservation and additional money was required to ride the train, even though we had activated our Eurail pass in Calais.  We caught the train to Brussels just as it was leaving.  We then began to be worried that extra charges or reservations might apply.  There was a train from Brussels to Amsterdam but it turned out to take more money and need a reservation and I think we missed it, but our original plan was to take the train from Brussels to Antwerp.  I asked where we could find the train to Amsterdam which would be leaving soon and the conductor told us the wrong platform.  Luckily Laurie noticed the sign on our platform said Amsterdam so we went back up and got on the train just in time.  If we had missed that one we would have been stuck in Antwerp until 7 AM.

We got into Amsterdam at Midnight.  I met an American on the train who had been to the World Cup in S. Africa and was from Seattle.  We took a taxi to the hotel for ~10 Euro which would have been better than the bus tickets for 3 people.  We stayed at the Eden Leidse Square Hotel:

http://www.edentheatredistricthotel.com/nl/overview.aspx

Last Full Day in London

Tuesday June 29, 2010

The next day was our last full day in London so we wanted to make the most of it.  We started at the Tower of London which was the original London castle, with armory and the crown jewels.

Afterwards we had fish and chips on the Thames.  We had eaten breakfast at the Hostel to save time.  Next we took a bus to the Tate Modern Art Museum.

Then we went to the giant department store Harrod's but we only ended up staying 1/2 hour and during that time Laurie was looking for a tote bag to store our laundry in.  (We should have come to Harrod's last the night before when we were looking for something to do.)  One escalator had an Egyptian display.  The escalators are almost like an amusement park ride.  Laurie looked around while Matt and I had coffee & a donut.

That night we saw "Wicked" at the Appollo Victoria Theater across from Victoria Tube station.    Matt loved "Wicked."  After the show we walked down to the coach station that we would be taking the next morning to Dover so we would know exactly where to go.  Coming home we got onto bus C1 instead of bus C2.  I soon realized we were going the wrong way.  It turned out we should have taken RV2.  Luckily there was a tube at the next stop so we decided to take the tube which turned out to be lucky since the Victoria Line we had come in on had broken down.  A couple of times we travelled the tube during rush hour and it was extremely busy, standing room only, on the subway and busses.  Finally we caught the 88 to go back to the hotel but when I pushed the button it went past our usual stop.  Maybe at night they don't go to all the stops?  We got in late to the hotel.

London

Monday June 28, 2010

The second day in London we slept in a little and started off the day towards the British Museum and to look for an english breakfast.  We finally found a pub (near Soho square) with traditional English breakfast: Egg, hash browns, baked beans in tomato sauce, fried 1/2 tomato, sausage, thick bacon.  Matt ordered the big breakfast which came with 2 eggs, bacon, & sausages.  Laurie had the mediterranean breakfast that came with greek olives and other food.

Needless to say this was way too much food for us.  It took us a while to eat it all and we got to the museum later than we had planned.  Matt liked the British museum quite a bit.  We got 3 sets of audio tours here but did not find them as useful or good as the audio tour at the Bath exhibit or Stonehenge because most things in the museum were not on the audio tour.  It turned out easier to just read the descriptions.

After the museum I bought tickets to see Wicked for Tuesday night our last night in London.

I also took a nap that day, (it was quite hot) and by the time we got out again everything was basically closed.  We went to the Globe hoping to see a show but found out that there were no shows on Monday only Tuesday, but we couldn't do that show because we already had tickets for Wicked.  We went to the Tate Modern museum but by the time we got there it was closed.  We ended up going back to the hotel.  Laurie and I went out for ice cream (Gellato) and spent 15 P on it at a place by Picadilly Circus.