Tori’s European Escapade
Summer 2012
July
12/7 – 15/7
Amsterdam - Netherlands
This was a drive day I was excited for! It was the longest drive day of the trip (almost 800km), but it was also one of the last, and we had got into a nice groove of resting, sleeping and hanging out at the back. It was also on the Autobahn - the famous roads in Germany with no speed limit. Alas, the bus was capped at 100 kmph, but it would be free sailing and I would hopefully see some mean cars.
Alas, 30 minutes out from Berlin we ground to a halt, and we stayed there for 3 hours. After a while, fire trucks, ambulances, police and a hearse came through, and everyone was a bit somber. Just as the traffic started moving, we stopped again, as the first few cars through managed to have a second pile up.
Marcus pulled the bus over to the side of the road and we pulled out the picnic lunch we had packed, to the envy of everyone stuck on the road with us. We also broke in the toilet, having gone 32 days without needing it! As we finished lunch the line began moving again. and we drove past a firetruck hosing down the skid marks from the crash, the water tinged a horrible pink colour, and just down the road, an overturned poultry truck with a lot of squashed turkeys scattered around. It was awful. The rest of the drive was long, dark and pushed, as Marcus was terribly concerned about his drive times - if he goes over the maximum limit, he can face a huge fine. We managed to have 2 Macca's stops that day - the only things open by the time we rolled into the two towns where we stopped for lunch, too much even for the most fanatical lover.
We didn't make any of our planned excursions for that day - making it to the hostel for midnight. The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed and into the bike store, to hare around the city on the preferred two wheels.
Amsterdam was originally settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century but became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world,and is famous for it's historic canals, the Anne Frank House and it's art museums. Internationally recognised as an exceptionally liberal city, its red-light district and many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually.
Our guy took us to Bertram and Brood- for apple strudel. It was the best thing I had tasted ALL trip. No lie. And I am not the biggest fan of apple deserts.
After the tour ended, a group of us whipped off to the Anne Frank house, but upon seeing the winding queue, Rachel and I headed back to the bike store to pick up a half day hire and explore on our own. We collected Luke on the way, and ended up having a truly phenomenal day, at our own pace, though we usually ended up biking down the wrong side of the canals, into oncoming traffic.
We stopped off at the famous lilly market, much to Luke's disgust, but there were a few shops nearby with free cheese. FREE CHEESE. And Rachel and I took Luke back to Bertram and Brood for a second strudel, as his bike group hadn't taken him there.
We checked out a torture museum we stumbled upon - the creepiest part was the lighting.
That night we had a canal cruise where we said the beginning of our final good byes (SNIFF!) and awarded certain members of the party for their outrageous personality traits. (I won best photo bomber as I had cheekily inserted myself into a wedding shot on Charles Bridge, wearing a screaming red polkadot dress) After our cruise we slid into the red light district and took in a show, that I will only describe as 'illuminating'.
Alas, 30 minutes out from Berlin we ground to a halt, and we stayed there for 3 hours. After a while, fire trucks, ambulances, police and a hearse came through, and everyone was a bit somber. Just as the traffic started moving, we stopped again, as the first few cars through managed to have a second pile up.
Marcus pulled the bus over to the side of the road and we pulled out the picnic lunch we had packed, to the envy of everyone stuck on the road with us. We also broke in the toilet, having gone 32 days without needing it! As we finished lunch the line began moving again. and we drove past a firetruck hosing down the skid marks from the crash, the water tinged a horrible pink colour, and just down the road, an overturned poultry truck with a lot of squashed turkeys scattered around. It was awful. The rest of the drive was long, dark and pushed, as Marcus was terribly concerned about his drive times - if he goes over the maximum limit, he can face a huge fine. We managed to have 2 Macca's stops that day - the only things open by the time we rolled into the two towns where we stopped for lunch, too much even for the most fanatical lover.
We didn't make any of our planned excursions for that day - making it to the hostel for midnight. The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed and into the bike store, to hare around the city on the preferred two wheels.
Amsterdam was originally settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century but became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world,and is famous for it's historic canals, the Anne Frank House and it's art museums. Internationally recognised as an exceptionally liberal city, its red-light district and many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually.
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| The I Am Sterdam sign, from afar. |
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| Convoy!! |
Our guy took us to Bertram and Brood- for apple strudel. It was the best thing I had tasted ALL trip. No lie. And I am not the biggest fan of apple deserts.
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| You jelly, Dad? |
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| OMG FRUIT. |
After the tour ended, a group of us whipped off to the Anne Frank house, but upon seeing the winding queue, Rachel and I headed back to the bike store to pick up a half day hire and explore on our own. We collected Luke on the way, and ended up having a truly phenomenal day, at our own pace, though we usually ended up biking down the wrong side of the canals, into oncoming traffic.
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| Me, Luke and Rachel |
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| Oh dear, did your shirt fall down, Mr Street Performer? In front of the Rembrandt monument. |
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| We got intercepted by a uni group taking photos with different people from all over the world with their flag, which was pretty cool. |
We stopped off at the famous lilly market, much to Luke's disgust, but there were a few shops nearby with free cheese. FREE CHEESE. And Rachel and I took Luke back to Bertram and Brood for a second strudel, as his bike group hadn't taken him there.
We checked out a torture museum we stumbled upon - the creepiest part was the lighting.
We also spied a few gems of the liberal side of Amsterdam:
That night we had a canal cruise where we said the beginning of our final good byes (SNIFF!) and awarded certain members of the party for their outrageous personality traits. (I won best photo bomber as I had cheekily inserted myself into a wedding shot on Charles Bridge, wearing a screaming red polkadot dress) After our cruise we slid into the red light district and took in a show, that I will only describe as 'illuminating'.
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| Far right - Lisa, Nat and Dane, on the left - Ryan, Me, Kim |
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