In Love with Amsterdam

Hello all,
I have finally met the city of my dreams! Amsterdam.

Though I've been here before, I barely remember it, except for the canals [as you would]....but the minute I stepped off the plane, I felt at home. Great city. But first, the plane.

When I left Tallin, I was really apprehensive, because to get in and out of anywhere in the Blatic states you have to fly to Hellsinki first and then connect to wherever you want to go. Last time, on the way to Tallin from St Petersberg, the airlines "misplaced" my luggage [living out of a backpack that only had one tee shirt as a spare for a few days was interesting] and I was scared it would happen again. Luckily -even though we only had 20 minutes to connect to the flight to Amsterdam, both me and my suitcase made it. The air ride was a trip though.....there should be a manual about airplane ettiquite that is required reading for some passengers. I sat next to a man, who wanted my aisle seat [his was in the middle] and though he didn't speak the same language I did, and argued with me for about 5 minutes all the while blocking my seat, I held my ground and kept the aisle. For the rest of the flight [1 hour 30 minutes- but who is counting?] he thumped his feet on the floor, yawned and sighed really loudly, stretched his legs and arms out to cover my territory and to top it off, hacked up mucous into everything including his dinner when he had finished. Yum! There's a story in this, but not a dinner time one.

Back to Amsterdam....I loved the city. Really easy to get around and totally lovely. I lived in this gorgeous hotel near the Van Gogh and Rykestaadt museums on a tree lined street. The hotel staff were really helpful -especially since i thought my ferry to the UK left from Amsterdam harbour, which it didn't. So they rang the UK and found out the necessary information for me. I did all the touristy things- rode around on the canal taxi, went to the Van Gogh museum, walked around the streets- plus had my hair cut and re-styled AND replaced my camera with the same brand, but cheaper over here. So soon there will be some snaps for look at again! The city is really laid back and comfortable. Transport around is really cheap and easy to understand. I felt I could live here....but so do 17 million other people [wonder where they all fit?!]

The ferry, which left from a town called Imjiedn -2 bus rides and about 1 hour west of Amsterdam- was HUGE! There were so many cars and lorries and road trains loaded onto the ferry I thought we would sink. The room I had was teensy weensy so I spent most of my time on deck. There was a range of entertainment, including live music...which was like a bad pop video on aicd- so I went outside and experienced the elements for a lot of the night. Sleep was a rare event- too hot in the teeny cabin. My roomie in the cabin was from a place called Sunderland [just South of Newcastle] and really sweet- though I could barely understand a word she said- funny how we are all speaking some form of English and can't undertand each other. I met another guy on deck who told me she was probably a Jordie- which to his mind explains it all, but didn't mean much to me.

The ferry was also not at Newcastle, but at some other port about a 1/2 hour bus ride away.....which got me to the Newcastle train station just in time to take one of Richard Bramston's Virgin trains [they look like the airplanes but without wings]. People at the station were really helpful and on the trains they make tons of announcements about where you are and where you are about to go....and here I am at an Internet Cafe in York watching boats drift by on the Ouse river. The town looks cute, and I am about to explore.

Thanks for all the commentseveryone...Sharon- I love it that your class is tracking me....get out some maps of the UK- I swear for a little island, there are more different communities here than in all of Russia and Siberia! More later
Cheerio chaps and chapettes
Genie