Firstly, let me apologize for how late this post is going out. I wrote it whilst I was there (November 2019) but have only just got round to proof-reading it (April 2020).
Thursday
I left at 8:30 am and got to St Pancras for 9:30 am and met Benj. Adam is a Type 1 diabetic and had hypo when he came off his train at Euston, so we walked over to meet him in the First Class Lounge. We had Orange Juice, Tea, Coffee, and Cakes.
We then went to get on the Eurostar and had to rush a little as the lady said the gates had closed. It was much like an airport and we had to put our bags through an x-ray machine and go through a metal detector. We then went up a travellator to the platform and had to run to the front of the train where our seats were. We made it with 15 minutes to spare so we shouldn’t have even rushed.
We shoved our luggage in the overflowing racks and sat at a table. There was a man there but as soon as we started talking he left. There were chargers in the seats and a table that folded out.
We sat in First Class and got a free lunch which consisted of vegetarian quiche or some chicken, and a drink, I had wine, the others had a coke, a salad, and dessert, a chocolate mousse type thing. We were then allowed refills of tea and coffee along with another small bottle of wine or soft drink. We also got a snack box that had BBQ sweetcorn in it and some other treats. Suffice to say I enjoyed travelling in First Class.
We had a small delay in the Netherlands as someone jumped in front of our train. Luckily, they missed and survived. We arrived at Centraal station about an hour later. From there we purchased a single to Haarlem and a 3-day travel card. We got the train to Haarlem station and then a bus to Velserbroek, where our Airbnb was.
The house is in a lovely residential area. There’s a river right at the back of the house with a decking that you can sit on and admire the view. There’s a large living room with Bose speakers which are really good for when we want to chill out listening to music. There’s also a wood stove but we haven’t been brave enough to get that working yet. There are 3 floors, 3 bathrooms, and 5 bedrooms. I’ve got the bedroom on the top floor.
We all got to know each other and chatted until about 12 before heading to bed.
Friday
We set our alarms for 9:30 am but I slept in till 10:30 am because I didn’t think anyone would get up that early, I was wrong. We got the bus and train into central Amsterdam and found a McDonalds for lunch. I ordered loads but surprisingly ate it all. I had a white chocolate and strawberry milkshake, chicken burger meal, and crispy shrimp. You had to pay for the toilet which is just ridiculous, especially for a McDonalds, but we found this to be the norm throughout the city. Lots of places only accepted card too, not great for traditional tourists without access to a card with 0 fees abroad.
Being full from lunch, we walked it off by going to a nearby shopping centre. There wasn’t really anything interesting in there. We then walked to the Anne Frank house and found out that you had to book tickets at least a week in advance. It was also modernised. Schindler’s factory had the same set-up in Krakow.
After that disaster, we bought some tickets for a boat trip. We wanted to go in the evening, so we sat in a café and watched the sun go down. After that we walked to the boat and boarded, it was pretty full up, but we found the last remaining seats. I was feeling very tired, combined with the warmth and slow rocking of the boat, I drifted off a little. The people at the back of the boat were very drunk and tried flirting with the driver which was funny. We saw a few cool buildings, crashed into another boat, and made a full circle.
We then went home and ordered €100 worth of dominos. it made us appreciate the deals they always run back home. I ordered quite a bit so that it would last for a few days; food was hard to come by.
Saturday
It was raining really heavily when we woke up. So bad, that we dare not go out. We watched the Disney Channel instead and were astounded by the far-fetched storylines of many of the shows. At about 12 the rain started to disperse, and we got ready and walked to the bus stop. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a bus but luckily, we were under shelter.
We got off in central Haarlem and found a market to wander around. They had a comic and record stall which I enjoyed. We found some cafes and looked at the menu but decided to not go for the first place we tried. The high street was lovely with lots of different shops that we don’t get back home. It was really full of life too, but not so much so like Amsterdam where it was uncomfortable to walk. There were, however, cycle lanes in the middle of the path which meant you were constantly checking over your shoulder to see whether you were going to get run over or not.
My friends got some chocolate whilst I browsed a record store. The card machine in the chocolate shop didn’t accept UK cards so I had to pay for theirs in cash, using up the last of my reserves. We went in a few more shops and tried to look for somewhere to eat but came up empty-handed; we headed back to the cafes we’d found at the beginning of the day.
It was a really nice café and reminded me of being with Grandma and Grandad. It was nice to have a sit-down meal and a proper menu. I had a tuna melt panini and a diet coke, finally! The others had panini’s too, apart from Benj who had the mixed grill, and Liam who had chicken wings.
After we finished lunch we went to another high street and market. I found a toy/cycle/comic/café and got some comics for Josh. The man was really friendly; we must have spent a good 15 minutes talking. We also looked in a few clothes shops, and Hema, the department store.
Shops had started to close, and it had got dark, so we got the bus back. We went to our local supermarket. I got some presents to take back home and we got dinner; chicken and rice, and breakfast; eggs, bacon, and sausages. They had the same card machine as the chocolate shop and we tried every type of card, (MasterCard/Visa, Credit/Debit) in there and none of them worked so we had to leave someone with the shopping and walk around the corner to the cashpoint, which didn’t even do free withdrawals.
After that palaver, we got home and cooked dinner. We watched Bridesmaids and then played never have I ever before bed.
Sunday
On Sunday we all woke up at normal time and Benj very kindly cooked us breakfast: sausages, eggs, toast, and bacon. That meant we didn’t end up leaving the house until about 2.
Once we got to Amsterdam, Me, Hannah, Liam, and Matt went to Lost in Amsterdam. It was a nice atmosphere but they only accepted cash and everyone in there had to have at least one drink, which wasn’t cheap: a cocktail was €15!! So I had to do another run to a cashpoint, which then charges you, very frustrating. Meanwhile, Benj and Adam went off to do some souvenir shopping. Whilst we were chilling in Lost in Amsterdam Liam broke the news that he proposed to Hannah and she said yes!
We wandered around town for the rest of the afternoon before heading home where we played poker. It was like a better game of Monopoly so I was in my element and I won!
Monday
Me, Benj, and Adam rose early and did the last bit of packing before getting the bus and train into Amsterdam.
We then got yet another train which took us to Brussels. We were met off the train by hundreds of beggars and homeless people, very apt for the capital of the EU. We looked around for somewhere to eat but all of the shops were derelict, building works were everywhere and there were a few big shopping centres that were just left unfinished. We also walked down a street with various cafes on and every single shop owner was begging us to come in, however, they served mostly fish dishes, not what we really wanted and the act of begging put us off.
We eventually found a pizza hut and had a buffet. It was slightly different from the one in the UK in that you could only refill your salad plate once. The service was about the same; terrible.
After that terrible experience, we headed off to Lille, however, we got on the wrong train, a TGV, and had to shell out €90 just for the privilege of being on the train, even though it still went to Lille, which was actually lovely. There was a big shopping centre and me and Benj had great fun going around all the shops whilst Adam had a rest at Burger King.
We got the Eurostar and arrived in London safely.
I did take my camera on holiday but didn’t really feel like taking photos, I preferred to just live in the moment and enjoy it, a first for me. We had a lovely house which really made the experience a lot better, even if it was an hour away from town. It was also lovely to be on holiday with friends, another first.
