After leaving Edinburgh we caught a train to Sheffield to stay with some long time friends. A stay that was far to short. Visiting Graves Park and out to a local pub for dinner, no time and all the time in the world has past since I saw Richard and Pam last. I do hope it is not that long again, maybe they’ll come visit Oz?
The following morning saw an early train back to London, a long wait at St Pancreas station and then a very fast trip on the Eurostar. Under the English Channel to France. A stop in Lillie and then straight to Brussels. We had 30 minutes in Belgium, got some food and ran for our next train. This time our final destination Amsterdam.
After a long day of travelling through 4 countries we were very glad to see our hostel was just a short 5 minute stroll over the river from the train station. Over on the ferry we went and got to our new home for the next few nights. After we settled we went for a stroll. Found a cheese museum with free samples and the tulip museum which we would like to come back to. Exploring the canals and over to the red light district because when in Amsterdam, why not. Although it wasn’t our thing and we went and got waffles.
A full day meant so many opportunities. Our hostel was next to this very big obnoxious building which turned out to be a tourist attraction. So rightly so we stopped in. Up in the disco elevator to the top. Where we learnt that the building was owned by Shell and was up for tender when some electronic music guys won the bid and turned it into a wild tourist party tower including music co-working spaces and nightclubs. My only regret for our whole trip was not going on the swing that went over the edge but my fear of heights is increasing with age. A terrible coffee and a moment of observing the city from high above was a great start to the day.
Declan found a sex museum which was reasonably priced. However, I thought at museums you were supposed to learn something. It did feel more like of a gallery of penises but a bit of fun anyway. We discovered that Amsterdam is big on sculptures, so we went for a bit of a hunt. We saw a lots and walked many streets but it’s a city that felt very same, same after so many canals. We enjoyed a few brews and the Tulip Museum. Tulip season was almost over so we were lucky to see some and learn a little something something along the way. We ran out of day very quickly and headed back to the hostel to enjoy their cheap weekly night of beer tasting. Made some friends and went out to dinner with them. They headed out to the red light district and we got porfijis. I think we win.
We had a 10 am train booked to Cologne so we seized the opportunity to explore a bit more. The search for sculptures worked so well for exploring we found more. Thought we ventured a bit too far and the race back to get our things was exhausting but that was the theme of this day! After we arrived by train to Cologne central station we saw the giant cathedral and walked to our new hostel. It was a decent hike with our backpacks and the humidity was high. The second we stepped into the hostel it bucketed down with rain. It was forecast, however we had not see any rain for the trip so far so it came as a surprise.
Taking a moment to get our breathe and rest our feet we trekked out again- armed with rain jackets. We took the tram this time down to the water we enjoyed the Chocolate Museum. Chocolate tastings improved the mood of the day and the museum itself was incredibly informative. Fitting so much into 1 day gave give a good excuse to head to a recommended German Pub. The continuous beer, which is automatically filled unless you have a coaster on top was a delightful way to end a fairly stressful and challenging day.
Cologne was a stop over instead of doing Amsterdam to Zurich in one day. So early the next morning we were on the train again. Walking towards the tram we saw it pull away. We weren’t concerned as we were pretty early. Waiting at the tram stop nothing came. We checked the timetable again. We should have had two trams by then. Then we checked the public holiday timetable, thanks to a stranger. It was a Wednesday and it was a public holiday. So we had to pivot to make a new plan. I really didn’t want to do the hike again but it was really our only option and we would have to do it quicker then yesterday. So it included much running. I feel in a gutter with my backpack and was a crying, running mess but we made it! I was quite glad to be leaving Cologne, but it wasn’t Cologne’s fault.
This train took us to Basel. We had to transfer. We took the opportunity to see a bit of Basel while we were there. Catching a tram; a very effective transport system. We got some lunch and walked across the three counties bridge. Which boarders Germany, Switzerland and France. So Declan technically went to France too. Grabbing some mediocre ice-cream, we ventured back to the train station. On our way to Zurich where we had an airBnB for 3 nights; our longest stay anywhere since arriving in London. Which will be in the next post.
Stay tuned,
Love the Harps x
Tune in to the Harps 