Sunday, 3 January 2016

Back in the motherland

What a crazily insane few days in Amsterdam. I met some wonderful people who I will definitely stay in contact with! 

Not sure where I ended the last post I think I wrote it on New Years Day! It was quite a slow start on New Years Day as you can imagine. My goal in Amsterdam was to get a bike which is exactly what I did! We got the bus into the centre and found some food because we were ravenous then we found a bike rental place and rented some bikes. Now Dutch people are crazy on their bikes and they are crazy about their bike lanes! It was an experience! Our plan was to ride to the Anne Frank house, we knew we wouldn't be going in but I really wanted to at least be able to say I've seen it. Can I just say for a 21st century citizen reading a map is damn hard! Especially when all the buildings and canals look the same! Needless to say I lead my friends and I to the opposite end of the city and nowhere near the Anne Frank house! Thankfully one of my friends turned on her trusty google maps and we made it there. I was not allowed to lead us anywhere afte riding aimlessly around Amsterdam for a good 49 mins... Oops. After we made it to the Anne Frank house, we were going to meet some other friends at a pancake place so we rode there and met them. There was a massive line to get in and it was nearing 3pm which meant darkness was approaching. We settled on going and getting a Nutella crepe from a nearby store and making our way back to the centre to drop the bikes off. We got back to the hotel and had a bit of a rest because we were going on a canal cruise that night. The cruise was beautiful going through all the canals. It really was the nice side of Amsterdam. 

I definitely saw all sides of Amsterdam and it really let me down. It wasn't what I was expecting and I don't think I'll go back. There were some beautiful parts- the museum district was lovely but overall I can think of many other places that i would feel a lot safer and more comfortable in! 

The next day we got back on the coach ready for the long journey back to London. Some of my friends were staying on in Amsterdam or flying home from there so we said our goodbyes and made our way back. It's amazing how close you can get after only a few days. After some big days and late nights in Amsterdam we were all pretty knack reed so we slept most of the way to Calais and to the ferry. The ferry was horrible! It was so choppy coming into Dover. We had about a 2hr drive from Dover to London and finally made it back at about 7pm. After more goodbyes and promises to keep in touch I made my way to the underground with 2 of my friends. More goodbyes and promises and I was at  Earls Court. Made my way to the hotel, showered, had a packet of chips for dinner and face timed mum and dad and was very happy to be in bed at about 9pm! 

That leads me to today - 3/1/16. The tour left at about 7:45 and stopped in Oxford on the way to Liverpool. I was a bit worried about this tour being all party party because the Amsterdam one was just that and not really my thing. But thankfully the tour manager has said its a much slower tour and more about seeing the sights and less about partying which is great for me! So far I've met a few people - there are maybe 3 kiwis and the rest are Aussies which is good. The group is only 27 people which is a lot smaller than the 120 on the last tour. We just had a quick stop in Oxford and now we're on our way to Liverpool. I'm really
Looking forward to this part of the trip. Yes it's cold and rainy obviously but it's very pretty around here! 

My plans when I get to Liverpool are probably to check out the Beatles museum place because why not right!? 

That's it for now! 

- E
Oxford 




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