I know I haven’t been updateing lately.  This is mostly due to the fact that I have not had much time to do anything.

So here’s a general update…

It’s my last day of work!!!!

Today will be several going away times at each of my work settings, and I have made flax baskets for them.  I have to admit, the last three that I made are much better than the first two. I got the hang of it now.

Tonight I will be accompanied by the other Early Years Teachers and say farewell at a place called Giraffe.  I have no idea where it is. I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find though.

Tomorrow we have our farewell party at our place, where about 10 guests are coming (thanks guys).

Sunday I will have afternoon tea with one of my work colleagues, followed by her daughter (out landlady) coming to show tennants through the apartment. Great, so that means it has to be clean *sigh*

Our boxes for packing have arrived, and we are slowly starting to pack. Our apartment is starting to look bare already, and we’ve only packed 1 box full, and 2 half full so far.  We haven’t tackled the bedroom yet though.

I leave on Thursday at 10:15pm (or something like that) from Heathrow, and I fly Bankok, Sydney, Wellington. I think.  No stopping – we don’t have enough money for that. I get in at 2pm on Saturday.  Amber and Kylie are going to be meeting me at the airport, then I will go to Ants’s Mum’s for a little while, then I suspect I will crash and sleep.  Dinner will be Hell’s pizza followed by a few drinks in town. Anyone in Welly that night, I expect you’ll be out to say hello.  Have no idea where yet, suggestions are always welcome   I intend to make use of my backwards bodyclock.

After Sunday I will go to Palmy North for the night, and on Monday my parents will pick me up on their way home from Napier.  The following weekend, I will be in New Plymouth for a few drinks and catch up, so all those in the Naki, I expect you to come out and say hello.

Then I will be back in Wellington to meet Anthony, and it will be his 31st birthday that weekend.

Ants will leave London the Wednesday after I leave, and treck through to Gencon Indy – his thing that he wants to do at least once in his life, then He gets flys into Welly on the 19th August at 10am. I suspect it will be home to his mothers after that, and sleeps for him.

I am going to be applying for a job in Rotorua as a maternity cover manager.  I’m really excited about this post, as my friend works with the manager and told me about it. It couldn’t have come at a better time either.  I do have to sit down and do my CV however – that takes time.  The plan is that I will live with said friend for the 4-6 months left (the jobs been advertised for at least 2 months or so now, and they have not had good applicants) and I suspect Ants will live at his mothers.  Living at home and saving will hopefully be awesome enough we can save that money we wanted for house and wedding! Living in Rotorua for a little while will be great too, because I will be able to go up and see my brothers in some of the weekends, and visit my little niece that I haven’t met.

So, that’s our plans in a box.

Current Mood: chipper

Ants and I are dog-sitting for our South African friends Nelia and Danie. They’ve got a nice wee garden, and their apartment is small, but big enough. Their dogs are Miniature Schnauzers and are super cute, super cuddly, and super energetic. They’re both such good dogs (sisters from the same litter) and loving as well.  Think I’s in love

In other news, Ants and I have our tickets booked. I fly into Wellington 2pm, 8th Aug. I will stay at Ambers overnight, (well over day as I sleep) and probably go out on that night. On Sunday I have to find someway up to Taranaki to my parents place. Not quite sure how to go about that just yet. Need to speak to them.  Then I’ll be in the Naki until Ants gets home.  Then it will be hunting for flats/houses/ whatever comes our way!

So, party on that Saturday the 8th in Welly yeah?

Current Mood: bouncy

Current obsession: greenery
Current weather: about 13°c, overcast and slight rain

So my morning started like this:
Stress

Then it continued like this:
Pack, pack, get frustrated, then pack some more.

Then the taxi came, and I said farewell to Ants (5:1oam), who had unselfishly stayed up all night while I slept so he could be sure that I woke up when my alarm went off (3:50am).

It only took a 20mins to get to St. Pancras, which was very helpful, as I didn’t have to stress about running to catch a train… which was late btw – by 5 mins.  This made me stress a little, as it was meant to be a 4o min journey, and I still had to catch a shuttle bus at the other end to the actual airport (Luton).  Turns out, that was all fine.  I did have to sit by a very alcohol/smoke smelling guy who was on his way home from the night before though.  With little sleep, that made *me* feel hungover! Thankfully I had a starbucks soya hot chocolate and sudoku to keep me company.

The train driver made up his time, which was very nice of him.  There were many people on the train making their way home from the night before though… all dressed up and falling asleep.

I made the boarding call with 15 mins to spare, and made my way to the queue for my Wizzair flight to Budapest.  Seating was strange… we could sit where we wanted. I’m not sure if I like that idea. If the plane went down, and there is no manifest of who was sitting where, that’s one less way of identifying the body. On the otherhand it was good because I could sit in the isle – which twitchy me likes

Sleep and sudoku were my agenda for the flight, and it wasn’t long until we landed. Budapest is still in the conversion stage of using Euro’s which was annoying because I had Euros. So I had to convert some so I could find my way to town.  This was a challenge because the foriegn currency exchange girl didn’t speak English. How silly is that? English is a trade language… you are in an international airport… spot the difficulty here?

The information guy was helpful though, thankfully, because the airport shuttle girl was in a right strop. I think it’s because I didn’t purchase a hop-on-hop-off tour from her, and I pulled her up for charging me 5000ft (Hungarian money is Ft), instead of 4990Ft.  I did get a return shuttle journey though which is valid 24/7, which means when I leave I don’t have to spend the night in the airport (as was originally planned).

The Grand Hostel is really nice though. it’s clean, friendly, has character, and is really pleasent. It also has internet which is always helpful. This is my room, you can see all my junk in the corner there:

After settling in, and reinstating my msn on the computer (Ants-with-way-too-much-time-on-his-hands has been using it, so I thought I better put my account on it… add me) I went for a wander to find some food.

I managed to find an ATM, and also a fruit and veg stall. And a MickyD’s (seeing as I hadn’t eaten since 4:30am).  I also managed to find a mini-mart of sorts.  I need to get some correction tape/white-out/twink (whatever you like to call it) and fix up my application for the job I’m supposed to be applying for.  I found something that I thought was it, but couldn’t be sure. In the mean time, the manager saw me ‘lurking’ so as I left and didn’t buy anything he came racing out after me and gestured that I’d stolen the bananas in my bag. The funny thing is, I didn’t even see any bananas in the store! Thankfully their was a recipt in the bag, so instead of gesturing wildly that I brought them from the market up the road, I held the reciept up. Win.

Wandering back, I took in all the greenery and smells. The suburb I’m in is so peaceful, and calming, even with the traffic racing, and the trams rolling past. I also came across some lovely drops of rain that had collected in the pine trees.

I also noticed how the buildings seem to hide in behind the trees, giving the illusion that you’re much more isolated than you actually are.

yes, there is a house in there

Once back at the hostel, I took advantage of the garden and my free welcome drink – a large Jimmies and Coke. mmm… and sat and read, and did sodoku until it really got too cold to do so.

Course tomorrow.  It should only take me about 1/2 hour to walk to the insitiute which is good. I have a funny feeling it’s all uphill as well, which means fitness for me! I might go back to London skinny!

Two weeks until we decide whether we’re going back to NZ or not. Ants has to have a job or be starting a job asap in two weeks or we’re going home in August. Big decisions.

Current Mood: lethargic

Weather: overcast
Current Obsession: Cabin Favourites

Dad and I left the house to get the car around 8:30am.  We didn’t get the car until 9:30am. That was a long trip in itself.  After finally picking up the VW Passat (manual) we used the GPS to get back to our place.  That also took us a bit because it wanted to put us onto the motorway, and Dad wasn’t quite ready to be on the motorway just yet.

We finally left around 11:30am, and started our long trip out of London.  There really isn’t any easy way to get out of London.  They should build more underground tunnels to get the traffic through more easily.  Funnily enough we nearly went past my cousin Keith’s place, so I got to show my parents approximately where he lives.

Just out of London around 1:00pm we stopped at a service break for lunch. Of course being a roadside café place, it cost more than it should. *sigh*

The trip out to Liverpool was fairly uneventful, except for the M6 (one of the major motorways that we could take to Liverpool) was chokka block full of traffic, delays and crashes. Luckily the handy-dandy GPS gave us an alternate route, but was also a longer one (had the M6 been clear).

We switched on the radio at one stage, and there was a 1960s countdown; a repeat play of a week in the charts. Mum was surprised at how many songs she didn’t know, but that was because she’d left England when all of these songs came out, and they didn’t make it to New Zealand.  She reminisced how her and Nana would have the radio going at their holiday batch, and they would call their favourite songs ‘cabin favourites’.

We stopped at a wee pub about a half hour out of Liverpool to have a coffee (and surprisingly a soya hot chocolate) and a stretch. We also go to see the highlights of the Bulls vs Crusaders game.  Weird.

Then it was off into Liverpool, and no accommodation, so we had to do the best we could do.  The GPS didn’t know about recent road changes (we hadn’t updated the maps before we left) so it was trying to tell us to go down bus lanes and one-ways and such.  Not helpful with a tired, anxious driver.

Accommodation was scarce because of it being a bank holiday, and there is a major soccer (football) match on in town tomorrow.  This left us scrounging for whatever we could get, and me saying ‘I told you we should have booked’ to my parents. Ha, I got to say ‘I told you so’.  So we stayed at the Adelphi for £85 for three people.  Not too bad, except I had a minger camp stretcher.

After getting locked in the city council parking building, we wandered around the town and found ‘Bella Italia’ to eat for dinner – £40 for the three of us, which (again) was pretty good.  I haven’t had pasta in a long time.  Mmm nom nom nom.

After dinner we wandered around town, and I took some photos.

So while it was our last day today, Anthony and I made up rules for a drinking game in Athens.  Those who have been, feel free to comment and add.  Those who are yet to go, keep an eye out

Rules
1) must be done with Ouzo, found in supermarkets
2) must be done with friends so you can have more fun!!

1 drink when…

• every time you see the Acropolis
• you randomly stumble upon ancient ruins
• someone makes kissy, winky, whistly gestures at you (most likely to happen to girls)
  • 2 drinks if the come-on is stalkerish
  • consume if they talk to you
• you see a wild turtle
• you see a dog hanging out in the sun
• you see a cat hanging out in the sun
• you see illegal stalls of bags, belts, wallets, umbrellas, other bits and pieces
  • 2 drinks if you see them running from the police
  • consume if they are running en mass, and/or the police chase them on their bikes
• you get pressed by someone to purchase their goods
  • consume if you are pressured so much you actually purchase
• you walk past a gyros/souvlaki takeaway
  • 2 drinks if you have a meal there
  • consume if you have more than one meal there
• you spot a local wearing jackets in 25°c (77°F) heat
  • two drinks if they’re wearing a bumbag (waist pack/fanny pack)
  • two drinks if they’re wearing a matching tracksuit outfit
  • consume if they’re wearing both
• you see someone smoking in a weird place (i.e. behind the cash register)

2 drinks when…

• a store keeper touches your body (without permission) to get you into their store (i.e. pinches your arm/cheek, shakes hands, rubs your head)
  • consume if you go inside
• you get told off by a storekeeper or street seller for not purchasing a product
  • consume if you then purchase something
• you almost get run over by a bike, moped, two or three wheeled vehicle of any sort
  • consume if you had right of way
• you put your toilet tissue down the toilet by accident
• you see a person actively selling cigarettes (i.e. they have on the t’shirt and everything)
• you get told off or whistled at by attendants at archaeological sites.

Current Mood: cheerful

Current Obsession: mmmm Summer
Weather: 22°c

We were up early (6:15am) this morning after taking far too long to pack our bags last night.  We trained to Stansted, and our plane left on time at 10:20am.  It was a 3hr 20min flight, having us arrive at 3:40pm in Athens, Greece… ahead 2 hours from London time.

Mountains in one of the countries we flew over

Our first hurdle was getting through the smoking area which is right outside the gate as you exit the plane.  The second hurdle was getting into town from the airport as the metro was not working. A kind information lady showed us the route though, and we were on a bus which took us 50 mins to get to town before a change onto the metro.  It was lovely to see the outskirts of Athens.  It seemed very Spanish influenced with the sandy coloured houses and tiles.

We are staying at the Hotel Zeus (aka backpackers) for €11 each per night. Fantastic price, and the room was relatively nice for a mixed dorm with 2x bunk beds in it. We are going to be sharing with lots of randoms over the next 7 days.

We had a wander around the neighbouring streets, or first task to collect food from the local supermarket in the way of fruits (banana’s and apples) and other easy-to carry food (nuts and dried fruit) and local foods we’d want to try (namely chocolate and sweet almond bread with died eggs in it – in preparation for Easter), and a 2 cans of local beer and 2 cans of Amstel in hopes of getting fish and chips and eating them on a beach some where.  The fun part happened when Ants hadn’t put a barcode on the bananas, and he had to run back, match the letters to make sure he had the right thing, while I waited at the checkout and the checkout lady (in her 40s+) bitched and moaned to other waiting customers about our predicament.  I didn’t need to understand her language because she was gesturing enough for me to understand what she was saying.

Back at the Zeus we sampled our goodies.

mmm, foreign chocolate

Sweet almond bread – note the egg = a real egg that’s been dyed

After goodie tasting we wandered down to Monastiraki Square – the main tourist spot in town.

There were some wonderful knick-knack shops, lots of lovely bags and clothes.  We stopped at Nick’s Corner as I oogled at the bags *sigh* they were lovely.  We chatted to ‘Nick’ for a while, and found out that although it was Easter in London, the week after was Easter in Greece. Bonus for us because we didn’t have to plan around closed shops and such.

a market street

Monastiraki square with the Accropolis in the background

I’m very excited about how good a zoom my new camera has!

Dinner was souvlaki aka a pita bread with salad, chips and kebab meat which was really nice.

Later an ice-cream from a place called the Ice Grill.

Pruudy ice-creams

I had banana carmel + cinnamon apple, and Ants had baklava + triamasu.  They also sold souvlaki for €2 each, and they looked bigger and better than what we had at the other place, so we’ll try there again tomorrow.

We saw the Acropolis from afar.

Also quite a few dogs wandering around; they all had owners and were tame, just they were wandering around… and shagging. And we also saw lots of people trying to sell touristy stuff – purses and these funny little ball things which flattened when thrown onto the ground, and slowly shlooped back into shape. Weird.

It was getting late by this stage, so went back to Zeus.  There was no rec-room as it was being done up. This was disappointing because ther was no where to hang out except our room.  There was also very limited and useless wireless.  It’s in a very good location though to all the toursity bits and pieces so that does make it very handy.

My Ampony brought me…..
tights to warm my freezing legs and feet….

Erik and Giffy morning moles

Our night’s sleep was absolutely horrible. The room was freezing, and even thought I had on jarmies and jumpers, Ants and I just were not warm enough. In the middle of the night I got up to go loo, and Ants asked me whether I was freezing. I grabbed my throw and hopped into the single bunk bed with him. Much warmer, no better sleep. So this morning we woke cold and tired, and having a bit of the flu didn’t help either.

The first thing on the agenda was breakfast curtsey of the Jordaan markets (pronounced Yor-daan). So that was the direction we headed.

It’s that way -> Erik…

Ampy, Giffy and Erik wandering down the streets of Amsterdam

House boat with greenery

There were two markets located fairly close together. We stumbled upon the smaller one first, and had a yummy bread scroll for breakfast. It had two different types of bread in it, as well as tomatoes, and herbs. It was a little expensive at ‚¬6 though.

We carried on up to the other set of markets which was set up over one long street. Of course we landed smack in the middle and had to choose which way to go. Turning left, we wandered and wandered. We came across a stall selling tights, stockings and socks, so freezing Heidi brought two pairs of tights (one black, one grey) to try make life easier. We also came across dried fruit (which Erik brought) and salty licorice (Ants and Giffy).

Ampy and Giffy choosing salty licorice

We carried on hunting and exploring the stands until we were so cold that it was time for a hot chocolate.

In the nice warm cafe/bar we warmed ourselves on hot chocolate (thanks E+G, I forgot to thank you lol) and I put on my tights. Mmmm warm.

The cafe

Once we had un-frosted, we plunged back into the cold, and wandered back down the market. Earlier Giffy had brought some Stroopwafles (syrup waffles) and we’d seen some fresh ones being made. We past that stall again, and I just had to get a fresh one. It was so so good.

Nom nom nom…

We were a bit frozed, too late to go on the free walking tour, and E&G needed to do some laundry, so we went back to our room where I got to have a snooze by stealing Giffy’s sleeping bag. Mmm warm.

Our room

Finally it was time to get wriggling, and meet at Dam Square for the Free Walking Tour.

I tell you, this was the best ‚¬0 I’ve ever spent. Actually, we ended up spending ‚¬5 each because she was pretty good, and she worked off tips.

Our Tour guide

We started in Dam Square, (panorama of Dam Square here) where our guide started with a brief overview of Amsterdam history. We also had to practise our “boo’s” because apparently the locals like to yell out “she’s lying!” and “don’t believe her” as a joke. There were only a couple of locals that stopped and listened, and we thought they were going to say something, but they didn’t.

Our first stop point was an area of the Red Light District where we talked about how sailors used to frequent here. (a bit of history here) They built a church right in the middle of it, so that sailors could come ashore, have their way with the women, then repent to God in one easy step. One-stop-shop for sinning and forgiveness.

Not far from the Old Church (Oude Kerk), somebody put this anonymous statue in the pavement, which seemed to be a part of a series of anonymous statues that were erected around Amsterdam. An anonymous prostitute women with an anonymous hand, and a lock. At first the council pulled it out, because they didn’t like somebody redesigning the streets without permission, but the locals lobbied, and they got their statue back.

Of course Ants had to join in lol

Oude Kerk

Also around town were a lot of urinals… they generally looked like this:

And here is a little write up about it

The next stories we were told were about the houses. Houses were built on wooden piles, driven into the reclaimed swamp land. Much like the Leaning tower of Piza, many of these houses too are leaning, and sometimes crashing into each other. Because of the cost of this, the government decided that they would do the foundations of the houses to ensure quality, and people were taxed on how wide their house was. So people built their houses narrow and long. They also had decorations and carvings on the front or tops of the houses. These were orginally used instead of street names, and the decorations would symbolise a significant story or event in the history of the family that lived there.

Because of the narrowness of the houses, and the staircases inside of them, it was also impossible to shift furniture. Also basements are usually out of the question for storage because that’s where the water is (and it often seeps in). So winches were put on the tops of houses so that items could be moved around the house through the windows. Originally the houses were built with a lean at the top so that when shifting furniture they wouldn’t knock into the house. Later it was realised that if you made the pole a bit longer, this wouldn’t happen. Nowadays the façade at the front of the house protected, but you can completely rebuild the house behind it.

Catholic Church

Hidden Catholic Church – Amstelkring Museum

An interesting thing that we talked about was how those cheeky Catholics practised their religion even though Kings and laws said that Catholicism was not allowed. Because Amsterdam has a history of being very tolerant of differences (e.g. prostitution, Jews, etc) the local government kinda said “Oh, well you’re not allowed to practise, but if you do be very quiet and discrete, and the houses don’t look like Churches then it’s okay. Give us no reason to arrest you and we won’t bother you”. So the guy who owned this house turned the top floors into a church. Wouldn’t know it from the outside would you?

Criers Tower was once upon a time, the tower that used to be the last thing that the sailors would see when they were off on their ships. So the wives and family of the sailors would go to this tower to see the ship off, crying as the ship went over the horizon.

The Waag or Weigh house was were the sailors would get paid. Later when the square was filled in more, the Waag was a place for guilds to meet. Notibly the Window Makers guild, were people would demostrate their ability to put in a window in one of the towers. Those that were not successful were boarded up.

The surgeons guild was also here, as were public hangings. Those bodies that were hung were taken inside to be dissected. Rembrandt also came here to see the hangings, for he lived a little way up the road.

Sorry this picture isn’t so great

This is a photo of the Jewish quarter. During the Coldest Winter that Amsterdam had seen, the Jewish quarter (which still did not have anybody living there after WWII) was torn apart by the Dutch to fuel their fires. A few decades later it was decided to rebuild the Jewish quarter, and as our tour guide said, it was rebuilt to McDonald’s standards (lots of yellow and really out there colours). Because of the modern architecture, everybody wanted to live there!

Random pretty bridge

This is a photo of the Tripp Family home (Trippenhuis). Two brothers made their wealth from making cannons. You can just make out a design of two cannons facing inwards as a testomony to where their wealth came from. You can see by the width of the house (have to pay more taxes) and large decorations that this family were incredibly wealthy. It’s rumoured they were so wealthy, that they built their coachman a house right across the canal. Apparently the coachman said “I’d be happy to have a house as wide as the Tripp’s front door” so that’s what the Tripp’s did!

The Spin House. This is where prostitutes were taken for ‘punishment’ for their crimes. They were locked in for several days, told to spin, or they were whipped. This became a weekend outing for families, where parents would take their children and tell them not to become a prostitute otherwise they’d end up in the spin house.

It’s us, cold and in Amsterdam

The top was designed by Hendrick de Keyser – a Dutch archetiect who did much work around the city.

It was around here that Anthony and I got separated from the group. Unbeknownst to us, they had gone into a mall type place called “La Place” and we had not. Grrr! Luckily we were able to text Giffy and she told us where they were. We lost out on our lunch break though, so we had to purchase something to go. I really wanted some tomato soup, but we didn’t have time for that, so I got a quiche, and was looking forward to it, when it turned out to be fish. Not impressed! Ants swapped me for his muffin that he brought, but that wasn’t what I wanted, so I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. Luckly the few bites of food that I had was enough to stop my tummy from hurting too much. Part of the reason we got lost were the crowds. I stopped to take a picture, but had Anthony in my sights. He turned around to find me, and he lost the people a head of him. Oh well, it all turned out in the end.

The men’s prison, where people were forced to work, otherwise they would die (they soon stopped that, because they felt bad).

The next stop was Begijnhof, a very spiritual place where women of faith can live (waiting list is 5 years). While this area is open to the public, they don’t approve of tour groups going through, so there was not much talking amongst the group, and our tour guide hurried through so we wouldn’t get in trouble.

The Oldest House in Amsterdam

As we carried on our tour, night fell, and so did the number of people on our tour. It was a shame really because we started out with 20-30+ people, and by the end there were only about 10-20 people. For a girl working off tips, that could be hard. The tour did run overtime by about half an hour, and it was very dark by the time we stopped at the Anne Frank house. On the way to Anne Frank house, we went through a free part of a museum, and saw a bunch of militia paintings (before Night Watch was painted). We also past the narrowest house, which is occupied by people who are 1.8m tall! They are taller than the building is wide!

The door with the wreath around it is the door to the narrowest house.

After our tour, we headed back to the room for a quick change of clothes, and then out to dinner. We were recommended this lovely restaurant named Oud Holland.

The restraunt was funny looking. It seemed like the original building was once-upon-a-time given a veranda, then there were sides added, and they thought ‘oh well, we might as well put on permanent sides and make a new entrance way’. While here we had snuggles with a kitty (I realised how much I miss Elvis) and talked to the owner about a leek dish that Anthony’s father used to make that he really enjoyed. They weren’t sure what the dish was though, so the hunt continues.

Current Mood: cold & envious & exanimate

I was an excited rush when I left work today. The children looked at me strangly as I danced around the room. I was home by 2:50pm, and Ants and I had left home by 3:15pm, right on time.

Because of Ants’s bad back, I had to carry all the luggage (well one wheely-bag, and one day bag with the laptop in it) but I didn’t mind because we were going to AMSTERDAM!

We arrived with plenty of time to check in and relax… or so we thought. Check in did not go smoothly, and we found out that our KLM flight had been cancelled. GAR!! Then we spent half an hour of waiting in line with a very very slow lady rebooking peoples tickets. Finally we were booked on a British Airways flight that had been delayed from a 4:40pm take off to 5:50pm. Great, only 20 mins wait.

So we go to checkin with British Airways. Another 20 mins and we find that there are about 10 or so people in line that are in the same prediciment as us, and had been booked on the same BA flight. We get near the front of the line, and find that the flight had left, as schedualed at 4:40pm. It was now nearing 5:00pm. Not happy at all. The American in front of us (who we overheard – how we knew that our flight was stuffed up) was told to go back to KLM ticketing and get our flights rebooked. He said “there is no way that I am waiting in that line for another half an hour”.
We chipped in and said “We’re supposed to be on that flight as well, we’re not leaving this line until something is done”.
Then we see the other 3 people who were ahead of the American guy, and a bunch of others in the line all chipped in as well. BA had a mission on their hands, and we were not leaving the line until it was solved. One of the customers started yelling at the ticketing agents, and they jumped up for security straight away. 5 mins later security wandered along with their huge massive guns. They were heavily armed, and that scared me a bit. What if one of them had a meltdown? Or an epileptic fit or something? That would be scary.

Anyway, BA took all of our tickets and re-booked them – taking about half an hour in the process, and we were booked on a flight leaving 6:45pm. Then the flight was delayed, before we even got our ticket, leaving 7:45pm. Gar. So much for having dinner in Amsterdam. Oh well, at least we were booked. And we got £10 of dinner vouchers, so we went through customs and had Nachos for dinner.

Finally our flight was called, for boarding at 8:00pm or something, then it took forever for them to get us boarded. Finally we were off, and wheels up about 8:20pm. The flight was surprisingly short – only 40mins. Was quicker than going from Wellington to Auckland. All that hassle for a 40min flight. Ants and I just don’t have luck for flying. I’m glad we’re going to be going to Paris at Christmas time by train.

The light meal on the plane was a chicken wrap. I very much enjoyed it. I also enjoyed watching the lights passing underneath me, and seeing how amazingly bright some of them were.

We landed at Schiphol aiport, and then there was a half hour taxi to the terminal. Bloody hell what a mission. I found out later that there are 6 runways at Schiphol, and they are all quite far apart from each other because of it being added to lots.

At least there were signs, and many of them in English. I had worried about how we were going to get around without knowing any Dutch. In the terminal there were also these two guys:

Catching the train to Amsterdam was easy, and only 15mins. Nice smooth ride – it reminded me of the Amtrak in USA.

Anthony happy he’s on the train to Amsterdam

And finally we were there at Amsterdam Centraal. We walked out the wrong way, and ended up near the harbour lol. Turning around, we went back through the station, and we were out in the fareezing Amsterdam air. The first thing that struck me was the bikes. Now I knew there were a lot of bikes in A’dam, but I didn’t know there were that many!! There they were, all piled up and chained to the railings. What a weird site.

We went straight to the hostel Aivengo Youth Hostel which we’d booked through hostelworld – a website well worth looking at, no matter what part of the world you’re going to.

The hostel wasn’t far from the station, but the weird thing was, our room was away from the hostel! Our room was in a little alley way about 2 mins walk from the main building. Talk about weird. But nice, because it kind of felt like we had a little apartment of our own in A’dam.

Little alleyway by our room

Erik and Giffy were waiting for us, and it was so so good to see them again.

The room was large, with 2x sets of bunk beds (which I was sad for, because I thought we got 2x double beds, but oh well). It was cold in the room too which wasn’t so nice. On the website, we were told that we would get linen and towels. The linen consisted of a bottom sheet and a throw. That I was not impressed with, because we would have scavanged up some sleeping bags if we’d known. It was 11:00pm A’dam time, by the time we got to the hostel and sorted ourselves out. It was also too cold to go out (at the moment) so chatted and went to sleep. I was disappointed that we didn’t get in at the time we were supposed to, because we missed out on a night out in A’dam. Dumb stupid flights.

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For the interested

Netherlands

Amsterdam

Current Mood: annoyed & cold

Ants and I were invited out with Gareth and Janyo today to have lunch at the Brick Lane markets. Read more…

Current Mood: cheerful & horny

Travel: Tempe ““ Bell Rock – Sedona ““ Grand Canyon
Weather: Windy and Rainy

Ants and I nearly missed our bus this morning because we had to re-pack our suitcases to make everything fit. It`s amazing how much of a jigsaw puzzle it is, and if you put just one thing in wrong, it all doesn`t fit. Dumb suitcases. At least we weren`t as bad as Nathan who wound up at a house party last night, and got so drunk he missplaced his passport and couldn’t find it this morning. Read more…

Current Mood: cold & cold