Our adventure battery is full. Today we add trains to the list of things we’ve unexpectedly disembark. En route to Cologne from Amsterdam our train stopped on the tracks. The culprit was an electrical problem on the line. To conserve power, the blinds and door opened and everything else turned off. We were lucky in the sense that the train stopped not too far from a platform somewhere in between our two destinations which allowed us to enjoy the fresh air while waiting.
Although the delay was a slight inconvenience, it was a great opportunity to meet other travelers and locals. I walked up and down the carriages, stood on the platform, hung out by the door, ate almost an entire bag of Haribo gummy bears and foraged blackberries on the side of the tracks. After a few hours of waiting around and realizing the train was not going to take us forward, we de-trained walked to the other side of the tracks and waited for another train to come by to pick us up. Luckily we didn’t have to wait very long and quickly got out of the rain. We’ve made it to Cologne!
In Amsterdam, we spent a lot of time exploring the city and very little time sightseeing.
We arrived on Thursday morning and since we were a day late, we got to check in immediately to our room (win!!!). After dropping our bags off and showering, we proceeded to walk around a bit before making our way to the ServiceNow office to have dinner with Ana, a close colleague and friend of mine. It was so exciting to give her a hug and be in her presence.
On the tram ride home, we learned of Queen Elizabeth’s passing. We emerged from the metro and quietly strolled the canals processing the news. We came back to our hotel room, turned on BBC and went to bed early that evening.
On Friday, I woke up extra early. The smell of freshly baked pastries lured me out of bed at 5:30am. Yes, 5:30am with no alarms. The baker was surprised to see me and gave me a chocolate croissant after I shared how the smell reminded me of the time I worked as a baker. Already up, I decided to go on a walk afterwards to watch the sunrise. The air was crisp and there was hardly anyone out. It was fun to see the city wake up: to see people walk their dogs, set up shop, run to the trams, pedal to work, cycle their kids to school.
After my morning walk, I returned to the hotel to find Chris working. Shortly after, we headed out for the day. We did what we do best when traveling…walk! We’re getting over 16,000 steps a day! That’s 8-10x movement at home. We stopped for coffee, stroopwafels and sandwiches. For dinner, we tried a delicious seafood restaurant that was recommended to us. We had a bottle of champagne, oysters and mussels. The light meal was much needed to balance out all the calories we consumed during the day.
After dinner, we met up with Katharine & Kevin, my high school friends, who were also in town visiting family from New York. Here’s some fun background…Amsterdam was the last city Katharine, I and 3 others visited on our European backpacking trip before leaving for college. Kevin was also backpacking in Europe, but with a different group and our groups convened in Munich. Insert stories of 18 yr olds visiting Europe without parental supervision here. We had a blast catching up. I don’t get to see them as frequently anymore so being able to catch them at the start of this adventure in Amsterdam was extra special. Funny how everything in the Universe aligned for us to connect.
I enjoyed Amsterdam and look forward to my next visit. I left the city feeling inspired by the bikes and how effective they are at hauling things and people around.
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