Europe '06, Part V: The Saga Finally Ends

I was just realizing that my European adventures ended close to a year ago and I still hadn't finished documenting the final week. So here goes...

After the World Cup, Corey and I felt much more relaxed about time and places. We now only had to be sure to be back in London for our respective flights home. We were also a little tired of moving from city to city, day after day. We decided to pick one place to visit for 3 FULL DAYS. This turned out to be Amsterdam. This was a new city for both of us so there were lots of things to see and places to go. But first we needed to find a place to stay. As soon as we arrived, we called the youth hostels in town and discovered that they were booked for the weekend (DARN, summer break had started already). After having equally bad luck at a couple of hotels, one of the managers suggested that we get out of town a little for a better chance. As I mentioned earlier, this nice Canadian couple in Milan had suggested the town of Haarlem to us. A short 15-minute train ride took us to the quaint little town, complete with a windmill and town square with a little church.

There were only three hotels here, two of which were already full, and the other was (according to one bartender) "pricy"--imagine him rubbing his thumb and finger tips to communicate this to us. Not wanting to spend the night sleeping on a park bench, Corey and I forked over a bunch of euros for one of the few remaining rooms (a suite, none the less). We also decided to stay there for our entire time in the Netherlands, so as not to have to move to a new hotel again, however we were able to down-size to a normal room for the next couple of days. Although a little over budget, it was very nice to have our own bathroom/shower in the room, as well as a TV. For dinner that night I had an authentic pannekoeken at a nearby pub. We then called it an early evening, as Corey came down with a migraine that night--too much stress for one day.

The next couple of days were spent sight-seeing. On our first full day, we took a canal tour around Amsterdam, getting off to see sights such as the Van Gogh Museum (a favorite of Corey's) and the Anne Frank house. The next day we wondered around town and took a tour of the Heineken Museum. We also visited a "coffee house," where I did enjoy some special leaves...tea leaves, what else???

The next morning we had reserved train tickets for Paris. We left the hotel a little early so I could find that windmill for a picture. Unfortunately, the streets in Haarlem are not well marked and we ended up on the complete opposite side of town. Thanks to the help of a dad on an early morning stroll with his son, we made it back to the train station in time for the last train scheduled to get us back to Amsterdam in time for our Paris connection. But for some reason, the train was delayed...then an announcement (in DUTCH) started everyone down the stairs. I was able to ask another gentleman what was going on. He told us that the train was going to be coming on a different track. We eventually started towards Amsterdam (and I took my windmill picture from the train), getting there just in time to RUN to our connection. Seriously, the train doors closed right behind us!!! After the long walk from the back of the train to our seats in the front (we had to travel first class, since coach tickets had been sold out) , we were able to relax in luxury for the next few hours. BTW, first class is the way to travel on a train: very comfortable seats, less crowded, snacks, and meals.

Our trip to Paris had one major purpose...I wanted to climb the Eifel Tower. Corey was nice enough to indulge me this one favor, despite his general dislike of the French. One other thought I had was to return to London via the Chunnel. After our last ticket buying experience in Amsterdam, we wanted to be sure to get tickets ASAP, as we NEEDED to get back to London in the next two days. Again we were told that only first class seating was available, but this time the price difference was 75 euros a piece (opposed to the 12 euros each from Amsterdam to Paris). A little nicotine deprived and frustrated, Corey said in a rather loud voice, "This is why I hate French people!" I counteracted this outburst with a glare in his direction and forcefully, but under my breath, told him to be quiet and let me handle this. I returned to the nice Frenchman at the counter and politely inquired if there might be any seats available from the other Eurostar station in Brussels, Belgium. Thankfully, there were seats available and we were able to purchase them right then in Paris. With tickets in hand and cigarette in mouth, Corey calmed down and we set off to the hostel, for which we had made reservations. A pleasant surprise there was that we were given a double room to ourselves, complete with a shower (but no toilet) in the room.

From the hostel, we walked to the Eifel Tower, passing a number of other Paris landmarks along the way, including Notre Dame Cathedral. After our walk we took it upon ourselves to climb the 668 steps to get to the observation deck of the Eifel tower. Mission accomplished!!!

As it was getting late (and dark) we decided to take the underground back to the hostel. This particular subway experience gave us a bit af a shock. There was this group of rowdy (probably too much wine) guys dressed in pink blowing whistles over and over. (Major echoing on top of it all, too.) While we made sure to get in a different car than them, at the next stop, they jumped into ours. A young man near the door tried to keep them out, which only made the situation worse--the whole group started beating him up right in front of us. Some girls on the train finally said something to them (in French, so I have no idea what it was) and they stopped and got off at the next stop, still blowing those whistles!!! The poor guy had a bloody nose and I felt so bad that I couldn't say anything supportive or comforting to him. Corey and I were a little shaken after that and returned to the safety of our hostel for the night.

The next day we back-tracked a little on the train to get to Brussels. We didn't have enough time to do any sight seeing, but did try to spend most of our euros there at the train station (last chance before returning to the Pound-based England). I ended up with a lot of Belgian chocolate and Corey introduced me to the Belgian beer, Chimay. After a little train ride, which included 20-some minutes under the English channel, we were finally back in London. We had dinner at a sushi bar near St. Paul's and took a stroll along the Thames, our last night together in Europe. The next morning I would take Corey to Victoria Station where he would catch an express train to Gatwick and from there return to Louisville.

I was slated to remain in London for a couple more days. In that time I saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace,

toured some local Beatles landmarks (including Abbey Road--that's me second from right),

visited the National Art Gallery, got lost trying to find #10 Downey Street, attended The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre (the original theatre for this show),

and "queued up" to get into Wimbledon (where I was given someone's ticket to Court 2 and got to see Marat Safin play).

WOW! What a trip! Did I really see/do all of this in less than a month??? Has it really been a whole year since I've been back??? When do I get to go again!!!! Anybody interested in a tour guide???