AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
24th April 2002 to 26th April 2002
Dramas in Amsterdam...
In Amsterdam...have Kat's daypack now to carry, as mine got stolen on the train ;(
well boys and girls... I am sitting at a French Internet Cafe with a French Keyboard... yea right...
You know they say the French don't like the English very much? well I'm sure they change all the letters on the keyboard just to confuse English, Ozies and American users. NOTHING is where it's supposed to be::: darn!... see what I mean?
Well, we arrived in Amsterdam on the 24 April, Wednesday, around 5pm. The airport was amazing, probably one of the nicest airports that I have been to. It had chocolates everywhere:)
Tulip fields as we fly into Schipol airport in Amsterdam
We immediately jumped onto the train from Schipol airport to get to Amsterdam Centraal. As we are lugging around backpacks, it is easier for us to stand in the passageway near the entrance, rather than find a seat. Imagine the looks we get when we punch people in the shnozz with our packs... not very impressed.. trust me. So we avoid it all and just stand in the corner.
Rob and I were talking about how cool and relaxed everything felt in Amsterdam, in fact.... Amsterdam was on our list of highest priorities! "Woooooooo Ho... can't wait for Amsterdam!"
We had 2 stops before we had to get off, as we got to a station called Lelyland, this group of kids jumped on and started asking Rob if this was the way to the airport. Rob, being as sweet as he is, turned around and started telling them that the airport was in the opposite direction etc etc.... before you could say "howzaat" they all jumped off, almost getting caught in the train door. Rob felt quite good, thinking that he had done a good deed, when this guy asked him if anything of his was missing? At first Rob said no, then realised that his daypack was no longer at his feet but out the door with the young gentleman and his friends!
We were helpless to do anything as the train had already started moving, we had to wait until we stopped at Centraal and then went to the police station to make a report. Luckily, Rob was only carrying some basic stuff and not our passports and money, otherwise it would have been disastrous. Rob, the hero, decided to go back to the station ( were we had been robbed) to see if he could recover some of our stuff. All our photo reels of England and Scotland as well as our travel journal were in there.
When he arrived, he found gangs of these kids still hanging around, so he wisely decided to let it go and come back to the police station where he had left me. Afterwards, he told me that he had NEVER been so scared in his whole life before. There were very few people at that station, just a dozen young thieves and he had to wait for 25 minutes till his train arrived. He stood there in amazement and watched them jump on and off each train as it pulled up, grabbing anything they could, and nobody doing anything about it! I'm sure he wished he was Van-Damme or so someone:)
Anyway, that definitely put a damper on things and we have definitely become a lot more paranoid and safety conscious. It made us realise that we weren't in good ole Oz and that pickpockets were rampant in Europe. In Amsterdam, we where approached by dozens of people trying to either sell us stuff, like cocaine, gold and stuff or hovering around us with a lecherous look in their eyes.
Rob especially, has become a lot more safety conscious, never leaving anything not attached to something anymore.
Can you believe that these thieves actually jump on the train a stop before, look for easy pickings from the luggage rail on top of your head, take it and jump off. While I was waiting at the police station for Rob, there must have been at least 10 people who had had something taken from them in this manner.
We have now resolved ourselves to tying our luggage TO the luggage rack, lets see them take that!!!!! whilst Rob stands over it eagle-eyed!!!!go rob!!!!!!!!!!!!
As for Amsterdam, we finally got out of the police station (who couldn't do anything about it) and found a hotel room around 8pm and had an early night.
The next day was spent trying to find replacement stuff for everything we had lost, especially plugs that convert Ozie plugs to European::: no luck! managed to find a Lonely Planet Europe guide book in English though which was good. We then resolved ourselves to get pissed and drown our sorrows. Went to the Heineken museum! Excellent tour.... lotsa free beer and very friendly bar tenders who kept those glasses full! that's it......things are a bit hazy from there onwards (meaning only our close friends know the rest of the trip hehe)
Rob trying to play the drums at the Heineken Tour
see you guys in gay Paree