3rd July - London to Brussels, Brussels to Amsterdam
this morning we got up at 4.45am. naturally i didn't sleep as well as i ought to have, but i was excited. the eurostar journey went relatively quickly, as claire and i planned what we may be doing from city to city. before we knew it we were off the train and in brussels! okay, so all we saw of brussels was the train station, as we then left for amsterdam. however, i managed to speak a little french getting redbulls and marlboro lights in the newsagents - very belgian, i know. we started drinking around ten... it was heineken though, originally brewed in amsterdam, so that was alright. looking out of the train window, the land is so surreally flat. i've seen so many people walking their little dogs, and the expanse of the country planes makes them seem endless.
4th July - Amsterdam to Hamburg
yesterday in amsterdam was wonderfully relaxed, but we can easily justify that we soaked up a lot of culture, as well as sun. we dumped our bags in our hostel, and were welcomed by four sleepy dorm mates. the two swedish girls weren't particularly sociable, but the '21' year old australians, marco and alex(?) were amiable. we let them go back to sleep and walked around the quaint canals and the vondel park. the tall, attached buildings were very sweet and pretty, and every second person looked like a fashion model. every space available in the city is used for something; there are hardly any benches, and cyclepaths are inconspicuous affairs in the middle of pedestrian pavements. it's an extremely efficent place, and the streets were full in the heat. claire and i later went to a coffee house for the good old amsterdam 'coffee'. we both had the weakest pre-rolled hash joints, and a space cake each. later on we were really very stoned as the space cakes took their toll. once back at the hostel we chatted to the aussies, who were kind but a little straight edge and extremely unimpressed. claire went mad and started tripping around singing, and i was paranoid, going completely schiz. we both crashed out and marco bought us both a sandwich, which i stuffed as soon as they left the room. today we managed to be out of bed by nine, and stumbled on to a tempramental pedalo. comedies such as "only fools and horses" spring to mind, as we frantically pedalled for our lives, narrowly escaping being an extension of a number of motorboats. afterwards we looked around some of the churches, then the red light district. unlike the reeperbahn in hamburg, the girls stand infront of glass doors, and are most likely there from 9am onwards everyday. we got the earlier train to uterecht, and then changed at osnabruk. i am writing this at five to seven, on the train to hamburg
5th July - Hamburg
hamburg has been what will probably be our most relaxing stop. it was so lovely to see my first ever aupair, who i see fairly often. she looked after me when i was three to four, and ever since she's been the first of many adopted sisters! i slept so well last night. i was worried that claire wasn't having much fun, and felt a little out of place, but felli said she was really liked her. after i ate what i call a hearty 'meat salad' in a turkish café, along with claire, felli, and her boyfriend benedikt
I'm glad you had such a good time! x
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