Amsterdam in Photos

When I went to Amsterdam, not only did I get to check off a new city visited but also the very fun 'experience a train strike'. Yes, that was the very day that the Belgian workers for Thalys decided to hit the picket line, which I found out only after arriving at the train station at the unholy hour of 6am. For an eternity, I stared with increasing panic at a departures board that didn’t list my train or platform, eventually watching the clock tick down the minutes to and then past the scheduled departure. As people started to leave, I, a poor student with nowhere to go, decided to hang around a little while longer. Just as I was about to take off and had come to accept that I might have to either spend the weekend in Paris or schlep back to Rennes, a Thalys train pulled into the station.

There was a flurry of activity, not only because of this miraculous sight but also because, as told by a conductor, they were cramming two trains into one. Seating assignments were now null and void - it was first come first serve. Nothing quite wakes up the mind like a real-life, early morning game of musical chairs with hundreds of angry strangers, where there are only enough seats for half and the losers are forced to stand on a moving vehicle for several hours.

So I arrived in Amsterdam a few hours late, shortening my already short stay, but the point is: I made it. I'll always be grateful for that train and, more importantly, for my very comfortable seat on that train, which I promptly fell asleep in because nothing could have said 'I'm a winner' more than my face, sleeping with reckless abandon.

9 Straajes. This 9-block grid is full of small, independent shops, and at the time of my trip, there was a mini guide available at many public spaces. 

Date: November 2012
Camera: Nikon D40

Date: November 2012