The Trip From Amsterdam

When we touched down in Amsterdam I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that I had almost made it. Much to my dismay, I hadn't. At the time I didn't realize my trip from the airport to my hostel would be much worse than the three flights.

I stepped off the plane and walked to the luggage area where my bags quickly came around the belt. I was relieved my luggage wasn't lost or damaged. Then exchanged US dollars to Euros and headed toward the symbol that looked like a train.

Mind you, I am still wearing the wool coat an untied shoes, but this time I picked up two over sized bags containing all my worldly possessions for the next five months. I have a very nice rolling suitcase with an awkward waterproof camping duffel bag stacked on top. These bags didn't get along so well. Every 50 to 100 meters I would have to stop and readjust something.

I finally purchased my train ticket and asked which train to take. The gentleman at the ticket booth told me I could take train number 1 or 2. Which came out as "Tram 1 da Tram 2, leaves in eight minutes." with a heavy accent. Confused as to which train I should take, I quickly ran down to loading area and awaited my train. Train 1 and train 2 boarded on separate sides of the station and, judging by the signs, it looked as if they went to two completely different places.

I hopped on train 2 because it was the first to arrive. Once on the train, I asked the man who checked my ticket "Sir, what stop do I get off?" and showed him my ticket. He simply held two fingers in the air and kept walking.

To make a long story short, I got off at the second stop and had to take two more trains to my final destination, Utrecht Centraal Station, where I could catch a bus to my hostel. I got on the correct bus and didn't pay (which I soon found out, could be a 45 Euro fine) but I didn't get caught. Thank goodness.

I got off the buss and walked a few hundred meters (I'm trying to get used to the whole metric system) in the wrong direction, of course, because I did the typical male "I can find it on my own". Soon after, I realized I couldn't, swallowed my pride and asked someone for directions. I am thankful that a large majority of Dutch can speak English.

Later on in the day I discovered that, if I would have jumped on train 1 instead of train 2, I could have had a direct ride to Utrecht Centraal Station... Regardless, I found my hostel and after 17 total hours of traveling was ready for a hot shower and a long nap.