Euro trip 2010 – 2nd leg 50% completed!

1st stop: Amsterdam

We locked the door back home in Edinburgh last Thursday to make our way out to our first mode of transportation; an Easyjet flight to Amsterdam. When we got to Schipol airport outside Amsterdam we got on the train to Amsterdam Central and switched to research mode to find the way to our hotel, only to find that our hotel was right across the street from the station! We checked in to the ‘Victoria Park Plaza’, dropped our luggage and then headed out to find a bite to eat. We found a traditional Dutch pancake house around the corner from the hotel and got our teeth stuck into some delicious strawberry and bacon pancakes. After our meal we took a walk around town, tried to find Anne Frank’s house, and just took it all in. The rain was pouring down so we didn’t quite make it all the way to Ms. Frank’s house but we were amazed by how beautiful Amsterdam is with all its crooked old quirky buildings by the canals and all the barges and boats parallel parked like cars in the water.

On Friday I made my way to my company’s Amsterdam office, which is located close to Haarlem about 20 minutes outside the city, where I delivered my first presentation and I hope and believe that it was well received by my Dutch colleagues. Shaena and Ethan on the other hand relaxed in the hotel room for a bit before they hit the town for some sightseeing. In the evening we had dinner in an Argentinean restaurant and then walked over to the infamous Red Light District. After all, we had to see for ourselves what all the fuss was all about!

All I can say is: “Lordi-lord-lord!” The Red Light District was all that we thought it would be and more! Street after street filled with smut and adult pleasures as far as the eye could see. We were amazed to see all these girls standing in their small shop windows, offering their services with only a windowed door and a curtain separating themselves and their bedroom from the street. In between all these girls’ windows, people lined up to go see live sex shows and outside these shows; very explicit photos were posted to sell the show to people passing by. As if this wasn’t enough, people were smoking pot in the middle of the street and small ‘normal’ corner stores were selling magic mushrooms and all the paraphernalia you’d ever need to get stoned off your face! …and it’s all legal!

Speaking of the lord, by the way; Ethan has now also learned how to worship, believe it or not. When you least expect it he’ll stick his arms up in the air and shout “GOD!” Wonder who taught him that…

On Saturday we had organized to meet up with another old friend from the Dublin-years; the fun-loving Nathalie! Nathalie has just moved to the Netherlands for work and it just so happened that she had the Saturday off and could come up to Amsterdam to hang out with us! It was so great to catch up with her again and talk about old memories and goss about all the peeps we used to hang out with and what they are doing now, as you do. As many of our friends and family know, we are always up for a good science exhibition and Shaena had (as always) done her research and found this ‘Nemo Science Experience’ that looked really cool, so we went. And it was. Really cool. Nemo had 5 stories with buttons to push (which is Ethan’s latest passion), screens to look at and very cool interactive installations that kept us busy for most of the afternoon.

In the early evening we said “bye bye!” to Nathalie and made our way back to the train station to board our train to Frankfurt. On the train we travelled in luxury as we managed to finagle our way into a ‘family compartment’ complete with a small L-couch, a table and thee more seats. For most of the trip, it was all ours and Ethan could sleep undisturbed and we could watch movies, relax and have a snack which made the 4 hour train ride fly by. That’s the way to travel!

 
2nd stop: Frankfurt

When we got to Frankfurt our friend Denis was kind enough to pick us up from the train station and took us back to his and Jessica’s place where we were staying the first night as we wanted to catch up with them and let Ethan hang out with their wee Ben who is pretty much the same age as him. When we got to their flat, Jessica’s brother and girlfriend were there visiting as well and everyone was in full form testing whiskies and drinking wine so we figured “what the heck!” and joined them at the table. We had a great time and the morning after, Denis had promised to cook up a traditional ‘Oktober Fest breakfast’ consisting of boiled (creepy looking) white German wursts, a special sweet mustard, wheat beer(!), pretzels and eggs. Probably sounds a bit weird but it was really good!

Later in the day Jessica took us to the Frankfurt Zoo and we of course snapped loads of photos and Ethan got to pet a goat and eat his first ever Bratwurst. There is a first for everything!

In the evening, Denis and Jessica had kindly organized a dinner with another few people at a restaurant in Frankfurt called “Wagner”, well known for its apple wine and for serving a very yummy wiener schnitzel with a green herb sauce, which is traditional Frankfurt speciality. We had a good time but at this point we were all exhausted after a long day so after dinner we headed back to the hotel and zonked out!

On Monday I spent the day working in our Frankfurt office, delivering my presentation and hosting meetings. All in all it was a pretty intense day, but then again, it usually is when I am out travelling for work as my normal work back home needs to be done as well. On Monday night we wanted to just have a relaxed night at home but it ended up being a ‘working evening’ instead. I was catching up on work after Ethan had gone to bed and Shaena was catching up on her ‘work’; rescuing cats and dogs for money online.

Today Tuesday had more work in store for me and later in the day we boarded another train; this time bound for Paris on which we are sitting right now. We figured we couldn’t travel in any less style on this leg of our journey so with a bit more finagling we managed to get the super-sweet family compartment again! “Oh-la-la, Paris here we come!” …actually, we just arrived! Trains rock!