The Benelux

Some of Dan's friends happened to be finishing their European trip in Amsterdam at the same time we were a fair way north. Dan was going to go by whatever means he had to. By the time we'd been in Fontainebleau a couple of days I had already decided that I'd join him in the Benelux for a night or two before heading south into Rhineland to spend time with a German friend I met the previous summer in Australia.

We packed up our things and left Fontainebleau late in the day, the last of the good light diminishing as we hit the inticrate web of roads on the eastern outskirts of Paris. It might be logical with a GPS but with pre-loaded phone we made a couple of wrong turns which in turn, owing to the lack of exits, each cost us about 50km. Oh well.

At around 11 we found ourselves hunting for WiFi spots to recalculate our route but that proved too difficult so we resorted to guessing. It turned out to be the right option and after one false turn that nearly sent us in the complete opposite direction and a 300m reversing job on the entry lane to a freeway the blue dot that marked our location was finally hovering on a road that was also marked in blue!

Once we were about 100km clear of Paris everything started to look up. We were able to drive 50-150km distances without having to worry about which turn to take at junctions, and even when we did have to it was straightforward. Very late that night we crossed the border into Belgium. After a little more time we were skirting the outskirts of Brussels. The roads are great in Belgium and completely free, at least to our knowledge, so that particular country spares you the constant game of trying to avoid the ridiculously expensive tolls that come when you see the classic blue highway sign.

After what might have been around 2hrs in Belgium we found camping somewhere towards the far border of the country, a mere stones throw from Antwerp. After the previous night we woke up pretty late and it was 1pm or so before we were in the city.

I love Belgium. I love the distinct style of architecture and how it's been shaped, in a way, by the flat, low expanses they've had available for building. I love the fusion of elements and probably the result on the city streets of having a few extra dollars in the city budget to throw around.

I'd been to Brussels almost a decade ago, when I was much younger, and can remember feeling the same way, even then.

We got a very central park just by Antwerp's main square which happens to have a very attractive looking outdoor bouldering set up, at the time crawling with tens of kids, daunted over by the imposing facade of the city's grand cathedral. We must have spent around two hours in the city, just wandering, not doing much in particular. We walked through the squares fringed by long, thin and somewhat grand buildings and through numerous small alleyways before meeting the sea. The military were running a bridging training operation which was interesting to see.  

The city in its very centre feels grand and cultured like many in Europe but as soon as you pop out by the water it takes on a very industrial feel. The line of buildings simply stops, blocked by one of the city's main roads, and on the other side you have the waterway giving egress to commercial ships from the port to the sea.

We somehow managed to get out of the city relatively quickly without burning too much unnecessary fuel which is always an achievement. Before long we were crossing the Dutch border, announced by the typical blue signs with the circle of stars representing EU member states, telling us we were entering “Nederland”, the name of the country in its native language.

Antwerp's Waterfront

Interesting sculpture...

We saw many signs to Rotterdam but few to Amsterdam. It was a guessing game each time the highway diverged, sometimes informed a little but what we could see on the route we'd plotted the day before. Despite the uncertainty we never took a false turn. We arrived at Amsterdam with ease, entering the city fairly late in the afternoon with no plan whatsoever.

We parked in the centre and I walked along one of the city's main canals for a bit, taking in the atmosphere that makes this city so famous. I could easily live there for a few months, getting around by bike like almost everyone else. The city is incredibly flat, like many in the Netherlands, something that has facilitated one one of the highest per capita rates of bicycle ownership in the world.

We went to McDonald's of all places with the sole intention of using their WiFi to book some accommodation. This was a tedious process but we got it done and plotted the route to our accommodation from our current location on my phone. Amsterdam's streets gave us no problems and five or six canal crossing within three kilometres later we were at our accommodation, a stones throw from Vondelpark.

El País de las Bicicletas

Once we were checked in we had showers before heading out. We got pizza locally and had a few beers by the canal, taking in the ambience of the city. I'd been sick since the day before and wasn't really feeling up to much at all so we headed back to the hostel where the stuffiness and heat of the room aggravated my existing congested condition.

After checkout the next day we went for a walk to check out what Vondelpark had to offer. We found a supermarket selling products at highly elevated city prices, all but one thing. I've never seen it anywhere else in the world but they had a machine in the supermarket that makes fresh orange juice right in front of your eyes! At three euros a litre it was pretty damn cheap too, and exactly what I needed for my raging cold.

We had a while to kill before Dan's friends turned up at five that day so we went for a drive, found easy parking and had a slackline in a park in front of a police station. We cooked up a big meal and stayed there for a few hours, just relaxing on crash pads. At one point the police came over, curious, asking questions about the slackline in perfect English. Everyone in the Netherlands speaks perfect English. Like in many other nations with small languages they realise the importance of learning others to a high level.

Later that day we went into the part of the centre where we'd been the day before and got the car impounded on a parking technicality that we had no idea about. After a very scenic six kilometre walk and a 373.60 euro fee, collected by a pleasant Dutch woman with relatives in Tasmania, the car was free. Lovely.

We arrived at the accomodation Dan's friends had booked about an hour later than we planned, feeling dejected after a huge sum of money slipped through our fingers due to nothing more than bad luck. Money can come and go very easily. But really, what is a Euro trip without fines? I think Europe and fines are two things that just simply go together, its the way of the world.

The accommodation, at 26 euros a night was quite expensive for what it was and in the end we didn't even end up sleeping there. After a few drinks, a tram trip into the centre and a very interesting night we ended up staying in an apartment in some random corner of the city. I still have no idea where.

I woke up that morning and quickly got Dan and Steve up, paranoid about not being able to check out on time. We found a tram station and managed to catch the right one, but in the complete opposite direction. When our two hour tram journey through the vast majority of Amsterdam finally deposited up where we needed to be it was already right on check out time. I was exhausted. I went upstairs, messaged Leo in Germany and took a shower. I packed a couple of things for my three days in Germany in my small day pack. I think by the time I left it was an hour after checkout. I already knew it was a small penalty fee for late check out and really didn't care. In the end they didn't even impose it.

Dan drove me to the train station, somehow easily navigating there through the maze of similar looking, canal lined streets. He dropped me when we were stationary at a set of lights, us both now well and truly scared of inner city parking.

I easily found the platform and somehow even had time to kill before my train. Walking through the station I found another orange juice machine and bought some chips in a cone, my first food in close to 24hrs. After being sick for the last couple of days and a sleepless night I was practically passed out as the train started moving and I can barely remember the signs at the stations starting to be written in German, not Dutch.