Land Trip - Europe (Day 50-51: Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

19 Sept 2011 (Day 50)

Wow! Been traveling by land for 50 days already!

Arrived in the capital of the Netherlands at about 2pm. Amsterdam is known its impressive architecture, lovely canals, windmills, cheese, clogs, tulips,  high tolerance of drugs and its red-light district. 

 (Dutch Clogs!)

Amsterdam is a city of canals. But it is nothing like Venice. The feel and architecture is very different. I kinda like Amsterdam because I felt very relaxed and comfortable here. And it is easy to walk around.

Amsterdam is also one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world. There are more bicycles than humans in Amsterdam! There are approximately 750,000 people living in Amsterdam but they own about 800,000 bicycles! Apart from walking, renting a bicycle is a great way to explore the city.

For food, I had to try their Dutch Pancakes. The traditional way to eat it is with Dutch Syrup. So that was what I ate! It tasted somewhat similar to the French Crepes yet you could still tell the difference. Very nice!

One of the must-see places in Amsterdam is Anne Frank's house. This was the place where the young Jewish girl named Anne Frank hid from the Nazis for 2 years until her family was anonymously betrayed. The people who hid in the house were subsequently arrested and deported to the concentration camps. Anne Frank and her sister Margot died in the concentration camps just a few weeks before the liberation by the British Troops.

(Outside Anne Frank's house)

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl was written in the house and is one of the world's most widely read books. I was really amazed at how she and her family hid in the "secret annex" of the house. From the outside, you really can't see how big the house actually is. I can't even imagine how difficult the living conditions were at that time. Evey day of her life there must be in total fear.

 (Flower market. No Tulips because it wasn't the season.)

 (Red light district)

Went back to the hostel to rest after 1 whole day of walking.

20 Sept 2011 (Day 51)

Woke up early and took a train to Zaanse Schans, which is about 20minutes from Amsterdam Central Station. Zaanse Schans has a collection of well-preserved historic windmills and that is the main reason why people go there.

While crossing the road bridge, the bridge was being pulled up! First time I saw this. 

(No, this is not the filming location of Inception)

 (Preserved houses in Zaanse Schans)

 (Windmills!)

There is a Cheese Farm that is open to the public for free. I went in and tried all the different types of cheese they got to offer.  I was actually quite hungry so I went to try all the cheese again. Let me tell you, the cheese was so good that I had to try it again. And again. And again. And again. In the end, I wasn't sure how many rounds of cheese I ate. All I know is that I felt really cheesy after that. I bought some cheese back too!

(Cheese!)

Beside the Cheese Farm there is Wooden Shoe Workshop. Inside, there is a huge collection of different types of clogs and they show you how the clogs were made.

(This clog was custom made for me! No, not really.)

After eating so much cheese, I just had to take some cheesy pictures.

Went back to Amsterdam at about 12:30pm.

Look at the number of bicycles! They even have multi-storey parking for bicycles!

 (Van Gogh Museum)

Amsterdam is also the home of Heineken. So I went to this place called The Heineken Experience which used to be a Heineken brewery. I didn't go in for the "experience" because it cost 16 euros!!! That is very very expensive! 

(Heineken Experience)

After that, I went to the supermarket to buy Salami for my dinner. Super salty....but cheap.

(Sat on the street bench to eat my Salami)

Went back to the hostel to rest for the night. The next morning I was heading to Frankfurt, Germany!

After eating so many types of Dutch Cheese, MY LIFE WAS NEVER, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE........................................EEEE.........................................EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!

Land Trip - Europe (Day 48-49: London - Part 2)

17 Sept 2011 (Day 48)
(2nd Day in London)

Woke up early in the morning and went to a hotel to wait for the pick-up to Stonehenge!

It was early and I was still half-asleep...

The bus came and brought everybody to a bus terminal. From there, we were separated into different buses because everybody was doing different tours.

After 2-3 hours bus ride from London, I saw Stonehenge!!! And it was cold and windy!!!

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire and is one of the most visited sites in the world. It is believed that the iconic stone monument was erected as early as 3000BC. That was more than 5000 years ago!

Because that were no written records from that time, nobody knows exactly why the Stones were erected. Many theories have been tossed around and some suggested that it was used as an astronomical observatory, a religious site, a place of healing, or a burial site. Till this day, it remains a mystery.

The stones are huge but I expected it to be a lot larger than they are.

After 30 mins, I had to go back to the bus! Can you imagine, we were only allowed about 30mins to walk around Stonehenge. I barely have enough time to take pictures and videos and see the place. Then I went back to London.

After I got back to London, I wanted to somewhere outside London. And I decided to take a coach to the City of Oxford!

The city of Oxford lies 80km north-west of London and was made prominent by its medieval university. Of course, that was the main reason why I went to Oxford, to see the oldest English-speaking university in the world - University of Oxford!

(Left - University Curch of St. Mary the Virgin)

(Right - Radcliffe Camera)

Till now, nobody knows exactly when the university was founded but teaching at Oxford existed in some form in 1096. 

(Hertford Bridge - a quaint pedestrian bridge at Hertford College.)

Just so you know, Rowan Atkinson, known for his roles as Mr Bean and Johnny English, was a graduate from Oxford University! Albert Einstein also spent some time at the university.

Oxford University was also one of the filming locations for the Harry Potter movies. More specifically, at Christ Church College. See the 2 pictures below. Look familiar?

(16th Century Staircase leading to the Great Hall in Harry Potter)

 (The Great Hall - Replicated in the film studios to create Hogwarts Hall)

Christ Church was also the setting for Alice In Wonderland and Lewis Carrol wrote it while he was at Oxford.

Another interesting fact: the ChristChurch Cathedral in New Zealand, after which the city of Christchurch is named, is itself named after Christ Church, Oxford.

Then it started to drizzle and I ran all the way to the bus terminal to catch a bus back to London. Managed to meet Hilda, a long time friend, for dinner. Caught up quite a bit.

18 Sept 2011 (Day 49)

(3rd Day in London)
Went to have breakfast at a popular local eatery called Lantana.

 

Walked around Petticoat Lane Market, which is a huge street market with a lot of discounted goods.

Then went to Brick Lane to find the legendary bagel. It was delicious! And it comes with different flavours too.

Look at the queue!

I went back to the Tower Bridge to take some photos in the day.

(Dr Johnson's House - where the 1st English Dictionary was complied)

(Another Famous Landmark in London- St Paul's Cathedral)

18 September was a Sunday and was the day that Manchester United faced Chelsea at Old Trafford. Can you imagine? That was the biggest match of the season! I've always wanted to visit Old Trafford since young but it was really far from London and very expensive to get there. Furthermore, tickets for big matches like this are usually sold out weeks in advance. To think that I was in England during a Man U Vs Chelsea match! So close yet couldn't watch it.

Guess I went instead? I couldn't travel up north to Old Trafford so I went to Stanford Bridge! That was a lot nearer to where I was.

(Standford Bridge)

Haha... I went to the home ground of Chelsea FC while the match was going on at Old Trafford. When I was there, Man U was already leading in the match. I looked at the sky and saw dark clouds above Standford Bridge and I knew that it wasn't a good sign for Chelsea. Sure enough, Chelsea lost! 

Then it started to rain!

(The world renowned Royal Albert Hall)

(The world famous Shopping Centre - Harrods)

(Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Railway Station. 

The secret platform where Harry Potter went through the wall to take Hogwarts Express.)

Then I went back to the hostel. Technically, I have already checked out because I only booked for 2 nights at the hostel. If you remember from my previous post, I had to stay an additional night in London due to my train ticket but I wasn't willing to pay for the additional night. 

So I stayed in the kitchen at the hostel for the night and took a nap at the TV room at about 3am in the morning. Fortunately, nobody noticed me! I left the hostel at 5:30am to catch a train to Amsterdam!!! Warning: Please don't try this!

After spending 3 days 3 nights in London, MY LIFE WAS NEVER, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..........................................EEEE...............................EEVER, THE SAME, AGAIN!!!

Land Trip - Europe (Day 47: London - Part 1)

16 Sept 2011 (Day 47)

I didn't know traveling within the EU does not require stamping of the passport. So my train ride from Paris to London was the first time my passport was stamped since Moscow to Riga.

The train went through the English Channel using the Channel Tunnel which connects UK and France by rail. So that means that I still did not travel by ferry or by plane. I was traveling on the train, which is a land transport. Not bad huh? I traveled from Singapore all the way to Europe and then to the United Kingdom by land!

Now the sad part. You see, usually when I arrive at a new city, I would go straight to to the railway ticket office to do an advance booking for my next train to the next city. However, as I was buying the ticket, the staff told me that the discounted price ticket (with the Global Pass) was sold out! My plan was to leave London to Amsterdam on 18th Sept, and that would give me 2 days 2 nights in London.

So now if I want to leave London on the 18th, I had to pay the full fare and it cost more than twice the discounted fare. I was not going to pay that much. I then asked the counter staff for the following day on the 19th, and fortunately, they have discounted tickets for the 19th. But that meant that I had to stay 1 additional night in London.

That usually won't be a problem right? After all, it was only 1 more night. However, London is extremely expensive and I was not willing to pay any amount just to stay 1 night. Furthermore, my train departing London was in the morning at about 6am. So it would be a waste of money for that few hour in the night.

I resigned to the fact that I would stay outside the train station if it was closed at night. 

So I checked in to my hostel and it was a crazy place. The people there were wild! And the wi-fi there was bad. I spent a few hours in the hostel trying to change my hostel booking in Amsterdam because of the 1 night delay. Need to change a lot of my plans too.

After I got that out of the way, I took the Tube (their Metro) to the Emirates Stadium - the home of Arsenal F.C. I was not even sure why I was there. Maybe because it was quite near my hostel.

Then I went to the residence of The Queen -- Buckingham Palace! Well, after seeing so many palaces, Buckingham Palace doesn't seem to stand out. Really, it pales in comparison to the Palaces in Russia and Austria.

(Buckingham Palace)

Walked around to explore the city.

(London Cab!)

(Trafalgar Square - Near Soho)

 (London Phone Booth)

Then I went across and along River Thames!

(London Eye)

(Big Ben)

So many sights to see in London. I went to find the London's most iconic structure - The Tower Bridge! Most people think that it is called the London Bridge right? When you see the picture of the London Bridge below, you would probably be asking the same questions that I asked, "Huh? Is that it? London Bridge?"

(On the left - Tower Bridge)

(Tower Bridge)

 Ladies & Gentlemen, presenting to you.......The London Bridge!!! (See Below)

(London Bridge)

Pretty disappointing huh? In terms of the architecture and structure, it is nothing close to the Tower Bridge. And guess what? The London Bridge is just opposite the Tower Bridge! It really just looks like any typical bridge across the river.

 As I was walking along the River Thames towards the London Bridge, I met 2 young ladies who recommended a very good restaurant for Fish & Chips. They told me that it is the place where locals would  go and it wasn't expensive. Since I was in Britain, I must try their famous British Fish & Chips!

So I went. The restaurant is located under a railway bridge near a Tube Station.

One of the better Fish & Chips I've eaten but not the best. It was good nonetheless. There is just something different about British Fish & Chips that I can't point a finger to......

Then I went to Piccadilly Circus, which is akin to the Times Squire in New York. Large neon billboards and signs are seen everywhere and the place is packed with people. In fact, too many people for my liking. Not sure how I ended up in Chinatown while I was walking!

(Chinatown)

The whole shopping and entertainment district is around here, in the West End of London. It is more commonly referred to as The West End.

(West End Theaters)

After a long day and a long night, I went back to the Hostel to rest. Going to see Stonehenge the next day!

(Author's Note: I spent a total of 3 days in London so I'm breaking up the London Post into 2 parts.)

After arriving in the UK by land, MY LIFE WAS NEVER, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...............................EEEE....................................EEVER, THE SAME AGAIN!!!