Having A Go At Travel Writing – part 1

Hello There you busy busy people. Time for another little blog and this time I wanted to share with you my adventures overseas. A couple of weeks ago I was in Amsterdam and, inspired by Simon Whaley’s travel writing workshop at the South Warwickshire Literary Festival this year, this blog is my first attempt at travel writing. Forgive me therefore if the content belies the title!

The queueing sitch at Brum airport was a little testing but probably not half so testing for the staff having to work it. Try to keep in mind, if you’re flying from Birmingham this year while the building work is in progress, that you’re most likely to be going on holiday or to see family and friends; the staff however are there day after day doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. Be nice.

Our early flight was a mere 55 minutes and on arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport we were greeted with some good old northern hemisphere weather of heavy rain and blustery breezes. I had come prepared however by wearing my hiking boots and packing a thin thermal hat. A good tip if the weather forecast is less than friendly, even for the end of May.

You can buy your travel tickets before you leave home!

From what I could see all of the signage at Schiphol airport was in English, French, German and Dutch so it was very easy to navigate from Arrivals to the train station. For domestic travel Amsterdam operates a travel card system whereby you can buy tickets online before you leave home, for as many days as you want and this covers the trams, metro, buses and depending on what you choose, entry to museums, canal cruises and the like. However, we didn’t buy our travel tickets online beforehand mainly because we ran out of time the night before so decided to give it a go at the airport. We bought bought our train tickets to Amsterdam central station at the airport without any hassle at all. Once we arrived at Amsterdam Central we found the bus and tram ticket office just outside the main station and bought three days worth of travel from a really helpful lady who explained how it all worked. On the trams – which are incredibly posh and have a teller selling tickets from within their own little office space on board – you have to tap your ticket on the card reader when you get on but also when you get off. I don’t know why, but you do.

Our destination was Westergard which is in the Jordaan south side of Amsterdam and right by the Westerkade canal. There was a bit of faffing to find the place but on asking several helpful people we found it in the end. It was a quiet residential-type area, with a few businesses plopped in between the apartments. No raves and certainly no pubs. We soon identified any prospective watering hole by it having an Amstel Beer or Heineken sign above the door, much like a barbers pole of old. Inside any of these bars you make yourself known then take a seat and your drinks are brought to you. Note – seats often out number customers so go early if you want to sit down. Prices didn’t seem that different to UK prices but everything is very metric. Well it would be I guess. You can order a pint but don’t expect to get one!

Properties are very tall in the Netherlands which means steep and narrow stairs so be prepared. Three months gym training beforehand wouldn’t go amiss. And vertigo sufferers might find said stairs a bit of a challenge. On leaving our apartment I had to navigate them backwards for fear of falling. Seriously.

Can I use your loo please?

Whilst out and about it became apparent very quickly that there is a dearth of public loos in Amsterdam. For the gents, not much of a problem but a nightmare for the ladies. But as with most things in Amsterdam there is a solution. The majority of cafes and bars are happy to let you use their facilities if you offer to pay. A euro or fifty cents should cover it. Otherwise make sure you use the loos if you’re visiting an attraction – but don’t be scared to ask otherwise! Primark, which is located on the main shopping street – Damrak 77 just off Dam Square – has toilets on the top floor. It was a surprise to me that a European city that is so welcoming to visitors doesn’t have a public toilet system, I guess I just took it for granted. Another of those things we can thank the Victorians for here in the UK!

That’s it for now – catch ya later with part two when we talk food, canals, and tourist attractions…oh, and the importance of maps…!