"No turn is a wrong turn"
A Quick November Trip… to The Netherlands
?
A quick 5 day November getaway. That’s all the time we had to travel until probably next May. We decided to do
things differently on this trip…for us at least. First, we were going to relax and chill out (ohhh the literal
aspect of that you’ll read later). Europe is still affordable, and considering discount airfares, probably little
(if any) more expensive than going to Colorado. Next, we were not going to drive, but take the train… a first for
us since our 1982 trip. Also out of character would be to stay in one place and leisurely day trip from that hub.
For our low budget adventure, we chose the small area of the Benelux countries. Belgium, Luxemburg, and The Netherlands.
Pulling out map, we limited our plans to just Belgium and The Netherlands. A five day Benelux Rail Pass totaled
about $240 USD for both Suzie and I. Car rental quoted was about $450 USD… so rail easily won that budget battle.
But with such a short time before travel, we ran out of time to order our Benelux Rail Pass from Rick Steves and
have it delivered prior to our departure. No matter… Rick’s book indicated we could purchase it on our arrival.
Haarlem, a small town in The Netherlands was our choice to base. E-mails to friends helped us decide on a little
pension named Hotel Amadeus. For four nites, the hotel rate would total 294.40 €. With Hotel Amadeus
confirmation in hand (and on credit card) we hopped the big Boeing 777 for Amsterdam. We tingled from our toes
to our nose with excitement. This spur-of-the-moment trip and loose planning without a rent car were far off our
normal patterns… and the unknowns danced in our imaginations.
Arriving in Amsterdam Schipohl Airport about 0830, we grabbed our carry-on bags and headed for the train info and
ticketing area. First we learned our anticipated Benelux Rail Pass was only available in Belgium and not in The
Netherlands. No problem for now. We just bought a one-way ticket to Haarlem, walked to the platform and
hopped the waiting train. Minutes later we arrived in Haarlem, and another problem… Taxis did not want to take
us to the Amadeus as it was such a low fare. I did find a young driver who was happy to help us, and we piled in
our bags and ourselves for the short trip (we later learned was about 20 blocks or a 20 minute walk) in the chilly
41° F (9° C), windy, rain. He deposited us on the edge of the pedestrian-only old town square near the
huge Bavokerk (St Bavo’s Church), home of the famous Christian Müller organ. Our taxi
fare for the 1 km trip from the train station was only 4.95 € and I gave him a 2 € tip for his courtesy. As you
can read on their website, Hotel Amadeus is on the old town square, which does not allow motor vehicles after 0900
daily. So, from the taxi stop, we pulled our bags across the bricked old town square to the Hotel Amadeus. Then
we carried the bags up the steep stairs to the “first floor” lobby and checked in with Inez, the keeper of the
front desk, the usual respondent to your e-mails when reserving a room, and the wife of Mike, the owner. Both Mike
and Inez speak fluent English and are fun hosts.
Our room #32 included a “WC” in the room, which turned out to be a tiny closet sized WC including a tiny shower,
sink, and toilet in floor space not much larger than the desktop of a junior executive. The side room window overlooked
the next door roof, and that was the view! The beds were comfortable, the place was very clean, the location was
terrific, and we were actually there, so we were happy.
(From this point, I’ll be relating various out of sequence travel notes rather than an orderly diary format.)
Once we learned the Benelux Rail Pass ($244 or $122 each) could be obtained only in Belgium, we decided to more
realistically plan our 5 day visit and travel destinations. Armed with Rick Steves and Frommer’s books and a map,
we planned a loose itinerary and chose to limit our initial efforts only to the Netherlands (a smart move). Next
we visited a rail ticket office to check on pricing of various tickets.
We learned a one day “circular travel ticket” from Haarlem around to various cities and ending back in Haarlem
would allow us to get off the train at any point, sight-see, and get back on the train to the next destination,
all for the same price as long as we departed from and returned to Haarlem only once each. Our first day route
plan started out in Haarlem and traveled to The Hague (and Madurodam, the miniature city), then Rotterdam, Utrecht,
Amsterdam, and ending up back in Haarlem. We learned that the cost for the two of us for this trip would be 46
€ before 0900 hours (rush hour traffic) and only 26 € after 0900 hours. We chose the cheaper rate, allowing us
a “normal wake up time,” a leisurely breakfast and casual walk to the main rail station.
In Rotterdam, Suzie bought a bus/tram ticket from the main train station to Madurodam. For 6.20 €, she was sold
a single “strip” ticket (a “Nationale
Strippen Kaart”) which was a long ticket with 15 numbered
lines on it. This ticket was for either or both of us to use, and we were to stamp it twice, one for each of us,
as we used it. To our happy surprise, Suzie learned that this Nationale Strippen Kaart ticket was good for tram
or bus rides anywhere in The Netherlands, and that it was good for one week. The number of lines stamped by the
ticket machine on the bus or tram depended on the number of zones passed enroute, but this turned out to be one
of the best values we found in the Netherlands. (See the end of this column)
The miniature city of Madurodam was a great 3 or 4 hours visit. It’s a “must see” for children of all ages (including
all those of us who remain young-at-heart!). A good on-line pix site is http://www.digipix.org/album91 (double
click on the pix to enlarge them)
For this 5 day trip we packed only one carry-on sized bag each, and took light weight jackets, rain jackets and
clothes to layer, knowing if we needed anything else we could buy it locally. We had one beautiful sunny day, and
the rest were cold, rainy, windy and challenging. Suzie found she needed a hat to keep her head warm, so down a
side street off the square from our hotel, we found a shop and a reasonable tourist-priced hat for her. I brought
my own hat from home, full well knowing the top of my head is “follicley challenged.” We were still cold when two
blocks from our Hotel we found HEMA, the local Haarlem dept mini-store answer to WalMart. Inside were good clothes
at local prices (Suzie’s inexpensive 9 € hat was only about 3 € in HEMA). Also the various nearby square area tourist-eatery
sandwiches range from 7 € to 11 €. The HEMA deli sandwiches were “local priced” at less than 3 €. We had a fun
time shopping for gloves and soft neck scarves to keep us warmer in the very nippy breezes that reddened our faces
with each corner as we walked.
Suzie loves flea markets, so she asked Inez if Haarlem had any weekly markets in their old town square around the
Bavokerk. We were happy to learn that Wednesday, all day, would be such a market just out the front door of our
hotel. The market overflowed the square onto side streets, and was filled with every conceivable impulse item to
sell. It also had numerous fresh food stands, cheese stands, meat stands, and clothing stands. While we had fun
browsing during the day, as the sun set, we were snuggly warm inside a café overlooking the square as all
the booths were dismantled and carried away. A small street sweeper then jumped into action scattering pedestrians,
pigeons and bicyclists alike. Within half an hour, any sign of the once pulsing market was erased leaving the quiet,
clean bricked square to its occasional passerby and pigeons.
In Amsterdam, we did visit the Rijksmuseum and did enjoy the 1/3 of the museum that was still open. The remainder of
the museum was closed due to rehab construction (a common occurrence when visiting major sites “out of season”).
While in Amsterdam, we again walked the red light district. We were in no hurry, and as we walked the area, we
seemed to notice the area had “racial boundaries” changing from block to block. For those of you who have yet to
visit this most famous of Amsterdam areas, this multi-block district of Amsterdam has large picture window after
window in the row after row, block after block of buildings. For those business girls plying their trade, there
is a red light above (or sometimes surrounding) the window, identifying the product is now available and for sale.
They stand in the small room behind the window, with curtain open. When the room is busy, the curtain is pulled.
Usually next to the window is a door for entry (or quick verbal negotiations with any interested customers). Their
dress is bikini-scanty or less, but could appear in almost any magazine, as they demand “many-pennies for little
peeks.” We were there late in the day, but daylight is not the active time for this marketplace. As the sun disappears,
the many red lights in windows start appearing in large numbers. We also noticed some very narrow back-streets
that were so narrow only one person at a time could walk “single file” with no others passing. Yet even these narrow
streets had their red lights in the windows, and people walking by to window shop. Most of all, our greatest fun
was watching the pedestrians “window shopping” in the district. Most appeared to be tourists like we were, but
the few “buying customers” were also fun to watch as they negotiated. Sometimes the negotiations were simply opening
the door to the person’s room, offering a price, being refused, closing the door and moving on. But the most interesting
were those customers who just stood under the red light out in front of the window, used body English in Charades
manner to the amusement of all around. One quick note: any outside person raising a camera to take pictures will
find only empty windows by the time the camera meets the eye. Taking pictures is not recommended here, so don’t
ask…just don’t.
Remember our Nationale Strippen Kaart ticket above? It was also our tram ticket around Amsterdam, from the train
station to the Museum, and back to the red light district. It did not pay for our late day leisurely boat trip
around the canals of Amsterdam, but who cares. That was just a nice place to sit, get warm out of the cold, and
see Amsterdam by sunset.
Our “no-driving trip” was a success within its own right. Sure, without a car, there are a few interesting places
far off the rail line we did not visit. Also we could not scout out back roads places as in trips of past. Our
limitations were walking and taking scheduled, main route transportation of the cities and between the cities.
Yet we had a great time walking, exploring back streets. We visited local antik shops, bread ships, cheese shops,
and many other local establishments. We were like two small children walking home from school, with everything
and everyplace peaking our curiosity, so we just had to go over and visit. We had a great time staying in one central
location (Haarlem) and day-tripping around The Netherlands from there. We enjoyed the freedom to travel by train,
bus, or tram without dragging along our luggage. We again experienced the “newness” of a travel newbie as we ventured
out of our accustomed norms and into the “rail-only” travel areas still new to us.
We learned we did not need a “rail pass” of any kind to travel by rail and we still saved significant money during
our trip. In fact, we saved over $175 by NOT having purchased the Benelux Rail pass and just buying our tickets
when needed as needed on this trip.
We learned that not waiting until our arrival to make room reservations was the only way we could stay where we
wanted in Haarlem (Mike, the hotel owner is very astute in marketing his hotel, and when by noon he notes any vacancy
for that evening, he contacts the local VVV, and via the internet, a few hotel brokers who fill his rooms almost
immediately!!). The internet brokers bit I’ll have to remember from now on….
The people we met day in and day out were wonderful. Fellow hotel customers from Scotland, England, various US
locations, other European locations, all offered wonderful insights from varied backgrounds. The cordial surroundings
brought about an open visiting atmosphere. A number of Rick Steves books stuck out of American’s pockets (ours
included). In fact, the Hotel Amadeus is mentioned in Rick Steves books. And with English being spoken by most
of the people we met, as well as on many menus, this trip was really relaxing. One surprising note – on this trip,
I found the majority of Rick Steves book independent travelers were not AOL customers, but had heard of BavariaBen’s
website www.bensbauernhof.com. Ain’t Google Grand?
I guess one of the most memorable persons was the highly “stationed” formal staffer in the Rijksmuseum who fought
laughter as Suzie, in her Southern Accent English questioned her about the “Van GO” museum next door. The staffer
then pronounced it “Von ‘Hoch’ ” and we all laughed together. Van Gogh is still giggling.
And then there was the Haarlem restaurant where, on the advice of a fellow American ex-patriot whom I allowed to
translate to the waiter, my order of the house spaghetti dish with spicy tomato sauce. The dish turned out to be
full of wonderful spices, and was so damned hot, few Europeans north of Tuscany would have survived a second bite!
Being from Texas, I loved it, but someone’s idea of a joke could have backfired had I not been ol’ lead-belly Bill.
We learned more travel hints along this short trip. We learned we could either drag our bags the long, wet, windy
1 km distant cobblestoned way back to the train station to travel to the airport, or we ask hotel folks for suggestions,
which we did. Simple…just take our bags only two wet, rainy, windy blocks from the hotel, catch the bus #300, and
ride non-stop to Schipohl airport in Amsterdam in probably less time than riding the train, since it was Sunday
and few bus passengers made for fewer bus stops. We also saved the rail ticket cost, as we just finished using
the Nationale Strippen Kaart ticket and got a final discount on our fare from the bus driver. Discount? It seems
the driver appreciated my honesty of offering to pay for our bus tickets to the airport, while holding the Nationale
Strippen Kaart ticket in my hand. He explained that our fare was to stamp 6 ticket strips for each of us and then
pay the balance. So away he zoomed down the road in typical European bus driver manner. Meanwhile, the floor was
slick from the rain, but there I stood next to the ticket stamping machine as the bus roared down the streets.
My feet were sliding on the wet floors but one arm was wrapped around the pole to keep from falling, and using
both hands to fold the ticket at the proper crease, then try to stick it into the machine to stamp it in the moving
shaking of the bus, each time on the right line on the ticket. All this time my feet were sliding, I was weaving,
and my hands were taking numerous jabs at the ticket machine to get it stamped. FINALLY, I finished, and turning
to the driver, explained I still owed him for 6 strips. He was laughing so hard he couldn’t talk…from watching
my Lou Costello routine trying to stamp all those lines on that ticket (most locals simply count down 6 lines and
then stamp once at that line!). He waved me back to my seat, indicating “no charge…it’s on the house.” The person
sitting behind the driver, between laughs, confirmed the driver’s intent. And we were then delivered to the front
door of Schipohl Airport in front of the Continental Airlines ticket counter!
There are as many different ways to travel as there are smiles on people’s faces. And the world is a mirror of
your face. So if you haven’t experienced the grand excitement of traveling into the fun unknown world of your dreams,
now’s the time you should put on your best smile and do it. After all, it only costs a nickel more to go first
class!!
Here’s hoping you find a great get-away trip to your favorite destination, wherever it may be.
Happy Travels
