Groningen: Take 3 & AMSTERDAM!

It is getting harder and harder to keep track of these blog things, and come Thursday I might not have internet as regularly so there might be even LESS blogging! BUT! FOR NOW! Emily and I did one last trip to Groningen to use up my existing Eurail pass. In this trip we FINALLY saw Amsterdam on the hottest day EVER! It was awesome. But first! After three trips to Groningen, I know several routes you can take by train! Every city listed is a get-on-a-new-train point. Then each train goes through several other cities. 

Paris to Groningen:

Paris -- Roissy (CDG) -- Brussels -- Amsterdam -- Amersfoort -- Groningen = 9.25 RER + 5 euro reservation to Brussels, rest free with eurail (on a really lucky day)

Paris -- Roissy (CDG) -- Brussels -- ( detour: Dordrecht -- Roosendaal -- ) Rotterdam -- Amersfoort -- Groningen = 9.25 RER + 30 euro reservation to Brussels, rest free with eurail + 10 euro fine for putting the wrong date on your Eurail pass (on a really unlucky day)

Paris -- Lille -- Gent (?) -- Antwerp -- ( detour: ? -- ? --) Amsterdam -- ( detour: Utrecht [?] -- ) Amersfoort -- Groningen = 3 euro for reservation to Lille, rest free with eurail GONG SHOW DAY!

Groningen to Amsterdam:

Groningen -- Amsterdam Schiphol = free with eurail

Groningen -- Amersfoort -- Amsterdam Centraal = free with eurail

Groningen -- ( detour: Assen [?] -- ? -- ) Amersfoort -- Amsterdam Centraal = free with eurail

Groningen to Paris:

Groningen -- Amersfoort -- Amsterdam Centraal -- Paris = 40 euro reservation, rest "free" with eurail (eff you Thalys)

Groningen -- Amsterdam Schiphol -- Paris = 30 euro reservation, ""

Groningen -- Gouda -- Rotterdam -- Antwerp -- Lille -- Amiens -- Paris = FREE WITH EURAIL! SUCCESS!

Realization: Eurail for Benelux-France = not the best idea if you want to take direct trains. It's kinda fun when you're with someone cause then you can just sit back and chill. Also, beautiful weather helps. And lots of snacks. AND, especially, legit Belgian waffles along the way. And Starbucks (ashamed).

Anyways! So we DID eventually get to Groningen after our heck-of-a-lot-of-detours day. Had some fun on our brief visit, hung out with the amazing people. Is it just me, or are international students THE NICEST PEOPLE EVER? Honestly, never felt more welcomed by any group consistently than international students. Love love! Then we did out fun day trip to Amsterdam which had it's own ridiculous train route (including one bus because someone got hit by a train and everything stopped for a bit. Ah.). It took a lot longer than anticipated to get to Amsterdam, but once we did the sun was blazing and it was SO hot out but not crazy packed so it was nice. Pictures!

Cheese tasting AHHHHHHHH!

Candies that 'make you happy' but are three for a euro. They tasted like poopoo and nothing exciting happened. Not that we expected. We just wanted to have purchased something from a smart shop.

ME being touristy yay!

What this thing is... I sincerely hope you recognize it.

Went for drinks and fish and chips at an Irish bar... super authentic, I know. Look though! So cute! My cider was sighing!

Bradon's fancy pants beer.

So yea, walked around all day and opted out of going into Museums cause we only had like 6 or 7 hours. We went for sangria at one point in this quiet pub that had a resident cat and also (coincidence) a giant Canadian flag over the bar. We saw this after the fact = fate! The red light district was crazy, I kept wanting to walk by more ladies because it was just SO out of this world/foreign to me! It was so much less old-school than I had envisioned. In my mind there was a red incandescent light bulb and under it stood a bunch of ladies that you took your pick of, or something. Reality: Doorways with fluorescent red tube lighting over top of, each doorway had a lady in it and behind the lady was where you did the deed. The whole room was right there! Sometimes they stood in the window (curtained, I assume, when people have sex), but I imagine it was super hot out so it was better to have the door open. Man! I really couldn't get over it. Bradon was telling me a large majority of these ladies are  brought from other countries and forced into the profession and that's just so sad. The novelty kinda wore off then. I just assumed that in such a liberal city like Amsterdam that these ladies voluntarily took up prostitution... so naive. I am super saddened to hear all this bad stuff and the magic of that part of Amsterdam is definitely diminished. At first it was like, run down a passageway having ladies gaze on and I'd giggle and be like, "Oh how fun!" and now I'm like, "Oh my God! I am the worst human being ever! I laughed at them!". Super sad.

Anyways! We had our fun and took a much more efficient train ride home where we got all decked out in glam rock gear and went to a theme party. Next day I went to another class of Bradon's and then found my own way home through the city without a map! So proud! I didn't get lost! YAY! Then we made dindins (home cooked meal aaaaah <3) and went to a pub with the international students group of friends Bradon has. Then we said our bye bye's and headed home to sleep before taking the EPIC train ride back home. That one went pretty according-to-plan, but at one point the train delayed enough that the transfer we had to make involved booking it across the station just in time to JUMP onto the train after the whistle was blown, before the doors were shut. Epic James Bond moment. 

I tried to make this image not-sideways, but it won't let me. This is my map of Paris covered in stickers of all the areas I've been. I never double-stickered anything, and a lot of my trips was returns to favorite spots. I'm very sad to leave Paris, but these next three months are an even bigger adventure. You thought Paris was crazy? This is Epic Life Adventure: The Sequel. So far we're thinking Italy and Greece for most of August. Holy Moses I'm scared! I had SO MUCH knowledge of France before coming here and I still was so shocked. I have NO other languages under my belt in the least bit. Dear Lord. Also, packing up all my stuff from my apartment = super depressing. This is my first ever own place, and I have to bid adieu already? Also, WHY DO I HAVE SO MUCH STUFF ALREADY? I bought a giant suitcase and it's FULL. Luckily I have somewhere to store it but OMG!

Anywho, see the below map and be sad with me. In the meantime, I must enjoy my last days in Paris.

A bientot! Maybe :)

Ps. Did I tell you we're going to the Euro Disneyland tomorrow? Omg I could die. It says 26 degrees C and sunny on the forecast. WOOOOO!

How-to: Have the worst train ride EVER!

Now, it's been a while since I've written anything. I spent the last almost-week in the Netherlands for Queen's Day weekend, which meant there was a lot of intoxication culture and little time for the interwebs.

We'll touch on that later.

NOW! THE TRAINS! Good gracious, I can't catch a break with trains I swear to you. From the beginning:

I decided to go a day earlier to Groningen when I realized a) I had nothing to do the next day b) I had no money to go out (due to my epic shopping trip for orange clothing) and c) I wanted to be there NOW! So, I told Bradon to expect me a day early, packed my backpack full of orange and hoofed it to Charles Du Gaulle first thing in the morning. This was my first mistake. I figured since last time the train with the great deal (5 euro reservation fee only!) went out of CDG that meant it was consistent. Stupid girl.

I pay for my RER ticket this time, which is 10 euro, which I will never get over. Because of my determination to still use my Navigo pass, I had to get the RER ticket at the station where I switched lines. Stupid girl. I had to walk ALL the way through two stations till I finally found a place where I could buy a ticket (I'm not used to having to buy tickets!). Every single time I'd pass through a turnstile I would secure my Navigo pass inside my backpack, only to have to pass through another one in two minutes. Every single time I would be like, "Ok. That has to be the last time." No. Eight times. So, because of my poor planning I ended up missing the RER train that would get me to CDG in time to catch the first train out of Paris (according to my Eurail timetable). When I do finally get to CDG I walk right through those turnstiles with my handy ticket (HA!) and book it to the huge lineup at the ticket office. The one crappy thing about this eurail situation, is I can't just buy a reservation on one of those automatic ticket booths so I always have to stand in line and I ALWAYS have to deal with whether someone is having a good day or not.
In front of me in line this one guy was mad about how the train was running late (all of them were) and he wanted the lady at the ticket booth to make it run on time. She got pretty snippy, as did he. He finally asked for a manager and then he realized he was going to miss his train if he didn't leave right away so he started yelling that he had to leave. The manager got there and was like, "You asked to speak to me?" and the guy was like, "GIVE ME MY TICKET I HAVE TO GO NOW!" and it was all very silly.
That made everyone very cranky, luckily me, the mass of army men behind me in line and my future ticket clerk were all in a positive mood and found it funny. I finally get up to the desk and I tell the guy I wanna get on the next available train to Amsterdam and he looks at me like I'm nuts when I tell him I have a eurail. He tells me that I have to pay 30 euro for the full faire to Brussels. Thalys, from the Gare du Nord (no RER ticket), does a 39 euro reservation fee from Paris straight to Amsterdam, and that was the price I was dodging. I try to convince him he can find one for 5 euro because I've done it before. Yes, I was that customer. But I wasn't mean! I was cute! He finally finds a 5 euro ticket and just in time for me to get excited he says, "Oh... that's first class. You can only have second class with your eurail. That's 30 euro." which makes NO SENSE! I finally give in because the train is leaving in 5 minutes. I pay up quickly and then the ticket takes like 3 whole minutes to print so my train is going to leave in no time. I ask which platform, he points, I book it and try to run down the up escalator. That is not the last time I do that in this day, by the by. I book it to the platform, and it's empty. PANIC. I worry it's left already, so I ask the train man and he says not to worry but to wait where I am. I don't trust him. Good thing! I look at the platform diagram and realize I have to run like a kilometer down the platform to where my train is currently stopped. I RUN! I get there, wheezing, get my seat and the train leaves like a minute later. Relaxation time.

Attempting to take photos from the train with my iPhone... it really wasn't a very nice day!

Then, like 15 minutes until we are set to arrive in Brussels, I think, "Jeez! This is silly! No one is even going to check if I have a ticket I totally could have gotten away with not buying this!" Immediately after this thought I turn around to see ticket man two rows away from me. I scramble to get my ticket ready. Remember how I was told this ticket I bought was full faire? Yea, so I didn't bother to get my eurail pass out. I present my ticket, he asks for my pass. I think, maybe he wants to see my passPORT so I grab that. He asks to see the eurail. I grab it, present it, and he starts typing into his little palmpilot-y thing. THEN! THEN!!!
"That'll be ten euro."
"WHAT! WHY?" Que waterworks. Instant waterfall.
"You did not fill in the date of your eurail, it is not validated, you must validate before you board the train."
This confuses me, because I copied the date down early in the morning, so I think he is mistaken. I point to the date I wrote in and look up at him all scared-like. He grabs my ticket and points at the date on it. Date on eurail: April 24, date on ticket: April 25. STUPID GIRL! I explain that I just screwed up the date and that I can fix it RIGHT NOW with my handy pen! To which he just grimaces at me and asks for the ten euro. I hand him my lunch money (big bully!) and continue sobbing hysterically to the horrified looks of all those around me. THANK GOD I didn't have a seat companion, that would have been so awkward.
So, I get to Brussels, a red-faced snotty mess, and I glare at the train man as I leave. I then go cry in the washroom for a little bit for a fee of 50 eurocents. Then, I have to find my next train because it leaves in fifteen minutes. I find the platform and go to walk up the seemingly-stopped escalator when -- here it is! -- I get one step up before it starts moving against me. I squeel, which to me sounds muffled cause I have earphones in, but who knows how loud that was. I trip all over myself, spin around and kind of skip away. Then I try to giggle it off, which comes out all snotty because I've been crying. I sound and look crazy, I'm sure. I get up to my platform and realize I should fix my eurail pass in case any other bullies come along. I see a crowd of train people chatting. I approach with my eurail pass and pick out the one female to help me out. At this point I've written over the 4 with a 5 and then gone through the whole pass darkening all my writing so it fits. It screams mischief. I ask the lady if it will be accepted because... (insert sob story here). She pats my arm and says, "Go sit down. Don't worry!", which causes me to tear up again. I am paranoid the whole day, by the way. I continue to worry.
I'm on the train which will get me to Amsterdam so I feel a little relieved that at least I've achieved that! I try to sleep, or at least fake sleep to calm myself down. The ticket man comes, checks out my eurail and stamps it and moves on. YES! Now no one can do anything about it because he stamped the date. Success. I realize around here that I am starving because I have eaten nothing all day except the handful of leftover rusty lettuce in my fridge.
Then we stop in Dordrecht. Ohhh Dordrecht. This is supposed to be one of those five minutes stops along the trip to the final destination: Amsterdam. Announcements in every language of the world commence. English is ALWAYS last. He says something about a gas leak and, "Waiting indefinitely" and something about needing to switch trains if you have to make a connection in Amsterdam. I wait forty minutes before going into a panic that I will be stuck in where-the-eff-is-Dordrecht. I text Bradon and he calls me with some potential new route options. He is lovely. The only trains that go to Amsterdam from here run on the same track that my train is stalled on. Boo. We come up with the idea that I will take a train backwards towards Roosendaal (30 min trip) where I will catch a train to either Rotterdam or Amsterdam. I do so, and a couple train switches later, GUESS WHERE THE TRAIN STOPS? Dordrecht. I notice, from this train, that my previous train is no longer stalled. This is two hours later, for some perspective. Luckily, the train I am currently on continues on course from Roosendaal to Amsterdam. Bradon suggests I go from Rotterdam, not Amsterdam, 'cause it's closer. I follow his advice, getting off the train before the final destination at the Rotterdam Centraal station. I grab a wall burger here. The Wall is the most brilliant thing in the world. It's like a hot, 'fresh', food vending machine. I inhale my burger that tastes like sausage.
The rest of the trains go alright. The connection in Amersfoort to Groningen works out perfectly and I get to Groningen in time for Bradon to pick me up before the soccer game starts. All is well! Despite my train trip being super expensive as well as super stressful! Bradon has food. Joy!

Good start to a weekend, eh? We went out that night. Yup. I'm a trooper. That's all for now though! There will be photos this trip though, I promise. Eventually!

Bisous!

Groningen!