I made it safely to Amaterdam, not without difficulties... But all in one piece (and well fed)
My morning started bright and early at 6:15 and I had a leisurely start to my day (I packed and made all my lists the night before). Then I headed to the train station.
I was fortunate enough that there was a sale when I bought my train tickets, so I was able to get 1st class tickets for cheaper than the second class seats. First class has big, deep, comfy seats and lots of leg room!
I had my cafe crème, a pain au chocolat and a bag full of snacks for the journey. Along with all the readings I have to do for school, I was set to go!
I made it to Paris, gare de Lyon without a hitch. Then came the tricky part - getting to Gare du Nord. I thought it would be an easy correspondence, but it was a bit difficult (good thing I had an hour to do it).
First I was looking to take a cab, but I couldn't find the taxi stand. Then I found a transit map ( which immediately overwhelmed me), so I asked the information desk and they told me I had to take RER D, a high speed rail, which was accessible two stories down. I found the gate for the rail, and after a few minutes of staring at it confused, I realised that I had to buy a ticket to get through it. I found a ticket machine and waited in line, despite having a drunk man offer me a ticket at a "discounted rate".
I successfully got my ticket (from the machine not the drunk man) and headed down to the platform. After waiting a few minutes and trying to figure out why the train I wanted hadn't come yet, I realized that I was on the wrong platform. Once I got on the right platform, I was able to catch the train.
Two stops later, I arrived at the Gare du Nord, now came the challenge of navigating from the city transit to the train station. This was an easy task, once I found the right signs to follow.
After all of that, I made it to my train with ten minutes to spare. I was delighted to find that this train company had the same comfy seats, with the bonus of free wifi and complementary lunch + snacks. They offered me so much food, I had to start turning it down, which is not a common occurrence for a student.
I arrived in Amsterdam shortly before 4:00pm and then I had the challenge of finding my hostel. The hostel had emailed me directions about what tram to take. I boarded the tram and asked the conductor if it was the right one for where I had to go. He was nice enough to make sure I got off at the right stop. The directions from the hostel said how to get from the stop to the hostel, but of course I got lost. After a bit of a scenic route and realizing that I'm 21 years old and still get left and right confused, I found where I was supposed to go!
I checked into the hotel and headed out to do something before everything closed. I decided to go to Anne Frank's house. It was a great experience, so eerie to see the pictures she posted on the walls or the lines drawn on the walls to show the children's growth.
Now I'm sitting in the hostel enjoying some Dutch cheese and planning my outings for tomorrow. I can't wait to see everything with the sun shining.
Side note: there are a lot of cyclists in Amsterdam and they aren't very good at stopping for pedestrians. I think they are more dangerous than the motor vehicles ahah.