It was after that train change in Brussels that things started to whirl out of control. The train stopped and we were told of delays caused by the train in front of us having stopped. We spend an hour just waiting. Then we we finally got flying along the tracks again, we were stopped in Rotterdam and told of the storm that was hitting Amsterdam. Our train was stopped as there were high winds causing havoc. .....gggrr - sure it looked a bit windy but we couldnt see any STORM> we finally got going again with 152 minute delay and arrived in Amsterdam. The extra time on the train had given us time to research the next train/trams etc that we would need to connect to to get to our hotel. So we headed straight to the ticketing machine, and purchased two train tickets ... now to find the next train. All the signs were in dutch, so we decided to ask one of the many police officers milling around, and we were informed that all public transport had been stopped because of the storm and that the only option would be to try and get a taxi. OMG.... when we went outside to join the line,,,, firstly, it iwas in the weather and secondly it was a long long line. So as wind whipped around our legs, and rain pelted our backs we tried to find some joy in the Europe summer.

On the taxi ride to our hotel, we understood what all the fuss was about. Everywhere we looked, trees were down, across houses, across roads, across houses, and if there werent whole trees, then branches were strewn everywhere.

It was all pretty sureal. We decided at that point to change our plans for the night, as we could clearly see that we werent going to be going back into the city... so a nice dinner at the hotel and a sleep readying us for the next day of exploring