Going Dutch

I have decided to call my trolley case Nellie, as in the elephant, because she is heavy, cumbersome, keeps running away from me and I hope will last as long as an elephant's memory. Today as we undertook the first of our two train journeys, Nellie and I got stuck in the door as we attempted to embark on the Ghent to Antwerp train and I'm sure the sight from the platform of my rear end must've been quite unnerving. Bloody steps on trains - couldn't they have just had 2 big ones rather than 4 little ones?!

The next journey from Antwerp to Amsterdam was rather easier. I'm already very glad that I booked 1st class interrail passes, as the space makes such a difference with Nellie in tow. Antwerp station is a cavern with tracks on 3 levels - wow! Arrived at Amsterdam station a couple of hours later, managed to stash Nellie in a locker and headed off for an exploratory walk, as it wasn't quite 3pm and I couldn't arrive at my Air BnB accommodation until 5.30. I headed towards the Dam for a reviving coffee, and then wandered off to the east where I skirted canals and just soaked up some atmosphere and second-hand marijuana smoke.

It's busy here, and more like London in terms of teeming masses - quite a contrast after Ghent - but it's not the pedestrians that bother me, it's the frigging bikes. Quite apart from the fact that you have to watch out for trams too, there are so many of them, they're all enormous, the cycle paths absolutely dominate at the expense of pedestrians, and they're considerably more inconsiderate than cyclists in London. I ended up walking back towards the station along a fairly uninteresting pedestrianised shopping street (how many branches of H&M and Body Shop does a city need?) just to have a break from the dodging and weaving as it seemed to be one place where bikes were banned unless wheeled. I'm wondering how my walking tour tomorrow will negotiate them?

Having retrieved Nellie and negotiated the tram to the Oud West neighbourhood where Marc, my Air BnB host lives. Marc met me as Nellie and I struggled over the bridge which of course had steps, showed me my room and facilities (a wet room - interesting...) and helped me find some places of interest on a map. He then left me to it - I'm obviously intended to be self-sufficient as my room has a kettle, fridge and microwave - and so it feels a little solitary. Marc's a bit alternative (I suspect with an interesting - ahem - gay social life) and of course under no obligation to treat his guests in a manner other than befitting a friendly business transaction. I had hoped though, that maybe a chat over a beer on arrival might've made me feel a bit more welcome. Hey ho - I'm travelling solo for much of this trip, and I have to get used to my own company, and the fact that not everyone's evening features alcohol....

So I sorted myself out and took a wander to Jan Pieter Heijstraat, where I found a nice restaurant and had an Aperol spritz and some delicious gnocchi - with vegetables! I continued walking to Overtoom, a wide boulevard (so plenty of room for me and the bikes) that's the way to walk to get to the Vondelpark and the museum quarter, which I'm saving for Wednesday. So back indoors by 8.30pm, a little light blogging and now I'm going to watch something on iPlayer. I'd like tomorrow to be a bit warmer and sunnier please.