Our European road trip began with a short (2 hour) drive to England’s
east coast city of Harwich, where we boarded a ferry destined for the
Netherlands. It was nice to see other
cars with steering wheels on the left side, many with license plates with the
abbreviations NL, D, and F. The Mazda 3
fit nicely on the lower deck of the ferry, and all the people got out of their cars and began
climbing the stairs towards the passenger deck.
This reminded us of our cruise because it had most of the same amenities
as our cruise ship. We spent the time
reading, playing games on the iPad, and saw a movie in the ship theater. After half the day, we arrived in the
province of South Holland, which is of course in the
country of the Netherlands, where the people are Dutch. Confused?
Watch this video for more
information.
Mazda on the ferry:
Driving on the right was awkward for the first few minutes,
add that with driving in a foreign country, and you can see why I was a
little stressed behind the wheel. I was
thankful to pull into a “Park and Ride” center on the outskirts of Amsterdam
(which is in North Holland). We rode the
train from the car park to Amsterdam’s main rail station. We timed our arrival to the rental apartment
perfectly as we met the owner. He showed
us a much modernized, shared apartment.
The layout had the bathroom and shower near the entrance, kitchen near
the middle, and a bedroom at each end of the apartment. Just outside was a church with bells that
rang multiple times per hour. Once, they
played the bells for the whole hour, making for some lovely music.
Our excursions started from the apartment and led outwards,
in all directions. Our days were filled
with lots of walking, sight-seeing, and soaking-up European life. We had Dutch pancakes, Dutch chocolate, Gouda
cheese (from the Gouda region of the Netherlands), and threw in some Chinese
food from the Asian part of town. One of
the highlights of the city was our boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam. We got to see where Anne Frank was in hiding,
numerous bridges, and the famous Flower Market where you could buy your weight
of tulips! We were very close to the Red
Light District where we got to see “employees” working in the front windows,
hehe! We also went into a shop that sold
a particular recreational plant that you can now find legally in Colorado and
Washington. In the store the clerk was
giving a group of Americans explicit directions, while being very polite and
very direct, not to smoke it all at once, to be sure take 30 minute breaks, and
to stay hydrated. It was very
interesting being in a culture where that kind of thing legal and quite common.
Gouda wheels:
Us on the canal boat:
Boating through a wide canal:
Boating through a narrow canal:
Flower market:
Amsterdam was a blast and we were sad to leave, but we knew
that more of Europe was ahead and had to press on. After the train ride back to the car, we
started driving towards our next destination, Germany!
Us on a canal bridge:
~Blake
