Pot, Pastry, and Pasta

Since the last post, (which was started a week ago, but posted yesterday) some things have changed.  We have gone back to our original plan, and although the tickets we had were non-refundable, non-exchangeable, we ran the numbers and decided we would be out about $50 each if we simply tossed the day train to Vienna, cancelled the room at A-Train, and took the night train.  We won't be missing much time in Amsterdam, because we wouldn't have done any sight seeing after dark anyway, this train leaves at 8:00 pm, and we get access to the First Class Lounge in the Amsterdam station while we wait. Plus we don't have to get up early to catch the morning train.  All in all, we are pretty satisfied with our decision, even with the loss of the money.

So, we leave Newcastle the evening of the 11th, and get into Ijmuiden about 0930 on the 12th.

Continuing Becky's itinerary:

Oct 12  Amsterdam to Munich by night train
Oct 13  Connecting train from Munich to Vienna
Oct 13-15 Vienna
Oct 15  Night train to Venice
Oct 16   Arrive Venice early am.  Explore a bit, then train to Padova.
Oct 16-18  Padova/Venice
Oct 19  Padova to Perugia (see November 16, 2010 post)
Oct 19-20 Perugia
Oct 21  Perugia to Lucca
Oct 21-22 Lucca
Oct 23  Lucca to Viareggio (by Vespa :) )
Oct 23-24 Viareggio
Oct 25  Viareggio to Cinque Terre
Oct 25-28  Cinque Terre

After the 28th, I am not sure where we will be.  We may go to Torino to visit a Facebook friend (April 1, 2011) who is seriously ill.  Or we may stay in CT, or go to Bologna, Parma, and Modeno...three places seriously connected with food (no, not "bologna"...balsamic vinegar, prosciutto, cheeses).

In any case:
Oct 30-Nov1  Milan
Nov 1  Milan-->Zurich-->LA

The only regret I have is that because the euro is so bad right now,  we won't get to be as spontaneous as we wanted to be in Italy.  It would be very difficult to find a cheap place on the fly...it has been hard enough to find a cheap place with planning.  In exchange, we will be staying in each of our places for 2-3 days with few planned activities in each place.  Hopefully, this will allow us to be a little spontaneous, even if it means "spontaneously" sitting in a piazza drinking tea and reading a book in the sun. (yeah, I know....Italy in late October may not be sunny, but give us our Tuscan dreams.)

Sleeping Sitting Up...and Other Poor Choices

Our first plan was to take the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, explore the city some, and then catch the night train to Vienna by way of Munich.  It was a good plan, and we probably should have kept it.  Instead, I got the wonderful idea that instead of paying $240 or so and sleeping the entire way across, that if we took that same money and put it on a cheap hotel room in Amsterdam, we could have a wonderful day there, spend the night and catch a cheaper train in the morning, and enjoy the scenery along the way.  Right. (see prior post).

So, since I couldn't go back and change our non-refundable, non-transferable, non-exchangeable tickets,  I got to spend about 3 days finding suitable accomadations in an incredibly expensive city.  Going forward, we do have first class tickets on the train, and we can see where we are going.   The schedule looks like this:

Amsterdam            Departs 0704
Franfurt                 Arrives  1034

Frankfurt               Departs 1054
Munich                 Arrives  1433

Munich                 Departs 1527
Vienna                  Arrives  0744

We do get a couple of breaks when we change trains, so that will help to break up a very long train ride.  Plus we get to step foot in two different German cities.  Ok, two different German train stations, but at this point, we are looking for our adventure where we can find it.

Part two to follow..............................

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Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't, or Finding A Room In Damnsterdam.

I can't believe it is almost a month since we have entered anything in the blog.  I guess this is to be expected since we have been busy doing other things....like finalizing stuff.
OK, now I am really panicking.  The panic I was feeling in January when we decided to book our plane tickets...?   Minor.  This is that gut-wrenching "I-haven't done-my-homework-and-I-have-an-oral-presentation-today" sort of panic.  It is because now that it is nearly time to go, in my typical procrastinating fashion, I realize how much I still have to do to be ready.  Or do I?  Are there things I am worrying about that don't really have to be done?  Could I just pick up my backpack and leave?  Perhaps so.  Maybe I don't have to clean my closets. Maybe if the garage is still cluttered, it isn't the end of the world. Maybe I don't have to have a pair of brown pants, and I can get by with the brown skirt I already have.  In any case, we are about out of time.  ARGGGGGGH.

So, what have we really accomplished during this extended period of procrastination?
Following where Becky left off, somewhere in the English Channel between Newcastle and Amsterdam:

Amsterdam. Now known to Becky and I as "Damsterdam".  I am sure it is a great place to vist.  You even have your choice of smoking friendly places.  You realize of course, it isn't nicotine they are friendly toward.  And then, most of the cheaper hostels/hotels are either in or very near the famous Red Light District.  Not that it wouldn't be interesting to see, but I am not sure I want to live there, even for one night, primarily because of the noise levels.  I understand there is a very strong police presence, but I can see between the "coffee shops"(actually places that are licensed to sell pot, and where you are allowed to legally smoke, even on the patio), and the tours to see the ladies of the night in their lit up windows, there could be a fair amount of traffic noise.

I thought somewhere along the line we might have one night in a nice hotel, rather than the low end in which we are staying, but I really didn't think our most expensive stay would be in a hotel in the Red Light district of Amsterdam, right across from the train station.   So why are we not staying in a cheap place, like a hostel?  Well, although we both take reviews with a grain of salt (Becky takes less salt than I do), there is a limit on what is and is not acceptable. 

Acceptable:  cheap, steep stairs, 4th story attic,  no breakfast, share room with 20 other people (male/female/both), shared bathroom (I expect with the same 20 people), no air conditioning/heat, no view, away from town, not pretty...

Not acceptable: cockroaches, bed bugs (I know they can be found even in 5-star hotels, but combined with other wild life, no), rats, mice, black mold, dirty mattresses, drunks, clouds of smoke, noise all night, vomit (see drunks), etc...and those were the €30/night hostels and also included all the lovely things in the above "acceptable" catagory. That is a per person, per night, per bunk €30+ price. $42-43 each.  I think Motel 6 is about $60 per room, and does not come with roomates. Of any kind.  Except maybe bedbugs.

So, we are staying at a place that is considered a 3-star hotel, and has an 85% approval rating from prior guests, and we are paying €129 ($184 for the two of us) for a twin room with bath (I think).  It IS right across from the train station, and considering our train in the morning is at 0700, that is a good thing.  They will also arrange a breakfast for us to take with us, since we miss their breakfast buffet,  and it has a 24 hour check in. 



A-Train Hotel-Amsterdam

 Part two will be from Amsterdam to Vienna...where Becky has to pick it back up.