06.42 I have slept well here in Utrecht, the Netherlands. There is no reason why I shouldn’t carry on. I am temporarily awake and have just written this.

09.04 The other two guests sleeping here in the dormitory at Strowis have left the room. Today we will be travelling towards another city. It is time for Amsterdam. I wonder if I will recognise anything? I went there in 1997.

09.54 Christer just placed a brochure about train travel in the Netherlands on the small table between us. We are sitting here waiting for the train to leave the station in Utrecht. Something is being said about Amsterdam in the loudspeakers. Sure, it is Dutch but I understand the main parts of it.

The train to Amsterdam never left the station.

10.04 We’ve left the platform. We did so by foot. Our train had some problems with the doors and was unable to leave the platform. We are waiting for a later train. It is impossible to wait for an earlier I think.

10.30 At first we got the information that the train was late. After that we were told that it had changed track. This is the reason why we are waiting by track 8B.

10.37 Ok, it is time for another attempt. Will we be on our way soon? Will we get to Amsterdam Centraal? Whatever, we are on the move!

Bicycles, lots of bicycles near the railway station in Amsterdam.

11.22 We’ve reached Amsterdam Centraal. It takes less than half an hour to travel between Utrecht and Amsterdam. There are no huge distances in this country. It is not very cheap to go by train though. This half hour trip cost us around US$8. There was no conductor on the train here. It is time to get out and see what awaits us outside the station. I sure hope it will be Amsterdam.

11.43 It is time for a bench break. We are sitting on the main square, Dam, with the royal castle behind of us. There are plenty of people and pigeons here.

The royal palace at the square "Dam".

A typical canal in Amsterdam.

12.33 We are having a break on yet another bench. This one is placed on the Nieuwmarkt. We’ve seen one of the narrowest houses in the city. It is only two metres wide. There are plenty to be seen here in one of the capitals of the Netherlands.

13.18 We are taking a break in the sunshine on the Dam. We are making up plans for the rest of the day. There are plenty much more to see here. We will not be able to cover it all but we will do our best. We will soon leave for lunch.

13.27 We’ve just sat down at Rock Planet down by a canal to have a beer. It is to be exact an Amstel. We had plans to have lunch (pancakes) but happened to sit on the wrong chairs and ended up in a different restaurant than we thought of. I just watched how a young woman on a bike was tackled by/hooked into a man. The woman crashed into the street and got quite upset.

Here you can buy hot dogs and herring. Obviously you can also let this horse take you around the city centre.

14.34 It was expensive beers, five euro a piece. Now we are sitting outside the house where Anne Frank was hiding and wrote her famous diary. The house is a museum these days and the queue outside of it are long to say the least. We won´t go inside. This is partly due to the queue, partly due to the entrance fee. The outside of the house is different from what I remember. It didn’t look this modern in 1997. It is plenty of glass and concrete.

Beautiful surroundings by the canal Prinsengracht.

A lot of people waiting to enter the Anne Frank museum.

Christer is eating pancake at the restaurant Oude Wester.

15.00 It is time to get a little to eat. We’ve ordered pancakes with cheese and ham. This will be so great. Another thing that is great are our places here at the restaurant Oude Wester at Rozengracht 2.

15.54 We decided to walk to the hostel where I stayed in 1997. The Christian hostel remained where it was then, but the sign was different. Neither the entrance looked as I recalled it. Now we are having a bench break by a canal. I think I will read in my book.

Peter returned to the hostel where he stayed in 1997.

16.45 "Hi, can I help you?" a waitress said at the outdoor seating of Panorama Café. She sure could help us. We’ve ordered coffee. A cat is sleeping not far from our table.

17.57 We enjoyed our coffee in peace. A man was sitting some tables away from us. He was well dressed and was talking to himself. He laughed, talked to someone that we couldn’t see and raised his glass towards the sky in a toast. We’ve returned to the station and await track information about the train back home. I did recognise some of the places here in Amsterdam. It has been twelve years but I guess some things have remained in my memory.

Christer standing on a bridge over the canal Looiersgracht.

18.12 We are back on a train again. It is time to return to our base in this country, Utrecht. As we get there we will head for Strowis and dial in the code for the door. It just happens to be the same as the actual time, 1812.

19.07 We are home in room 4 again. It is time for a shower before we head out to buy some dinner. We will save some money by buying some food at the supermarket and heating it up in the kitchen here at Strowis.

20.14 We are sitting by a round stone table out in the garden. We are eating our bought and microwaved Nasi Goreng. We got plenty of food for just 4 euro.

20.46 We are filled up for sure. We decided to go for a walk to freshen up. We are sitting on a bench by the canal called Singel. People are biking by and a boat is going on the canal. A black dog just passed, maybe a Labrador? Speaking of black, I sure would like to have some coffee.

21.22 We carried on to the Lepelenburg Park. Here plenty of things are happening. People are playing ball, others sit on blankets and some just drift around. People are drinking wine and there are also some not doing anything. A man in a sailor cap is selling Italian ice cream.

22.03 After a walk through an unstrolled area here in Utrecht we have returned home. We are sitting in the café area. We are going to read our books. I am having some much longed for coffee and Christer has settled for juice.

23.00 Another day has passed. We are back in the room. The light is out and it is hard to write this. I don’t want to wake up the person sleeping.

People enjoying themselves in the warm summer evening. The photo is from Lepelenburg, Utrecht.

Wednesday 1st of July

07.47 I just said good morning to Christer in the bed above mine. It is a bit cloudy today. We will see more of the Netherlands on this cloudy day.

09.33 The man next to me whistles on a merry tune while he looks out through the window. The man, Christer and I have just begun the train trip to Rotterdam.

10.34 After a long trip with a stop in the cheese town Gouda we´ve finally reached Rotterdam. Here we are resting on a bench. We are wondering where we should go and what we should see. Maybe we will head for the harbour. It is after all the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world. I wonder which is the largest?

Peter found clogs and tulips, very Dutch indeed!

Highrises in Rotterdam

11.14 We’ve slowly walked towards the centre. On our way there we made a stop at a square, Schouwbergplein. It was surrounded by cinemas, theatres and other cultural things. Rotterdam differs from Amsterdam in so many ways. The city was bombed to smithereens during World War II and much here is new and modern. Amsterdam on the other hand has many houses from the 17th century. We’ve just been down to a metro station. But we haven´t taken the metro. It seemed that we had to buy some plastic card and load it to be able to ride. It wasn't possible to just buy a single trip. So we’ve bought an icecream each instead of the plastic card. A pink balloon just bounces past us and after it a little child came bouncing. The balloon was from a famous hamburger restaurant. I don’t know where the child came from.

Interesting cubic architecture close to the metro station Blaak.

Oude Haven (Old Harbour) in Rotterdam.

11.37 Our walk through the modern city continues. Rotterdam was as mentioned before turned into ash and grit during the war. From this has, like a modern Phoenix bird, what we see before us risen. It seems to be some face lifting. They are renovating and building all over the place.

12.17 We looked at the old harbour area, Oude Haven and have since then walked across Wilhelmsbrug and into an area called Feijenoord. From there we crossed the Königsbrug which stretches over the river Nieuwe Maas. We would rather call it the Rhine but Nieuwe Maas is what is written on the maps. Here we’ve taken pictures of De Hef, it is an uplifting train bridge that is no longer in use.

12.28 Well, look at this. It is our lucky day Christer ironically. We’ve come to a stop, a bridge is being opened. We have to wait before we can carry on.

Well, we can´t continue for a while!

13.00 The bridge was closed and we kept walking. A walk across the Erasmus Bridge took us to the other side of the river. We are now near the Havenmuseum (Harbour museum) and Rotterdam’s ”Walk of Fame” I wonder if I’ve heard of anyone there.

13.15 Celebrities like Mark Knopfler, Suzanne Vega and Ray Charles had left their handprints and autographs. Did Ray write it all by himself? We are now sitting outside De Lekkerste Bakker at Binnenwegplein 6B. Here we’ve choosen coffee and apple cake, a special offer for only 3,75 euro.

It´s forbidden to be at this place during the bridge opening. Dutch isn´t such a difficult language!

Suzanne Vega has visited the "Hall of fame" in Rotterdam.

14.15 The coffee as well as the cake was great. We’ve returned to the station to use up our coins on a ticket each. Our first payment attempt failed. We were 20 cent short so I went to exchange more coins. The train we are about to catch is heading for The Hague. We will see if we go all the way or make a short stop in some other town or city.

14.45 We got the ticket but didn’t go all the way to The Hague. We got off in Delft, a city known for the painter Vermeer and china. Vermeer has among other works painted. "Girl with a pearl earring". The cities are so close to each other here in this country. Although Rotterdam and The Hague is no more then 40-60 kilometres apart you can find a city like Delft with 97 000 people inbetween them. Here we are sitting down with a canal behind of us, Oude Kerk (Old Church) to the left of us and in front of us a café that is either called Café du Centre or Uit de kunst (http://www.uitdekunstdelft.nl)

Along the canal in Delft. In the background you can see the 13th century church Oude Kerk.

A vandal in this house?

15.05 Some reflections from this country to mention some, is the fact that some Dutch drivers has an incredible skill as it comes to parallel parking. Some cars are squeezed between trees in a small area along the canals. It is hard to understand how they’ve got the cars there. Another thing is the bikes. They are just everywhere, parked, folded, locked with thick chains, plenty of bike shops, bike repairs and huge bike parking lots etc. It is sometimes harder to cross a bike road than a regular street with cars. In the countryside the cycle paths has their own centre line, traffic lights and road signs.

15.35 Our streetwalk took us through a nice town with canals and to its beautiful square. There we’ve seen the mighty Nieuwe Kerk (New Church). "New" here means that the church was built in the 15th century. We decided to go back to the station after our square visit. We bought something to drink before we boarded the train to Den Haag (The Hague). Look out, third city of today, here we come!

Houses in central Delft.

Nieuwe Kerk and the square (Markt) in Delft.

15.48 We are seated by track 6. Our bench is made out of black metal. We are at the Central station in The Hague. It is actually more than just another city. Den Haag (The Hague) is actually also a capital. It happens to be that the Netherlands has two of them.

16.20 We are on a square outside of the justice department. Here Willem I is standing and people are demonstrating against the regime in Iran. Willem isn't here on his own. It is just his statue here at Het Plein (the Square).

Milkpropaganda in Den Haag (The Hague).

Mauritshuis, a royal art museum in Den Haag (The Hague). Here you can see paintings from Vermeer, Rembrandt etc.

Peter is blending in.

Binnenhof

16.31 The time has come for a bench break. We are by a pond and beyond it is the magnificent complex Binnenhof that holds to mention one thing, the parliament. It is relaxing here under the trees and there is a fountain out in the pond. If the pond belongs to James, would that make it James pond?

16.52 We are about to have some food. We’ve ordered a Turkish pizza plate and a Heineken each. We are at Eetcafé Sise. Next to us is a pub and a microbrewery, The Fiddler, but they seem to have closed.

Christer is having a Turkish pizzameal with Grote Kerk (Big church) behind him.

18.12 We had a thin pizza, sliced in quarters, salad, cucumber, carrot and tomato. On the side were some delicious French fries. Now we are on a bench by the railway station. In front of us is a new pond with ducks, geese and other birds. Beyond them is a fence and behind it are some deer. Now we are about to relax and read some chapter in our crime novels.

19.09 We are supposed leave for Utrecht in about fifteen minutes. This will be the last home ride there. It is warm here inside the trainwagon and we are the only ones here so far.

21.44 It took us an hour to get to Utrecht. The train was of the slower kind and sure took its time. We bought some dinner and more as we had come back. Now the microwave dinner is eaten and I am about to have a shower.

22.22 We are sitting relaxing in the garden/backyard. We can hear song, clapping and shouting from somewhere. It is time for the final evening walk in Utrecht.

The train from Den Haag (the Hague) going through a very Dutch landscape.