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Amsterdam and the coffee shop
Amsterdam, Netherlands
After not getting out of bed till 9.30 it was a quick move to cook and eat our pre paid breakfast, drag our container of clothes in what resembles a large suitcase down three flights of stairs, check out ,walk to the train station which incidently only took five min rather than the 20 min to find our hotel yesterday, store luggage and get to a bike ride tour by 11. All seems rather simple; not for Linda and I though. After placing our luggage in locker at train station we found we needed a degree to lock the Damm thing. Finally after discovering that the computer thingy we were using was faulty. It became easy as.
We headed for the budget green bike hire which advertised a guided cycle in the country at 11. Gasping for breath with Linda running up behind me we were told that the tour had been cancelled for the day. Not to be put off we hired two bikes anyway. Took the ferry across to the wharf, which incidently seems to go back and forth constantly for free. (Well we didn't pay). We ended up cycling down the streets and along the side of a canal through a park until we came across a desirable cafe and we settled down for a beer. Discovered another 0% alcohol beer.
We then carried on cycling till we came across another ferry going backwards and forwards to the central station. Once back we then had the challenging task of maneuvering through the streets of the city. We did get told off once by a walking policeman who was patrolling Dam Square where obviously only walking is allowed. Once the bikes were returned it was time for lunch. We found a Chinese restaurant after which was souvenir shopping and found a coffee shop. Same one we visited yesterday. The Jolly Joker. The tea and coffee was tasty as we're the muffins. More souvenir shopping and then to train Station to retrieve luggage and catch train to Paris. Retrieving luggage appeared more difficult than storing. My locker popped open when I fed the ticket into the machine as did Linda's. Only one problem Linda's had no luggage in it. It seems that we paid for a different location and had left the locker with the luggage in (including my passport) unlocked
The rail staff had kindly locked it and were waiting for the daft people to reclaim it. Now on the train to Paris 3 hours on a fast train.
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