Day 10 ... highlights public transit and arriving in Amsterdam

... as always experiencing public transit with a lot of luggage is always an "adventure"! Few telling stories to entertain you [one in which I wish I had a camera crew following me] ...

1. made our way via black cab to Victoria Station in London and decided to take the Gatwick Express train to Gatwick Airport, we had just scrambled into the train and were nicely settled when we were advised that there was an issue with the line signal and we'd have to disembark and head to an incoming express train on a different platform ... we did this and were then on our way in a not-so-express manner to Gatwick ...
2. once @ the airport ... with the clock having just struck 12h00 I knew it was time for a Pimms cocktail (x2) - our flight ended up being delayed by about 45 minutes so I was really rawther thankful for the liqueur ...
3. after alighting from the plane we made our way through customs; I read the large train map and reader board, then proceeded to purchase train tickets from an automated, menu driven ticket dispenser that spit out three ambiguous tickets with no platform information ... it was now time to find our platform ...

• we proceeded down this conveyor belt looking "thing" which was travelling sharply downhill to "Platform 1-2" ...
• thought I was in the right location but asked some locals who in turn advised that we were in the wrong place ...
• we went back uphill using that funky flat escalator ... looked at the train map again and still felt it was the right place so I asked an airport security fellow who confirmed that "jah, you were in right place" so we went back down ...
• but as I got on that funky flat escalator it turned into a real escalator in which you should not transport luggage, my two cases began to teeter and totter and then suddenly my carry-on piece slips off the top of the larger case, goes rolling past me and tumbling (literally and absolutely) down another 150 feet of escalator past a women who is also watching it tumble past her and it continues to tumble handle over wheels toward the bottom where two women were riding the escalator together and one woman was able to stop it ... haha! ... little embarrasing and I was trying really hard not to laugh because it was really funny ... and then people around me started to laugh [so of course then I could] - and the first thing that Sabine says when she catches up to me is ... ha-ha-ha ... she was thrilled at the spectacle - and deep down I kind of was to ... another great memory for Beanie !!

So we made it safely to Amsterdam Centraal station and caught a cab who whizzed us over to the condo we're staying at for the next 8 days. Upon arrival, Peter Rombart our host leaned out the canal window and shouted a hearty "hello!" ... we all looked up and laughed and responded the same. We made our way up to our temporary home and were toured around ... Peter is a lovely fellow (former ballet dancer for 20 years - now does property management and works in the theatre).

Today's photo: the view from the bayseat window of the condo we're staying in ... can't wait to sit here and read a book ... and find some peace [whatever that is] ...