Diary of Rob Szumlakowski

So, this would be my last full day of this vacation. I know that I would be going back to Canada the very next day, but I wanted to get out of Amsterdam. To be honest, the city was boring and frustrating me. I didn't want to crowd around with the tourists anymore. And I had one day left on my railpass. So, I decided to go on a little rail trip around Holland for my last day in Europe.



My first stop was Haarlem, just west of Amsterdam. It's a pretty little city, and not crowded at all. I walked around the square for a while.


There's also a cute church in the square with a cool steeple.



Unfortunately, my timing could have been better. Since it was Sunday, all of the shops were closed. So I was mostly limited to walking around. While I was walking around in Haarlem, I saw an awesome poster:


I'M GONNA BAGUETTE YOU SUCKER!

HAHA

Anyways, I spent about an hour in Haarlem and kept going. My next stop was Zandvoort, a town on the North Sea coast.



Zandvoort is where the people of Amsterdam go when they want to hit the beach. The weather was pretty cool, but there were quite a few people there!




I walked along the boardwalk for a while, too.


The next city I visited was Den Haag (The Hague). The Netherlands actually has two capital cities... Amsterdam and The Hague. The Hague is where the government sits and where the queen lives.

The Hague is a beautiful city... not very busy (but it was Sunday, so it's officially hard to judge). There and parks and gardens and palaces. I walked around for like an hour.



It's Prince William III of Orange!! Or at least his statue.


After a bit more walking, I found this big palace surrounded by a lake and fountains. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly which palace it is!




Here's a cool scene that I saw in front of the train station. A sea of parked bicycles...


The next city I went was the second biggest city in The Netherlands... Rotterdam. Rotterdam is the home to the world's biggest and busiest harbour, located near the mouth of the Rhine River.


Rotterdam actually has a few skyscrapers. Most cities in Europe do not have skyscrapers... they often have laws that restrict the heights of buildings. Apparantly Rotterdam does not have these restrictions. These buildings are a sign of just how much money flows through this city.



The second tower doesn't actually have a crane beside it that's the same height. The crane is somewhat closer than the skyscraper...

So I took the subway to the harbour area. I wanted to take a cruise of the world's largest and busiest harbour. On the way, I found this Walk of Fame thing in a sidewalk. There were some AMAZING names there, like Jackie Chan and Bon Jovi!



Oh, that's just truly glorious.

Alas, when I got there, it was past the last cruise. Doh! Here's some pictures of the harbour area, though.



While I was walking around the harbour area, I saw a fast ferry pull up to a pier. Apparantly the ferry was going to go to Dordrecht. I remembered, from before, that the train from Amsterdam to Brussels went through Dordrecht... so I should be able to take a train back to Amsterdam from there. So, with a snappy impulse decision, I jumped on the ferry boat.


Shortly after I got on the ferry, I began to regret my snappy impulse decision, as I was surrounded by screaming children on my 40 minute ferry ride to Dordrecht. However, I could not argue the snappy impulse decision, since snappy impulse decisions are ALWAYS correct.

So, eventually I got to Dordrecht. Unfortunately, the ferry dock was no where near the train station. Unwilling to use the bus system, I set out on a grueling hike across the city.

After my grueling half hour walk, I finally made it to the train station.


So, after about an hour or so on the train, I was back in Amsterdam. Here are my last few pictures in the city of Amsterdam!





In a convenience shop, I actually found some Moosehead beer! In order to celebrate my eventual return to Canada, I had to buy one.