Not too bad a night. The train wasn't particularly noisy. Dave slept through Berlin but did wake up for Bielefeld which brought back a few memories. By 6 a.m. everybody on the train seemed to be up and banging about so we got washed and tucked into the long life chocolate croissant provided for brekker. We stopped at Koln (Cologne) around 45 minutes late - and then did a circuit round the city before heading back out north towards Holland. It was quite difficult to spot the join when we crossed the border - the only real difference was the change in the car registration plates. We made up some time across Holland and were only 10 minutes late in Amsterdam. It must have been the superior Dutch loco that we had for this stage.
After we found a locker for our bags we went in search of reinforcements for breakfast and a a chance to get on the net. We picked a nice looking place and had coffees and a piece of apple pie each. The bill was over £15 - more than we had paid for dinner for 2 and drinks in the east. Dave had to go for a beer to get over this shock and got another. Beer is 4 times the price in Amsterdam that it is in Krakow. The sooner the euro collapses the better. Fortunately a stroll along the canals is still free and there was plenty of architecture to admire in the sunshine.
A couple of excellent sandwiches stood in for lunch by which time the weather had turned miserable. We killed time during a heavy shower by visiting the "Sissy-Boy" shop in the basement of an arcade. R wanted to visit the flower market so we made our way there. At this time of year there are more bulbs than flowers but it was quite interesting.As the rain was threatening again we treated ourselves to a tram ride back to the station. A single tram ride in Amsterdam costs more than a 24 hour ticket in Krakow!
We collected our luggage and walked out into the square in front of the station where the DFDS bus was waiting. After sitting for nearly an hour and filling up we set off on a tour round the narrow streets of the city centre to collect some punters at a hotel. By this time the Friday traffic was hotting up nicely. We eventually got to Ijmuiden and with little fuss boarded the Princess of Norway for the trip back to blighty.
Our cabin was cosy but perfectly formed although the double bed was made up with two single sheets. After a shower and a spin round the boat we went for Rosena's medicinal gins - wallet numbing process. These proved to be a necessary precaution as we were heading into force 6 winds and quite a bumpy crossing at some point. Brittanny Ferries must have ruined us because we found the buffet in the restaurant to be pretty poor in comparison and definitely not such good value. Even P&O were better. We live and learn.
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