Miklus
2013-11-23, 07:45 PM
I have just been to those two cities on a little two-day buisness trip. Well, I was only in Amsterdam because the flight was Copenhagen-Amsterdam and then train to Antwerpen. I don't know why I couldn't just fly direct, but I did not plan (or pay) the route for this.
Some impressions while I can still remember:
Flying is so enormously overcomplicated. First you have to but the ticket online. Then you have to check in online and print your own boarding pass. Then you have to be there two hours before the flight. Don't get me started on long-term airport parking. Next is the security check... Striped of belt and shoes, you get fondled by a stange man. You can't even bring toothpaste on board. I got busted for having a small pair of sissors. On to the shopping mall that is the airport itself. Overpriced luxury items as far as the eye can see. Bagage check-in and trying to find it again at the other end. Ect... Wait two hours just so you can hurl through the air at 800Km/h for one hour... Also, the low pressure in the cabin did a number on my right ear, so I'm now half deaf.
In contrast, the train is much more straight forward. I think this one goes 250Km/h. I can't get over how smooth the ride is. But trust the Dutch to screw it up. It is very nice that the train can go from Amsterdam to Antwerpen in one hour, but it falls flat when the train is 40 min late... They could not find out what track the train was supposed to arrive at either. How can that be random??? :smallconfused: When nobody knows when or where and everything is in dutch, It makes for a confused me. Potheads.
Still, I would go for the train anytime. At least you don't get groped. If only we had these trains in Denmark. I bet the train could beat the plane if there was a line between Copenhagen and Antwerp, maybe over Hamburg and Amsterdam.
On to Antwerpen. They manage to stack their trains three high at Antwerpen Centraal, that earns cool points. The Belgian diet consists of chocolate, waffles, beer and fries. How are they not dead? :smallconfused: Everything else has diamonds on it. That makes for poor shopping. Who buys a €44,350 wrist watch anyway? Some cities hate cars, but Antwerpen seems to hate all trafic equally. The city prides itself on bikes, but build no bicycle lanes for them. It's cycle-suicide. I thought they had some pretty funny bikes too, until I realised that it's the kind that folds in the middle. Do they take them on the trains? The city itself is very charming and everybody speaks english. There is one drawback, though. At random intervals and with no warning, you get a wiff of raw sewage. What is up with that???
Amsterdam: I was not really supposed to see anything other than Amsterdam airport, but my so-called travel plan left me hanging for 3½ hours in Amsterdam's Schiphof airport. I wanted to go on a evening canal cruise in the famous Amsterdam canals, but my coworkers said there was NO way that would work out. Well, I made it work! I hopped a train to Amsterdam centraal, took a one hour cruise and hopped the train back again. There was not a lot of time left, but I made it to the gate in the time it said on the bording pass. Totally worth it, much better than sitting and letting your beard grow for three hours. There was houseboats and old stuff, all really pretty when lit up at night. I recommend it.
Anyway, it's been a LONG two days, so I'm off to bed. There's no place like home.
Some impressions while I can still remember:
Flying is so enormously overcomplicated. First you have to but the ticket online. Then you have to check in online and print your own boarding pass. Then you have to be there two hours before the flight. Don't get me started on long-term airport parking. Next is the security check... Striped of belt and shoes, you get fondled by a stange man. You can't even bring toothpaste on board. I got busted for having a small pair of sissors. On to the shopping mall that is the airport itself. Overpriced luxury items as far as the eye can see. Bagage check-in and trying to find it again at the other end. Ect... Wait two hours just so you can hurl through the air at 800Km/h for one hour... Also, the low pressure in the cabin did a number on my right ear, so I'm now half deaf.
In contrast, the train is much more straight forward. I think this one goes 250Km/h. I can't get over how smooth the ride is. But trust the Dutch to screw it up. It is very nice that the train can go from Amsterdam to Antwerpen in one hour, but it falls flat when the train is 40 min late... They could not find out what track the train was supposed to arrive at either. How can that be random??? :smallconfused: When nobody knows when or where and everything is in dutch, It makes for a confused me. Potheads.
Still, I would go for the train anytime. At least you don't get groped. If only we had these trains in Denmark. I bet the train could beat the plane if there was a line between Copenhagen and Antwerp, maybe over Hamburg and Amsterdam.
On to Antwerpen. They manage to stack their trains three high at Antwerpen Centraal, that earns cool points. The Belgian diet consists of chocolate, waffles, beer and fries. How are they not dead? :smallconfused: Everything else has diamonds on it. That makes for poor shopping. Who buys a €44,350 wrist watch anyway? Some cities hate cars, but Antwerpen seems to hate all trafic equally. The city prides itself on bikes, but build no bicycle lanes for them. It's cycle-suicide. I thought they had some pretty funny bikes too, until I realised that it's the kind that folds in the middle. Do they take them on the trains? The city itself is very charming and everybody speaks english. There is one drawback, though. At random intervals and with no warning, you get a wiff of raw sewage. What is up with that???
Amsterdam: I was not really supposed to see anything other than Amsterdam airport, but my so-called travel plan left me hanging for 3½ hours in Amsterdam's Schiphof airport. I wanted to go on a evening canal cruise in the famous Amsterdam canals, but my coworkers said there was NO way that would work out. Well, I made it work! I hopped a train to Amsterdam centraal, took a one hour cruise and hopped the train back again. There was not a lot of time left, but I made it to the gate in the time it said on the bording pass. Totally worth it, much better than sitting and letting your beard grow for three hours. There was houseboats and old stuff, all really pretty when lit up at night. I recommend it.
Anyway, it's been a LONG two days, so I'm off to bed. There's no place like home.