Would my adventures in Europe have really been complete it if I hadn't embarked on a long, weird bus journey? Yes. But, I did anyway. A tight budget makes for better blogs. (I originally had a train ticket that never arrived in the mail, they told me my only option was to repurchase the ticket... But I will not reward bad behavior.) My bus trips from Kraków to Amsterdam did not disappoint. I did the first journey of 5 hours with a large group of young nuns.
The second leg of my journey (from Prague to Brussels) was very long, and rather boring. That is until we had a stop at about 2 am. Since everyone was getting off, and I was in the front row, I tried to get out the front door. There was some language spoken a few times until I was almost out the door and the bus stewardess came from behind me and pulled me back inside saying, "Ma'am! You have to go out the back!" Slightly embarrassing, since the entire bus and bus rest area watched this happen, at least it woke me up.
After a rather long delay in Luxembourg (which bumps me up to 24 hours there in my lifetime, so new country!) we arrived in Brussels. As everyone got into their cars and drove away, I realized I didn't know where I was. I hoped on a train I managed to find and huddled with some tea until check-in.
Brussels left me a bit cold (literally and figuratively.) Some people love it, but I had recently been spoiled with my European Golden Triangle. But, they did have a stunning square. I spent my two days there walking around, prepping for Amsterdam and clucking to myself about how outrageous the prices were.
My 1 o'clock bus to Amsterdam was 30 minutes away by metro, so I naturally gave myself an hour and a half. I had bought my ticket ahead of time so I could just buzz right through. But, when I went to scan my ticket it didn't work. I couldn't figure out how to get in the door. I figured my ticket must have expired so stood in line for 15 minutes to get a new one. That one didn't work. Luckily, a nice man showed me how (there's a machine about a foot away with no sign on it that you use for single use tickets.) However, the machine was broken. I stood in another line, and finally had to have someone manually let me through.
No problem. This is why I give myself time. However, with my second transfer the doors on both sides of the train opened. I got off the closer side, and it was the wrong side. There are no directions (at least in English) or explanations. Brussels was the second worst country for English I've found-- after Malaysia. I had no option to get to the other line, only to go to an exit. I exited, had to go to street level to find an entrance and... Well long story short, I missed my bus and had to buy a train ticket. But, with that I finally made it to Amsterdam.
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