Friday 12 January 2024

After almost sleeping in, we hurriedly cleaned up and raced out for breakfast at a little café called ‘Staring at Jacob’ go figure, I don’t know. It was/is owned by Australians and it sure shows.

Great food, good coffee and a real Melbourne vibe. Generally speaking, Amsterdam food is shit. A Dutchman told me ‘that here in Holland we eat to survive, while the French eat to enjoy the whole food haute cuisine scene.’ He used slightly more earthy expressions. But he’s right.

There’s good bread and pastries but ‘cabbage soup and potatoes’ should be adjectival phrase preceding ‘Dutch food.’

We are off to Schiphol today to fly to Copenhagen, mainly to catch the train next day to Stockholm. I hope the Danes don’t decide to go on strike. Flashy suggested that we visit the Museum of Dutch Humour, on the way to the airport. It is said to be the smallest museum in Europe. Unfortunately it closed in 1642.

The Man in Seat 61 has it right. It’s better to train than fly. Today we walked, trammed, walked, trained, walked and flew to get to Copenhagen Airport, then walked, trained and walked to our hotel. Amsterdam to Copenhagen was a bit like Melbourne to Sydney. Only a bit over an hour in the air but a 22 minute taxi to the runway. I reckon we did two laps of Schiphol just for fun.

Our hotel – the Mayfair is 4 minutes from the Central rail station and is cosy, clean and friendly.

After some research, a couple of cocktails and some dodgy advice from front desk, we head off into the night looking for a seafood feed.

The restaurant of choice is packed and we are seated at the very back with a hens’ party of 14, 20 somethings. Keep in mind that it’s -1c outside. In a swift but not unexpected move, Lady p seats Flashy with his back to the young things, as they are dressed, or should I say largely undressed, in skimpy outfits, including one in lace trousers and a lovely black G-string. 

Thinking that he can see all from the reflection in the window, Flashy settles back with a large beer. Buggar. Too much light. Can’t see a thing and it would be a bit rude to turn around for a look. Lady P however, gives him a full description of their fashion choices. After a minute of this commentary, Flashy thinks she is making it up. Surely, they all are not braless with tight tops and .. well she just went on and on. When we rise to leave, after some pretty good fish and chips, it turns out to be true. Those poor girls will freeze their you knows off walking home. Or maybe not given the number of drinks they have had.

Saturday 13 January 2024 part 1

We are at the railway station in plenty of time to have a Danish pastry. Well, they weren’t imported from Russia otherwise they’d be Russian pastries. 

But then, we noticed that our train had been cancelled. With not a single railway worker in sight, Lady P approaches a woman looking as lost as us. Her daughter speaks very good English and we discover they are also booked on the cancelled train to Stockholm. Between the internet, her sister on line from Stockholm and general good luck, we discover we have to take a regional train to Malmo, then connect with our high speed tilt train to Stockholm. 

I am writing this from seat 39, carriage 5, so you now know we made it on board. Our lovely new friends are also in the same carriage. Karma.