Calais BITES, but we made it to Amsterdam...take two...

So I tried to write this blog last night and when I went to spell check it, it decided to go to the big cyberspace in the sky. I was NOT impressed. In fact, I was bitter, bitter, bitter. It wasn´t even that great an entry, but it´s the PRINCIPLE. Anyway.

We are here in Amsterdam, after yesterday´s day from hell in terms of travel. Let me back track a bit, as it´s been a while for blog entries.

We left Dublin on Friday morning, after staying in the luxurious Chelsea hostel (as you´ve already been updated). They were so sad to see us go that they gave us an amazing send off - a surly Russian man in just his underwear storming up the stairs, swearing (or we assume, because he sounded angry...we´re not really sure. He´s Russian). Needless to say, we were pretty happy to get out of there even if we were busting a gut all the way down the street.

We got to Dublin Ferry Port and took the Jonathan Swift (a lovely ferry with a lounge and everything...not like I expected) to Holyhead in Wales. When we docked, we hopped on to a train to London Euston station. After searching out enough Great British Pounds in amongst the Canadian change and the random Euros, we took the tube to Charing Cross to meet our next train to Dover. Dover was everything we though it would be - a stunning seaside town beneath the famous white cliffs. Yes, they really are white...or at least a light shade of grey. We checked into our hotel after a small snag...we thought we were staying at the Ramada Dover but realized, once we had taken a taxi all the way to the hotel, that our booking confirmation was for the Best Western. Back into the city centre we went, checked into our room finally, and left to take in the beach. We walked the shore, talking pictures of the water and the cliffs, before going to dinner at an amazing fresh fish restaurant called Cullin´s Yard. It was great, and we were full and happy by bedtime.

Yesterday morning we left Dover on a ferry across the English Channel, docking in Calais, France. It was only supposed to be a twenty minute stop over, but the ferry took so long to dock that we missed our train and had to wait 2 hours for the next one. This was a bummer because we wanted to get to Amsterdam late in the afternoon. We should have taken the guidebook´s word on Calais, too: "A grim and desperate place. Best move on to Lille." Lille was great, and we had time to check our e-mail while waiting for our next train. This proved to be slightly challenging, as the keyboards were all French...quel supris, I know. This would be why I didn´t update the blog from France. It would have taken me three hours to write three sentences with all of the hunting and pecking.

Our next stop was Brussels, and we were lucky enough to walk smack into the Zenneke parade (sort of like Brussels´s birthday) in La Grande Place. It was incredible, with all of the costumes and the thousands of people. A crazy taxi driver drove us back to La Gare de Midi to catch our next train, but only after he hit on me. He told me he loved Canadian women for being ´beautiful and simple.´I wanted to warn him that calling a woman ´simple´was not a good idea, but then thought it would be better for him to figure it out himself, haha. Especially after he tried to talk me into taking off my sunglasses to see my eyes. Sheesh.

We ended up being on the wrong train to Amsterdam, which sucked because we had to pay in cash on the train, but we finally made it here in one piece to check into Shelter City Christian Hostel. It´s very clean and I´m assuming very blessed based on the "Jesus loves you" signs and the pictures of various saints. That´s totally fine with me, too, because we are very close to the Red Light District! Anyway, we are staying with two Finnish girls - Teita and Yohanna - who seem nice. Haven´t spent much time with them yet.

So we went to sleep, got up fairly early, and hit the streets on Amsterdam (haha, bad way to put it, I know...don´t worry, we´re not getting jobs here). We saw The Dam square, where the Holocaust memorial stands, on the way to the Anne Frank Huis, which was moving and very sad. We moved on to the Amsterdam Historich Museum after, and found it was very interesting. This city is so rich in its history. I can hardly believe it was hardly standing at all after WWII.

Leigh-Anne and I then went to the Nieuw Markt (yup, Newmarket...Leigh-Anne felt right at home) street market. Most of the stalls were clothing, accessories, and jewelley so we loved it. Now we are taking it easy for about an hour before heading out to see Oude Kerk (translation Old Church). We saw Nieuw Kerk (New Church) this morning.

Okay, that´s about it from us...I´ll write a funnier entry later tonight or tomorrow when we are not on an internet time limit. We love you all and hope this finds you well...

Katie and Leigh-Anne (who have crossed 5 countries in 48 hours...I feel like Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Collector!)