Woke early and got dropped off at Lille Europe by Riquier. Booked a train to Brussels (12 euro!!!) and arrived in Brussels at 9:40. Walked aimlessly around Brussels for 30 minutes before dashing to catch the train to Amsterdam. The train to Amsterdam was full of backpacking Americans and talked loudly about their lives etc.
Got to Amsterdam at around 1:30pm and set off for a wander around the town. Saw dozen of coffee shops, but avoided the red light district. Had lunch in a very serene spot by a canal.
Walked through the market on Marketplein when it started to rain quite heavily. Walked on the the Rijksmuseum at paid 10 euro to see a lot of paintings by Rembrant et al.
Got back to the train station to book a ticket on the Thalys, but the train was full, so caught the slow train back to Lille. The train was jam-packed with people.
Arrived in Lille at 9:40 and Riquier came by bike to meet me at the station. We then took the metro to his friend Christine's birthday for one hour before going on back into town to meet 17 cyclists from Nantes University who'd just finished a 10-day cycle trip from Lille to Amsterdam and back again. To celebrate the completion of the trip we sat and drank beer and ate chips under the arches next to Lille Europe until 2am. Got back to Riquier's flat where 4 cyclists were to stay and quickly packed before the next day's early departure.
(Photo of a bike in Amsterdam)
No comments:
Post a Comment