Another early start to day of travel, this time from Berlin to Amsterdam. After breakfast I headed off to the the local U-Bahn station. From there I needed to make a change at Friedrichtstrasse to the S-Bahn service, which as yet I hadn’t yet 100% worked out.
After arriving at Friedrichtstrasse, I tried to work out what platform I needed to be on, but decided that it would much easier to ask at the information desk. They sent me up to platform 16. Now from memory, platform 15 was where I arrived on the S-Bahn when I came to Berlin. So, as I left I think I have finally worked out the S-Bahn service. It appears that all S-Bahn services run from a single platform. Platform 15 is S-Bahn service running to the east, while platform 16 is services running west.
I was very glad to arrive at Berlin Haufbahnopf, now all I needed to do was find the train to Duisberg. Now, my thinking was that it would run from the top level but looking at the departure boards I couldn’t see it. Again, I knew it would make more sense to ask for the right platform. As it turns out the train was going to leave from the lower platform! That I probably would have never worked out.
The reason I couldn’t work out which train was mine was because Duisberg was not the final stop. That’s something to remember for next time, always find out what the last stop for the train is, it makes it much easier to locate.
I boarded the train and headed west. After a few hours we arrived at Duisberg where I had to change trains.
Luckily I had looked up the departing platform via the Internet so I knew exactly where to go this time. In about 30 minutes I was on the train for Amsterdam.
We arrived on time and I exited the platform looking for the tourist information bureau where I could buy an Iamsterdam card that allows unlimited transport and museum entry. I knew it was supposedly near platform 2 but as I searched the arcade I couldn’t find it anywhere, even with a map indicating it was here somewhere. Having learnt my lesson by now I headed to the first information booth and asked for directions. As it turns out, the tourist bureau is actually ON platform 2 and I was in the arcade below. It would have been nice if the map had told me to go up! But maybe it did because I can’t read Dutch.
Once I had located the tourist office I bought my Iamsterdam card, now it was time to catch a tram to my hotel. The trams leave from directly outside the main train station. I jumped aboard a tam and swiped by transport card (that is part of the Iamamsterdam package) and I was off through the streets of Amsterdam.
After a last check of the map and a short walk I arrived at my hotel and checked in.
The room is small, which is to be expected here, but funky in a quaint sorta way.
Next, I needed to find an ATM and get some cash so I hit the streets.
I have to admit that the city does have a ‘vibe’ about it. There are heaps and heaps of people on the street but I get the feeling that most of them are tourists. I also note that, unlike Berlin, most of the tourists here are Americans.
The more I walked around the more I noticed that most of the shops seemed to be catering to the upmarket tourist. In the short time I walked around I got the impression that perhaps the city has perhaps lost some of its authenticity given its popularity with tourists.
Maybe I’m wrong on that score but I’ll find out more tomorrow.
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