The Plan
I’ve 6 days to go before I jet off to Amsterdam, and I’m pretty much packed and ready to go. Excited, much? Tee hee.
I’ve also finished booking the various legs of my trip. Initially, I planned on just winging it. But since I was working with a rather limited time and budget, plus I already knew which among my very long list of cities to visit were my top priorities, I decided booking in advance was the more prudent way to go.
Ladies and gentlemen, my itinerary:
- February 1 – Flying out!
- February 2-5 – Amsterdam (+ Rotterdam day trip, hopefully)
- February 6-9 – Paris
- February 10-12 – Amsterdam
- February 13-16 – Rome
- February 17 – Bound for home
I made it a point to be in Amsterdam during both weekends that I’m there so I can spend time with my friends, the newlyweds Kaye and Bram, who work the rest of the week. In theory, I could actually go straight to Rome from Paris, but I couldn’t find good rates for trains and flights, while the bus just takes so bloody long. I was, however, lucky enough to score a reasonably-priced roundtrip ticket from Amsterdam to Rome on Alitalia, so there you go. This is working out great because I’m leaving my huge-assed suitcase in the de Beijers’ flat, so I can simply re-pack my small suitcase for Rome. No repeat outfits, yey!
I may still squeeze in a trip to Berlin to attend the Berlinale on February 9 through 11, but that’s still all up in the air right now because the one-way flight from Paris to Berlin is much too expensive. I can’t take the bus or train because they’ll take too long and I’ll only end up missing the premiere I’m meant to be attending, making that entire trip useless. If I can make it, though, I’ll be going back to Amsterdam via train from Berlin, which is quite shockingly cheap. Here’s hoping I’ll find a cheap last-minute deal on a Paris-Berlin flight.
Oh, and I’ll be traveling on a first class train from Amsterdam to Paris. It’s under Thalys‘s current promotion – a first class seat works out just a wee bit more than a second class one. I just got myself free wifi for the entire trip AND a gourmet meal for €5 more. How could I not, right? Especially when I’m going to be fed this. So yes, first class it is!
I had also sort of resigned myself to a spate of youth hostel stays and shared bathrooms, which made me feel more than a little queasy, knowing that I don’t exactly qualify for ‘youth’ anymore. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find decent single rooms in decent locations that were still well within my budget. You have absolutely no idea how relieved I am to have my own bathrooms – ensuite! - both in Rome and Paris. Before that, I had visions of myself running through a freezing hall after I’ve had a shower in a shared grubby bathroom – hair dripping wet and all – just to get to my shared dormitory where my clothes would be. The horror! I probably would’ve turned into an icicle mid-run. So I hunkered down, combed TripAdvisor for alternatives, and thankfully found a few. I barely slept for two nights, mind you. But yes, it does pay to be obsessive sometimes.
As for tours, I’m not really fussed. Of course, there’s no way I’m going to miss seeing the usual suspects, and maybe a couple of museums, too. But other than that, I’ll probably just be taking a lot of walks and photos, exploring at my own pace, lost in my own thoughts. And writing – lots and lots of writing!















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