Monday 3^rd June – Day 1

Having picked up last minute items we set off to the airport at about 11:30.  I had forgotten when booking our flights that today was the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.  Of course, this meant that most of the shops I wanted to use were closed meaning very little was achieved.  However, we somehow found what we wanted, eventually and were all set to leave.

Our flight set off at 13:50 UK time and arrived at Schipol Airport at 15:10 local time.  We managed to find a shuttle bus service that claimed to know where our hostel was.  However they were wrong!  It took two hours of bombing up and down side-streets before we found the Stadtsdoelen Hostel.  A rather pleasant hostel it is if not a little pricey at €18 per night!

We found ourselves a charming little Italian restaurant and treated ourselves to a pizza and a beer.  Afterwards, to walk off the effects of the huge meal we went for a stroll around the Red Light District and China Town area of the city.

Due to the lateness of our arrival at the hostel we felt that we should return to the dorms and prepare for an early start in the morning.  The serious exploration will start tomorrow!

Tuesday 4^th June – Day 2

Due to the heat and the fact that our feet were already covered in blisters we decided to hire bikes to help us explore the city.  Riding bikes around Amsterdam is a real experience!  How we did not hit anyone or get runover will never cease to amaze me.  During our excurions we ventured acorss a rather impresiive canal bridge where my work colleage and god friend Rob Newsham was with a bunch of lads enjoying the view.  Of all the places to meet!  I had no idea that Rob would be here.  It truly is a small world.

Later on, we felt that we should get out of the blistering heat and so descended upon the nearest pub.  The pub itself was rather peaceful until one of the waitresses cleared my table, jumped onto it, stripped and performed an erotic dance for me!  Having quickly finished our beers we felt it was time to leave and on the way out noticed that the pub we were in was called ‘Teasers’!  No wonder!

After handing back our bikes we went back to the hostel for some tea and a game of chess.  I beat Sean in only two hours, who seemed to have his mind still on the incident in Teasers.

Sean’s girlfriend, Claire, joined us in the evening.  She was unable to join us for the full holiday but was able to visit us in Amsterdam for a couple of days before flying back to Belfast.  On the way to pick Claire up we called in to Centraal Station and booked our train to Copenhagen for Thursday night.  All we need to do now is find a hostel there.

Wednesday 5^th June – Day 3

With Claire arriving last night we felt that we should take the opportunity to take one of the canal cruises.  The architecture in the city is incredible.  While you are walking along the streets it’s difficult to get a feeling for just how much work went into the constructing this buildings because you cannot get into a good position to see.

After our lunch we decided to stretch our legs and take a leisurely stroll around the city.  Before we knew it it was 18:30!

We felt that a tea back at the hostel was called for.  Afterwards we booked our hostel in Copenhagen and started another game of chess.  Having beaten Sean (again) we befriended some lads from Seattle and spent the rest of the evening playing chess and pool against them.

Thursday 6^th June – Day 4

With today being our last in Amsterdam we felt that a trip on a tram and a visit to the Van Gogh Museum was in order.  To say that Van Gogh’s paintings are breathtaking simply does not do the man’s work justice.  The display is something that I will never forget.

By the time we had finished at the museum it was time for us to go to the airport and see Claire off as she was due back in Belfast.

Our train was due to leave at 20:00 so after seeing Claire off we went for some tea and made our way off to Cetraal Station.  Our train reached Duisberg, in Germany, at 23:00 and we changed onto another train bound for Copenhagen.  At 10:00 our train will pull into Copenhagen and the next part of our adventure will begin.

Friday 7^th June – Day 5

The train journey seemed to go on forever and conditions were cramped to say the least.  When we got on the connecting train at Duisberg we were joined by three Californian girls called Casey, Sarah and Brie (like the cheese!).  I got on particularly well with Casey and in the morning found her asleep with her head on my lap.  Apparently, Sean felt that he would be better sleeping on the floor and gave Casey more space to lie down.  If I was awake I would probably offered to sleep on the floor but waking up with a gorgeous blonde Californian on your lap isn’t necessarily a bad thing!

Anyway, we eventually arrived at Copenhagen and made our way to our hostel.  It was quite some way out of town but I was suitably impressed with the facilities available to us.  We even had a duck pond in the back garden!

We spent most of the rest of our day trekking around the city centre trying to find the train station again.  We had been unable to find accommodation in Stockholm on Saturday and so we needed to change our train reservation.  We found the train station about four hours and got our tickets changed.  After this expedition we only felt fit to crawl back to our hostel, have some tea and go to bed.

Saturday 8^th June – Day 6

With us now having an extra day in Copenhagen we decided to take a closer look at the buildings we saw yesterday when we were lost.  The city centre concentrates the shops into one area so they were easy enough to find in the ‘signless city’.  After looking around the centre we ventured out to the port.

The port has the famous ‘Little Mermaid’ statue and the Gefion Fountain.  We spent a long time just sitting and watching in awe at the sheer magnitude of the port.  By the time we got back to the hostel it was getting late so we had tea and took advantage of the laundry facilities.  Goodbye Copenhagen and the Danhostel Bellahoj hostel as tomorrow we are off to Sweden!

Sunday 9^th June – Day 7

We left Copenhagen at lunch time today on the new ‘hi-tech’ X2000 train bound for Stockholm.  The train had everything we could possibly want…reclining seats, mobile phone chargers and tremendous views!

Sweden is a lot like Scotland with its beautiful hills and lochs but a considerable amount more moose’s!

Once we had arrived in Stockholm we immediately fell in love with the place.  For a city centre it is incredibly quiet and the architecture is fascinating.  The old buildings mix in with the modern ones seamlessly.  Our hostel was a real sight too.  It is an old ship that is moored in the docks.

Next>>