Saturday May 11 continued



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jon Jermey <jonjermey@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 12 May 2019, 06:16
Subject: Wasping all week -- no, sorry, I mean waking in Weesp.
To: Glenda Browne <glendabrowne@gmail.com>, Bill Browne <williamgeorgebrowne@gmail.com>, Jenny Browne <jenny.browne63@gmail.com>, Mark Avery <markofglebe@gmail.com>


It's a quarter to six in Weesp and the sun is struggling up. I'm about to have breakfast and go for a walk along the canal in to the older part of town, after sleeping from about 8.30 last night, I didn't feel tired but i could feel myself getting light-headed, so I thought I had better turn in. Apart from a couple of toilet breaks I slept pretty well. They have the same idea here that we saw in -- I think -- China; two single doonas on a double bed. It seems to work pretty well, so maybe we should try it.

The lights here are pretty dim and the water pressure is low. There are some free-standing lamps, but as I said earlier, I can't move them around because every power point and power board is already bristling with other plugs for some arcane bits and pieces. There are two grandiose lights on either side of the bed, but I haven't been able to find a plug or a switch for them. But I'll work it out.

The flight from Doha to Amsterdam was fairly smooth, though we did change course for turbulence once. I was tempted to turn to the person next to me and say "They call this turbulence? Why, I remember coming down in Canberra through a thunderstorm..." She was a young woman who slept most of the time, and I got the impression she was sick--at least, she was visited by the Flight Officer, who came to see if she was all right. I hope it wasn't catching. But she seemed reasonably alert by the end of the flight.

I had an empty space next to me and there were quite a few others on the flight. That's probably why they used it to ferry a large group of crew members back to Europe--at least fifteen of them got on in Doha, and the standard-issue crew suitcases just kept coming on the belt in Amsterdam, much to the annoyance of a bored-looking man who had to collect them all

I got some money at the airport -- though the bastards took 10% on top of the exchange rate. I'm hoping they don't do that elsewhere, but if they do the real rate is going to be close to 2 for 1 rather than 5 for 3. I found the station at the airport but dithered around a bit looking for the right platform. Luckily they had some intermittent WiFi on the trains, so I was able to look up Google Maps. It's a shock to realise how reliant on connectivity we have become.

Annameik messaged me that the trains were mucked up--nothing new there, then--and I would have to change at Zentraal. So I got out at Zentraal, where the train said it terminated, looked up Google and found my train was on the same platform. So it was--in fact it was the same train, with the signage changed and readdressed to Zoorn, via Weesp. It left a few minutes later.

At Weesp Station I coaxed the last bit of power out of the small tablet on which I had a downloaded map, and found the way to my accommodation. I walked through a little shopping center that I thought was Central Weesp, but it turns out it was just an outpost. But a nice woman in a hijab there who spoke good English sold me a SIM card for #5. (I'm going to use # for Euros as I don't have a Euros character on this keyboard.) Everyone here looks so Anglo that it's a shock to hear them speaking foreign.

Later I went back and stocked up on food for breakfasts and dinners. Cheese is cheap, sliced meat is about average, rolls vary between .25 and .70 #. And the supermarkets sell grog, including big cans of beer starting at .70#.

I've already written about the accommodation--I'll send a photo when I have more light. This part of Weesp is a modernish new town, all low-rise and quite nicely laid out, rather like Stevenage or Milton Keynes. There are little drainage canals along nearly every road as well as the big one nearby, and bike racks outside every house and block of flats. 

That will do for now. Love to everyone. Posting to the blog not working yet--I'll sort that out later.

Jon.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tolldown to Bath via the American Museum: 25/4/23

 Tolldown's full English breakfast at the Crown was less generous than most other places, with only one small slice of toast and a single egg, but it was adequate, and I set out for the drive towards Bath in bright sunshine and a good mood -- which abated as I wrestled with the traffic. I had decided to come in obliquely via the large recreation areas to the south-east of Bath, but even getting there involved lots of narrow roads, up and down hills, one-way traffic lights for roadworks, and crossing the centre line to get around parked cars. On the way I drove through Bathhampton, which is where Arthur Phillip came from, and is buried, though I didn't know it at the time. This is also where they have a genuine private toll bridge, with two collectors holding out a bag and getting GBP1 from every car that comes through. At about 9:30 I reached my first destination, the American Museum, set up on the outskirts of Bath by yet another couple of rich gay Americans. This claims to be...
Read more

Day 5: Dunedin

Started the day with a walk down from the ridge of the Otago Peninsula. All the walks here either go straight up a mountain or straight down to the sea, so I went down as far as I could in the time available and then toiled back up again. Nice views over the sea and green farmlands, including some geese waddling uphill in a long line to be fed. In Dunedin I booked the coastal rail trip for 11.10 and then just strolled around a bit. They have closed off the famous Octagon to traffic, and the retailers aren't happy about it. Even with bunting and a stage it doesn't look particularly glamorous; I can't see it becoming a tourist mecca, even wth the visiting cruise liners. Caught the train along the coast and got to see the other side of the bay. Again, very spectacular views, with the same train captain giving his travelogue; but a much shorter trip which doesn't actually end anywhere important; just stops and turns around. Back in Dunedin I had fish and chips for lunch and...
Read more

Day 14: Te Anau to Alexandra

Quite a long drive, with a choice of routes. I chose to avoid the long windy mountain route with sections called things like 'The Devil's Staircase' and took the slightly longer (+15 mins) alternative back through Gore. The splendid weather continues, with bright sunshine all day and sunburn a real hazard. By the evening the temperature had risen to 29, and then the breeze kicked in. I stopped once for coffee in the morning, then continued on to Gore, where I had a pork burrito for lunch. Everything was open this time but I was still unable to find a place where I could get just, say, a Caesar salad. But the burrito was nice, and I ate it beside the river which was bursting its banks just a couple of days ago. Turned north at Gore and followed the Clutha River through the middle of the island. There was a bit of up-and-down but not too much, and some nice towns along the way. I stopped at Roxburgh for a stroll around, anf again at Alexandra itself, which has its o...
Read more