On the way to Amsterdam...
1. I missed the damn Thalys train by exactly one minute. Not because I was late to Gare du Nord but the kiosks to retrieve the tickets do not read US-issued credit cards because they lack microchips. So am standing on line while watching as the train leaves before my very eyes.
2. So afterwards am talking to the clerk in France and she messes up the whole itinerary, cancels my return train to Paris, tells me there are no more trains to Amsterdam for the day, etc.
3. Finally, get on a train two hours later and it continues for about an hour and a half and then stops in Brussels, Belgium. Just stops, and then an announcement is made that this is the final stop. Apparently the train splits in half in Brussels and then continues on to Amsterdam. In the mean time, you have about 5 minutes to go from one end of the train to the other. A train that is about 2 city blocks long. So it is a mad dash from one end to the other.
4. Finally, the right train and in time, headed to Amsterdam at last and The Bulldog Coffee Shop, Museumplein and Damrak Street for the next 30 hours or so...
...then back to Paris!
Vaarwel!
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