Amsterdam

I have to say, I really did enjoy seeing bits of Amsterdam over the last couple of days. It’s always been on the “to do” list of places to go, and while the RAI isn’t the best introduction to the place, it at least gave me the chance to finally get over and see a bit of the place.

There’s a lot that I didn’t get to see, obviously, but the taster I got courtesy of “The Maddest Cabbie since Travis Bickle”™ (who seemed to take pride in jumping as many red (traffic, you perv) lights as possible as fast as possible) was enough to make me certain I wanted to return.

One other thing that I appreciated was the public transport – both the trains and the metro tram/trains were superb, on-time, quiet, and busy. The trains in particular were interesting, as they were “double-decker” ones where you got on at platform level, and then went either up or down a set of stairs. I wonder why these haven’t been used in the UK? The height didn’t appear to be that much different to the standard Virgin trains I’ve come to know and loathe so much, but they were much better, and able to carry far more people without resorting to the *ahem* “corridor seating” known to all regular Virgin travellers.

However, the taxi drivers appear (generalising from a sample of two) to be completely insane. Mind you, the roads are nightmarish, with the added joys of psychotic cyclists and street trams to deal with as well as the standard car users, so I can understand it to a degree.

Anyway, definitely a place I intend to return to before very long…