Nic and Sue’s Euro River Cruise and l bits on the side. Autumn 2026. Day 21 – Plan C. London to Amsterdam.

***please if you comment, leave your name as mostly I can’t identify who is making ***comment.

Breaky as usual, and then last packing before using Jump app to hail a black cab to take us and our luggage to St Pancras International Rail Station.

Ussie with Black cab. Not a chatty driver this am.

We were a little early and weren’t able to check in as per time on tickets, so we went and sat for a bit before making our way back to check in.
Here we were pleasantly surprised with a Eurostar premium Lounge pass.

Happy campers. Much better than the hard airport chairs in waiting area.

Through security and passport control. Then upstairs into the lounge – it was nice and quiet had some good breakfast drink options. I had a Banana, lemongrass, kale and mango smoothie – very refreshing, also a nice peach spritzer and a turmeric and ginger shot, all while reading “The Times” Newspaper. Quite a newsy read with Jeffrey Archer having died, the politics of disability support is not confined to NDIS!!!

Chandeliers in the Eurostar Premium Lounge. (A freebie)
Yummy smoothie.
So nice to sit. So nice to read a paper Paper!
Could be writing about our NDIS.
Cat lovers. For Bronwyn, Gloria and Sandra.
Weather closing in.

Then it was time to board our Eurostar to Amsterdam, travelling backwards and not a lot to see – between dirty windows, speed and tunnels/fences.

The train. We had a fair walk to carriage 13. Then surprisingly we were at the front. Only three carriages from Engine.
Going backwards tho. Yuk, not my favourite thing.

We had a delay on the UK side for a while due to some infrastructure issues in the tunnel, which sees us delayed.

Delayed here.

We passed through to France without a hitch. A stop in Lille and then before we knew it we were into Belgium.

Into France.
Belgium.
Not sure where this was. Maybe Lille!

Unfortunately the train windows are grungy and I couldn’t get a photo of anything interesting. We saw farmlands and a few farm buildings along the way. And lots and lots of trees flickering past.

Video: just to show how hard it was to take a pic.

We had another stop in Brussels.
Then another in Antwerp. The announcement told us we were stopped as there was a person walking on the tracks. “They probably got him by now but haven’t informed Eurostar” we were quickly underway after the announcement. (Not like home where they call it a delay but don’t say why.)

Eurostar wifi was shite! Lucky for our Orange Travel e’sims which have worked beautifully I could mostly see where we were.
Next stop was Rotterdam, then

Amsterdam Centraal Station.

Going slower could snap whatever the phone saw flat on the window. Fluked the signage.
Rotterdam
Rotterdam I think.

Our Hotel, Double Tree Hilton – Centraal Station was only 500m down the street. Quite easy and a fluke cos we didn’t know we’d be arriving by train rather than a Scenic River Cruise Boat when we booked it months ago!

We checked in, nice room. Spacious, view into courtyard. Even has face washers.

Centraal Station was a lovely old building.
There she is.
Spacious bathroom.
Too late for a totally clean shot.

Took a walk to orient ourselves and find some nearby options for breakfast tomorrow as we have Anne Frank Huis at 9am. oh and we grabbed a bite to eat. I was up for Macca’s but thankfully Sue was not and she selected a nice little Italian place – we shared garlic bread and a lasagne (no pic oops!) which was one of the best I’ve tasted. Hit the spot!

The Chinese restaurant right beside our hotel. Sue and Ros ate here many years ago on the first night of their tour.
On the banks of canal across from us.
Out and about in Amsterdam.
Looking into people’s lives.
Not a straight building to be seen.
Cheese place. Cheese tourist traps are common.
The garlic bread got a photo. Sadly not the lasagna.
Colourful reflections.
Don’t park bikes here – I’m guessing.
Nor here.

Having managed not to get skiddled by a bike, it was home to bed ready to explore tomorrow.

Nicola Stuart

,

4 responses to “Nic and Sue’s Euro River Cruise and l bits on the side. Autumn 2026. Day 21 – Plan C. London to Amsterdam.”

  2. Nice work on the lounge freebie! Shame about the grungy train, but trains never seem to go through the most picturesque routes! Loved the cat article and how English to be reading the times at a train station! Be careful of the cookies you eat in Amsterdam! 🤣 Hire some bikes and have a tootle around! Sandra

    Like

    Reply

  4. We loved Amsterdam. Great place. We chose to see the Resistance museum instead of Anne Frank’s house. Found it a very moving place. If you have time, can recommend it.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply