Slow Travellers - Day in Amsterdam and Journey to Berlin

After a good night's sleep, with less gentle rocking than our outward journey, we arrived in Amsterdam ferry port at a much more socialable time than our arrival in Hull - 9.40am local time. After a small breakfast we disembarked and jumped on the pre-booked coach to Amsterdam Centraal. Our train to Berlin would leave the following day, so we had a room booked at a hotel in the Amsteldorp area of Amsterdam, as recommended by a friend who is a local, and who we would catch up later in the afternoon. 

As expected the centre was very busy, so after dropping off our bags at the station we headed through the crowds and towards some quieter canals and then onto the recently(ish) renovated Rijksmuseum where we had a slot booked for 12.30pm (kids go free). To take in everything would have been quite an effort but we took a small journey through the history of Dutch art and saw some works by Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer. Exiting via the gardens in the sunshine was a nice contrast to the busy halls. We then grabbed some local fries before heading to pick up our bags and to our hotel. 

We recharged in the hotel courtyard bar with our friend before taking a final evening stroll along the Amstel and some of its adjoinjng canals. Marla was fascinated by all the locals out on boats enjoying the evening sun and wondered why we we're on one too. Perhaps next time...

With our train leaving at 1pm and our check out at 11am we had a slow morning and enjoyed some pancakes in the hotel for breakfast. Our train to Berlin is direct this time, and we were happy to have reserved seats given how busy it was. With only a slight delay in our train we arrived safely in Berlin after a 7 hour train journey. 

Our return leg felt less exhausting - a combination of our expectations from the outward journey and the shorter trips to Newcastle and Amsterdam helped. In terms of what we have seen and done this journey beats any flight hands-down. In terms of duration we could have shorted it by not stopping in Newcastle or Amsterdam overnight but it broke up the journey nicely and allowed Marla to appreciate how far we travel to visit relatives. After some initial trepidation about travelling by boat and train, Marla says she likes both and I definitely agree. It won't always be possible to make the journey with train or boat, but it's definitely a viable alternative (also financially viable if you take out the hotel stays...). We already have our next trip to Scotland booked with the ferry, this time with the four of us and by car rather than train!