Time to move on, Amsterdam here we come!

This morning mum and I are off to Amsterdam, where we meet up with Mike after his 35 hour journey.

It isn't a very early start, don't need to be at the train station until 10am, and its only 5 min walk.

At 9.45 mum and I decided we would do our last look around the apartment to make sure we hadn't left anything behind, and did the 3 trips in the lift to get our bags down the 4 levels.  It is Sunday and Election Day here in France, and its very quiet in the streets.  We have been use to seeing all the police around the neighbourhood pulling over cars and trucks, but not so much today.  Most of the shops in our little corner are closed, but luckily for Mike, our Patisserie is open so I was able to get a few treats that Mike requested.

The rain hasn't stopped now for a few days, so it is pretty wet, but still walkable with a jacket on.  We arrived at the train station just after 10am and joined the queue to get on the train.  Even with the trains you have to have all your luggage scanned before getting on.  We were all seated and happy with 4 mins to spare.

The trip is around 3.5 hours, with only a few stops along the way at Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam Airport and finally Amsterdam Central.  I took a few timelapse videos on the way which I have joined together below.

Mum and I arrived at Amsterdam Central station about an hour before Mike was due to meet us.  We had pre-arranged to meet at Starbucks, which in the end was the best idea, as it was nice and quiet.  The room that Starbucks is in looks to be very original to the station, I just loved the ceiling.

Mike found us pretty easily, the poor guy looked a little beat from the trip.  He decided to have a wee sit down and drink before heading off to find the tram.

By 4pm we had arrived at our Amsterdam apartment.  There will be some photos of that to come soon.  And while Mike is having a snooze and Mum is resting in front of the TV, that finally has some english shows on it, I decided to go for a walk around our local street.  Here are some shots to give you an idea of how fabulous it is here.  The tulips are out and I am seeing then everywhere, it almost feels magical.