It starts with us missing the bus. We are in good time and Jonas will only pay the port fee in the vending machine while I go on to the bus. But the vending machine that was there yesterday is gone. It turns out that they are just starting up a new booking/payment system with an app. He has to download the app, and as the first trial customer, Jonas will show everyone in the office how it works while the installer explains. It had to be the next bus in 30 minutes.

The driver is nice and suggests the cheapest option, a day ticket for two, go as much as we want for 14 euros. Perfect, then we have a ticket for the journey home as well. But what then, everyone leaves the bus before we arrive in Amsterdam! The bus would go into the center of Amsterdam, right? No to Sloterdijk station. Miss of us of course, Amsterdam Station Sloterdijk is located right on the outskirts of the town and here we have to change. Change to what? there are both commuter trains, trams and lots of buses. We ask a driver who suggests bus 22, which we happily get on and hold out our day ticket to the vending machine. Nothing happens, we show the ticket to the driver who informs us that it is only valid at another bus company. You have to buy a new ticket, the cheapest is a day ticket for two, you can go as much as you want and go home tonight, 16 euros, please!

It was a long journey, and we wonder if the expensive 25-minute taxi ride, which we opted out of, would have been more affordable.

We should have read this sign better and checked stations, and bus companies!

We like Amsterdam. A great city with its canals, many cozy bars, cafes, restaurants, and an impressive Central Station.

There were also less cozy elements in the street scene. Garbage management seems a bit outdated, a pile on the sidewalk.

We had lunch in a cozy place by a canal, by the red parasols, but we wondered a little about the tree that had fallen into the canal.

Soon one fallen tree after another appeared, and broken tiles on the ground. There had been a storm over Amsterdam the night before.

The flower market felt obligatory to visit. Among all the bulbs, seeds, and flowers, you could also buy this starter kit, which perhaps explains why a certain scent was heavy over the city. Without our teenage memories, from perhaps less suitable parties, we would probably have wondered very much what it could be that smelled like that 🙂

After long walks, and the obligatory canal trip by boat, we chose Indonesian for dinner. Do not regret it! Yummy