This morning, I took the train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam so that I could meet up with the apartment rental agency and get the keys to my new place. Of course, that's easier said than done. Apparently, the train I was going to take that was supposed to leave from track 9 at 7:59am got moved to track 14. Considering I do not know Dutch and couldn't understand any of the announcements at the train station, I stayed on track 9 waiting... and waiting... and waiting, but no train. Finally, I lugged all of my bags back down the stairs to the terminal area and found out that the train had already left from a different track. Oops. I found the next train that was going to Amsterdam and took that one. It was not an Intercity train (the fast ones). It was a Stop Train which means it makes a lot of stops and takes much longer to get to Amsterdam. Great... I was supposed to meet the rental agency guy at 10am. The train was due to arrive in Amsterdam at 9:37am. Just enough time to grab a cab at the train station and make it to the apartment.
Again, grabbing a cab... much easier said than done. As I'm sure this happens in many cities, cab drivers are crooks! He saw me coming with all my luggage and my American face and told me it would be 15 Euros for the trip. I was running late and said fine, knowing that I would have just walked it if not for the luggage. It's literally less than a mile away. Well, he gets to about a block away and stops the car and says, here you go... just cross the bridge, it's across the canal. I know it's not and tell him so. He tells me that this is where he is dropping me off. Nice. Well, I don't have anything but a 10 and a 20 Euro bill at this point... I give him the 20 Euros and he writes me a receipt for 20 Euros. I say... um, this is supposed to be 15 Euros which is already way too much for a less than 5 minute drive and I want my change. He reminds me that the 15 Euros doesn't include the tip. Right, like I'm going to tip him 5 Euros... you don't tip that much in the Netherlands anywhere (especially not when you know you are being ripped off to start with!). I told him I wasn't tipping him and that he needed to give me a new receipt and find me some change. Or I would give him the 10 Euro bill I had in my wallet and he'd have to just take that. Amazingly, at this point he found a 5 Euro bill to give me the change. Funny how that worked.
Anyway, after that little encounter, I had to walk through some sand and dirt with my suitcase because the sidewalk was being reconstructed. I then had to walk under a guy on a ladder cleaning windows, which worried me that I would knock the ladder with my huge red suitcase and fling the guy onto the ground. I finally made it to my new place! I was so glad to be there.
Marc from the rental agency met me and took me through the apartment and showed me how to work everything. The place is very nice - 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, nice size living room/kitchen. The second bedroom is super small... but great for visitors (hint hint) The location is great. It's right at the end of the Red Light District and close to where I stayed last year when I was here. So, I'm very familiar with the area and how to get around.
Here are a a few pictures I took. If you click on them, you will see a larger version of the picture.
Here's a view from the living room window: 
The stairs are really steep (typical of Dutch apartments, I guess). Luckily, I had help carrying my suitcase up... thank God for chivalry!
Here's where I'll be sleeping for the next few months:
Here's a shot of the kitchen and dining area:
Here's a pic of the living room:
I went to the train station today and picked up a monthly metro pass and a discount card for riding the Holland trains. I'm all set! Now, I just need to hit the grocery store and stock up on some great Dutch foods! : )
