Antwerpen and Amsterdam

[Miklus]

I have just been to those two cities on a little two-day buisness trip. Well, I was only in Amsterdam because the flight was Copenhagen-Amsterdam and then train to Antwerpen. I don't know why I couldn't just fly direct, but I did not plan (or pay) the route for this.

Some impressions while I can still remember:

Flying is so enormously overcomplicated. First you have to but the ticket online. Then you have to check in online and print your own boarding pass. Then you have to be there two hours before the flight. Don't get me started on long-term airport parking. Next is the security check... Striped of belt and shoes, you get fondled by a stange man. You can't even bring toothpaste on board. I got busted for having a small pair of sissors. On to the shopping mall that is the airport itself. Overpriced luxury items as far as the eye can see. Bagage check-in and trying to find it again at the other end. Ect... Wait two hours just so you can hurl through the air at 800Km/h for one hour... Also, the low pressure in the cabin did a number on my right ear, so I'm now half deaf.

In contrast, the train is much more straight forward. I think this one goes 250Km/h. I can't get over how smooth the ride is. But trust the Dutch to screw it up. It is very nice that the train can go from Amsterdam to Antwerpen in one hour, but it falls flat when the train is 40 min late... They could not find out what track the train was supposed to arrive at either. How can that be random??? When nobody knows when or where and everything is in dutch, It makes for a confused me. Potheads.

Still, I would go for the train anytime. At least you don't get groped. If only we had these trains in Denmark. I bet the train could beat the plane if there was a line between Copenhagen and Antwerp, maybe over Hamburg and Amsterdam.

On to Antwerpen. They manage to stack their trains three high at Antwerpen Centraal, that earns cool points. The Belgian diet consists of chocolate, waffles, beer and fries. How are they not dead? Everything else has diamonds on it. That makes for poor shopping. Who buys a €44,350 wrist watch anyway? Some cities hate cars, but Antwerpen seems to hate all trafic equally. The city prides itself on bikes, but build no bicycle lanes for them. It's cycle-suicide. I thought they had some pretty funny bikes too, until I realised that it's the kind that folds in the middle. Do they take them on the trains? The city itself is very charming and everybody speaks english. There is one drawback, though. At random intervals and with no warning, you get a wiff of raw sewage. What is up with that???

Amsterdam: I was not really supposed to see anything other than Amsterdam airport, but my so-called travel plan left me hanging for 3½ hours in Amsterdam's Schiphof airport. I wanted to go on a evening canal cruise in the famous Amsterdam canals, but my coworkers said there was NO way that would work out. Well, I made it work! I hopped a train to Amsterdam centraal, took a one hour cruise and hopped the train back again. There was not a lot of time left, but I made it to the gate in the time it said on the bording pass. Totally worth it, much better than sitting and letting your beard grow for three hours. There was houseboats and old stuff, all really pretty when lit up at night. I recommend it.

Anyway, it's been a LONG two days, so I'm off to bed. There's no place like home.

[Palanan]

Thanks for this rather hilarious take on bits of Europe as seen by a Dane.

I went through several countries in your area on a research trip some years ago, and traveled by train from Stockholm, across the ferry to Denmark (briefly), and then on to Leiden, followed by Berlin and Paris. I loved Stockholm and Leiden.

As an American, flying is always my preference. (Although it's become far, far less pleasant in recent years, for reasons we won't go into.) Over here, trains are few and generally terrible; my one long-distance trip involving a train was tedious and excruciating. It took six hours to make a trip I could've driven in 3.5 hours, or flown in 45 minutes.

So you can imagine how I felt trying to figure out a Dutch train schedule.

[Aedilred]

I have just been to those two cities on a little two-day buisness trip. Well, I was only in Amsterdam because the flight was Copenhagen-Amsterdam and then train to Antwerpen. I don't know why I couldn't just fly direct, but I did not plan (or pay) the route for this.

I'm not sure you can fly direct from Copenhagen to Antwerp. Antwerp's not a big airport, but Amsterdam's a major international hub, so flying to Amsterdam then training to Antwerp is probably the best way to do it. The alternative would, it seems, be flying to Antwerp via London.

Flying is so enormously overcomplicated.

Oh man. I haven't flown in nearly four years, but even the thought of it makes me stressed. Even - especially - the boarding pass malarkey. I don't have a printer. Nobody I know my age has a working printer. Where am I supposed to print this boarding pass off? At work, I guess (that's assuming you work in an environment where that's possible, which it isn't always).

They could not find out what track the train was supposed to arrive at either. How can that be random??? When nobody knows when or where and everything is in dutch, It makes for a confused me. Potheads.

I've only observed this from a customer perspective, but while stations seem to try to send trains consistently from the same platforms, this isn't always possible, especially when there are delays. At a major terminus, there'll probably be several platforms that incoming trains for a given route rotate between (and they might not necessarily be next to each other). If some of those trains get held up and aren't running on schedule, they'll need to go to a different platform than expected, and they might not know which one until the train actually approaches the station and needs to be directed. It's not uncommon at some London stations for the platform to be announced only minutes before departure is due.

The most miserable experience I've had with train scheduling was in France, where it took three of us about forty minutes to work out the timetable. The most miserable experience I've had with trains as a whole was in China, but that's a different story.

[FinnLassie]

Oh man. I haven't flown in nearly four years, but even the thought of it makes me stressed. Even - especially - the boarding pass malarkey. I don't have a printer. Nobody I know my age has a working printer. Where am I supposed to print this boarding pass off? At work, I guess (that's assuming you work in an environment where that's possible, which it isn't always).

I used to find this a pain when we had no printer (well, still don't, but uni does) and I didn't have a smartphone. You can always print the boarding pass at the airport on those kiosks, but that means you have to put enough faith to trust that they're working.

However, nowadays that I have a smartphone I just take a screenshot of the boarding pass (in case mobile data won't work and I can't access the details) and it's worked totally fine.

[Astrella]

Do they take them on the trains?

That's pretty common, yeah.

[Aedilred]

However, nowadays that I have a smartphone I just take a screenshot of the boarding pass (in case mobile data won't work and I can't access the details) and it's worked totally fine.

I don't have a smartphone either!

When it becomes a non-negotiable requirement of modern society to have a smartphone (or to tolerate Google Glass, whichever comes first) I think I'm just going to resign and go and live in a cave somewhere.

[Miklus]

I'm not sure you can fly direct from Copenhagen to Antwerp. Antwerp's not a big airport, but Amsterdam's a major international hub, so flying to Amsterdam then training to Antwerp is probably the best way to do it. The alternative would, it seems, be flying to Antwerp via London

I guess you're right. I was probably the travel agent (KLM) that made the route. The high-speed train station is right underneath Amsterdam airport, so the route makes sense. What don't make sense is that you can't check in for the train (or, in the opposite sirection, the plane) before you have completed the flight (or ride).

Oh man. I haven't flown in nearly four years, but even the thought of it makes me stressed. Even - especially - the boarding pass malarkey. I don't have a printer. Nobody I know my age has a working printer. Where am I supposed to print this boarding pass off? At work, I guess (that's assuming you work in an environment where that's possible, which it isn't always).

In both Copenhagen airport and Amsterdam airport they have these self-check-in machines where you just punch in the ticket number. Then it prints out your bording pass. That worked fine for me. But if you want to pick your seat, you have to go online.

I shot some video on the canal cruise, but it wasn't very good. So here is a YouTube clip from someone better at it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZW9SVwLFyA

Here is one of the train:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm8_l5oye4

I guess the train goes 300km/h and not 250. It did not feel that fast at all. If you skip to the end of the video, you can see Antwerpen centraal.

[FinnLassie]

In both Copenhagen airport and Amsterdam airport they have these self-check-in machines where you just punch in the ticket number. Then it prints out your bording pass. That worked fine for me. But if you want to pick your seat, you have to go online.

Eh, every check-in machine I've used you have been able to choose your seat - however, at that point there's not many left. Also, all of the machines have had the option to only print out your ticket. You punch in the code / ticket number and tadah, there's the option to print it.

However, as I mentioned earlier, you just have to keep your fingers crossed that the machines are working. It's not a given, something's always broken.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Aedilred
I don't have a printer. Nobody I know my age has a working printer. Where am I supposed to print this boarding pass off?

...


...Not something that would have ever occurred to me. Most hotels, at least in the US, have a printing station at the front desk for exactly this purpose. For someone leaving from home...there's always a copy center, if you can do it the day before.

Originally Posted by Aedilred
The most miserable experience I've had with trains as a whole was in China, but that's a different story.

Oh GAWD I feel your misery. One paragraph from Riding the Iron Rooster was enough to convince me to never, ever go near a Chinese train.

--I'm happy to report, however, that trains in Taiwan are fantastic. Clean, fast, modern, and announcements in four languages. (Mandarin, Taiwanese, English and Hakka.)

Originally Posted by Aedilred
When it becomes a non-negotiable requirement of modern society to have a smartphone (or to tolerate Google Glass, whichever comes first) I think I'm just going to resign and go and live in a cave somewhere.

Oh, yes, I agree with you entirely.

*broclub*

[Silver Swift]

In contrast, the train is much more straight forward. I think this one goes 250Km/h. I can't get over how smooth the ride is. But trust the Dutch to screw it up. It is very nice that the train can go from Amsterdam to Antwerpen in one hour, but it falls flat when the train is 40 min late... They could not find out what track the train was supposed to arrive at either. How can that be random???

What probably happened here is that because your train was late there was another train parked on the platform that your train was scheduled to arrive at, so they had to find another free platform.

When nobody knows when or where and everything is in dutch, It makes for a confused me.

This is odd. Most of the time, the announcements for any train that is going to or from Schiphol Airport are both in Dutch and English. Or did you mean the people on the platform? But yeah, I can get why that would be confusing.

Potheads.