Tag: the Netherlands

Expenses on Trip to Netherlands in 2023

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Tere!

Here’s the expense summary for the trip to the Netherlands.

Since the currency in the Netherlands is EUR, it was easy to calculate.

I didn’t mean to be stingy or extravagant, but the total expense for two nights was 450 EUR, so it’s fairly expensive. I feel I spent more money than the trip to (Northern) Ireland.

2023

26/03/2023 to 28/03/2023

3 days

Destination

Amsterdam

Budget (total)

560

Transport

Flight

156.98

Public

68.90

Accomodation

74.65

Food

€73.11

Leisure

Sightseeing

€43

Souvenirs

For myself

€5.95

For others

€21.73

Insurance

€10.00

Sum

€454.32

As for the travel insurance, as mentioned in the article on the expense for the trip to (Northern) Ireland, I just divided a travel insurance policy for a fortnight into two just for my own calculation, thus I paid 30 EUR for Globe Traveller in total.

Aitäh! 🙂

3 Souvenirs You Can Buy in Netherlands!

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Do you remember that I prefer choosing local souvenirs to typical souvenirs? Here’s the Netherlands trip version!

The article’s volume isn’t a lot as the trip was only for a few nights.

Here I’m going to talk about three Dutch + local souvenirs, and hope it will be helpful for your Netherlands trip.

Table of Contents

     1. Verkade’s chocolate
     2. The Dutch people’s favourite sweets – “Drop”
     3. The Dutch people’s breakfast ingredient – “Hagelslag”
     ★Summary

1. Verkade’s chocolate

Let’s begin with a typical souvenir choice – chocolate!

Verkade is a Dutch brand.

My university friend in Japan and I give birthday gifts to each other every year, so this year (in 2023) I asked her what she wanted, and she said Verkade’s chocolate. At that time, I had two trip plans: to the Netherlands and to Sweden. This is why I asked whether she had something she wanted from one or both of the countries.

I had never heard of Verkade before, so I was not confident to find their chocolate, and yet I found Verkade’s chocolate at the supermarket I randomly went to in order to find souvenirs.

Plus, they had different flavours!

I chose the flavour of “hazelnuts and caramel” as well as “cappuccino”. The former was a new flavour and the latter one sounded unusual, and this is why I chose them. My friend can’t drink coffee, but I thought she could eat it if it’s just a flavour in chocolate. (I assume she just can’t handle the bitterness in black coffee. What is more, cappuccino itself has more milk than espresso.)

Verkade "Hazelnuts and caramel" and "cappuccino"

I once gave her Ukrainian sweets on her birthday, and her granny ate without knowing it, but it won’t happen this time again as Verkade’s chocolate is not a bar but a slab.

2. The Dutch people’s favourite sweets – “Drop”

When Japanese people hear of “drop”, they will definitely imagine sweet candies called “Sakuma drops”, but Dutch “drop” isn’t like that.

Sakuma drops
Reference

It’s a liquorice candy, and in Finland they call it “salmiakki”.

The Japanese person who thinks salmiakki is tasty I know of is only Mr. Aizawa (Eraser Head) from “My Hero Academia”…

Mr. Aizawa (Eraser Head)
Reference

When my Dutch friend came to Japan for the first time, she brought a bag of “drops”, and she gave me one, which was the beginning and the end.

It’s worth trying though.

I decided to have this for my friend’s birthday as a joke. 😂

I tend to have “a surprise” when giving someone a gift.

However, it’s completely up to her to try to consume all or throw it away after trying it. (I personally don’t like “drop” so it’s okay even if she wants to throw it away this time.)

3. The Dutch people’s breakfast ingredient – “Hagelslag”

The last thing is “Dutch home breakfast” you can enjoy at your own home, which is “hagelslag”!

Whenever I stayed at my Dutch friend’s parents’ place before, they had this. She taught me it was

“mice’s poops”

At her parents’ place they always had Belgian chocolate and colourful sugar, but in fact there are more types. Like her parents’ choices, I bought chocolate for my friend in Japan, and chocolate and colourful sugar for my company.

Hagelslag

The way to eat them is very straightforward.

Spread butter on a slice of bread and scatter hagelslag as much as you want.

Then eat it.

That’s it!

Personally this colourful sugar one goes well with greek yoghurt.

★Summary

The first two souvenirs could be typical, but I think no travellers would buy the third one unless they know.

It’s not healthy, but it looks fun, so I like them. Be careful with the calories because you consume it with bread and butter…

Aitäh! 🙂

Public Transport in Amsterdam (ver. 2023)

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

Although I walk a lot during a trip so that I can eat as much tasty food as I want, on this trip to Amsterdam I suddenly decided to buy an Amsterdam public transport ticket.

It’s not anything big but it might be helpful to read this article about public transport in Amsterdam.

Table of Contents

     1. Public transport in Amsterdam
     2. Amsterdam public transport tickets
     3. How to get on a tram in Amsterdam
     ★Summary

1. Public transport in Amsterdam

The whole Netherlands rather than Amsterdam are the country of bicycles! Therefore there are a number of bicycle riders, naturally there are bicycle lanes on the roads as well as you can see how huge the number of bicycles in the bicycle parking areas are.

However, I personally think that other normal (?) public transport is safer and easier for travellers to avoid accidents unless they are a huge fan of bicycles or they definitely want to explore Amsterdam by bicycle.

While I had been to Amsterdam twice before this trip in 2023, it was my first time to use Amsterdam public transport as otherwise I walked.

This is because Amsterdam is a walkable distanced city.

なぜなら歩ける距離だから。

However, after exploring Rotterdam for half a day, and participating in a walking tour in Rotterdam, I had no physical energy to walk 25 minutes to walk to the accommodation in Amsterdam.

Originally I planned to walk to the accommodation so I had no research on the public transport in Amsterdam, but it was not a big problem that I decided to buy an Amsterdam transport ticket.

Also, the public transport in Amsterdam is called GVB.

2. msterdam public transport tickets

Since I tiredly arrived at Amsterdam Central station from Rotterdam, I took a tram in Amsterdam. I didn’t have to buy a public transport ticket beforehand. They have a ticketing counter in the Amsterdam tram. However keep in mind that the payment option is only by card.

As far as I remember, a one hour ticket for Amsterdam public transport was something like 3.40 EUR or 3.90 EUR. I was surprised as it was more expensive than Dublin. Even in Dublin, you don’t need to pay more than 3 EUR for a sightseeing distance. (By the way, the prices in Dublin depend on the areas in Dublin and the price in Amsterdam is dependent on the time.)

Since I had a plan to use the ferry at least twice the next day, and I thought I would additionally use Amsterdam public transport the next day too, so I bought a 24-hour ticket. I remember that it’s a better option if you take Amsterdam public transport more than three times.

Amsterdam transport card (24 hours)

A 24-hour ticket cost 9 EUR, which I bought at the ticketing counter in the Amsterdam tram.

As GVB has a mobile app, you can buy this ticket in the app, too.

3. How to get on a tram in Amsterdam

Amsterdam trams are unique in my opinion. There are both entrance only and exit only doors. I didn’t know these, and once I tried to get on the tram from the exit door. 😂 As I was pressing the button to try to open the door, I found a sign saying “no entry”. 😂

You should remember this if you plan to use Amsterdam trams.

★Summary

Amsterdam is a compact city so you can basically walk around unless you have plans to move from the edge of the city to another edge of Amsterdam.

As for ferries, there should be ticket checking machines or something but I couldn’t find anything or anyone to check my ticket so I used the ferry twice without verifying the ticket. No one noticed me or said anything to me.

Aitäh! 🙂

Sightseeing in Rotterdam ver. 2023

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Tere!

On the trip to the Netherlands, which was the third time in my life, I went to Rotterdam for the first time!

Since “the Cube House” was the only purpose to go to Rotterdam, I attended a walking tour in Rotterdam like in the one in Belfast.

I was glad to have participated in the walking tour as Rotterdam was fairly small.

Table of Contents

     1. The Cube House
     2. Markthal and the walking tour
          a. Architecture in Rotterdam
          b. Everything is “Erasmus”
          c. New centre and old centre in Rotterdam
          d. Weed in the Netherlands
     ★Summary

1. The Cube House

“The Cube House” was something I had wanted to see in Rotterdam.

The cube house

The house literally looked like a chain of dice, and partially it’s a museum.

You can buy Rotterdam souvenirs (like magnets) at a souvenir store in the Cube House.

2. Markthal and the walking tour

The Rotterdam walking tour started at Markthal (market hall).

Markthal has lots of food stands and shops, where you can eat Dutch krokets and chips in addition to other international foods, which I will explain in another article.

Though the meeting point for the walking tour was outside of Markthal.

a. Architecture in Rotterdam

There is lots of architecture in front of Markthal. According to the walking tour guide, people in Rotterdam tend to be fond of naming uniquely. For instance, the architecture in front of Markthal is “pencil”. (You can find this easily as it literally looks like a pencil.)

And Markthal is “pencil sharpener”.

I understood, but Markthal didn’t seem to be as unique as the others in my opinion.

In Rotterdam, there is Rotterdam Laurence church. During WWII, almost the whole city of Rotterdam was burnt, but Rotterdam Laurence church survived. The walking tour guide showed us a picture at that time, and literally Rotterdam Laurence church was left alone.

b. Everything is “Erasmus”

Erasmus is a humanist from the current Netherlands, and at that time people had the name of the birthplace in their name. Therefore, his Latin name is “Erasmus of Rotterdam”.

For this reason, in Rotterdam, everywhere such as a bridge or university has the name of “Erasmus”.







Oi, that’s so random…

c. New centre and old centre in Rotterdam

In the area of Rotterdam, where the above architectures can be seen, is a part of a new centre of Rotterdam, and there is an old centre of Rotterdam.

Since I just passed by the border during the walking tour, I didn’t check the map, and I can’t tell you where it was exactly, but in short, the centre of Rotterdam is different now from then.

The tram line was the border according to the walking tour guide.

d. Weed in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, weed is legal, which is why non-Japanese people think I go to the Netherlands for weed when I tell them I will go to the Netherlands. Based on my own judgement and prejudice, travellers who purely want to enjoy sightseeing in the Netherlands are often Japanese. The Europeans go to the Netherlands for weed. (Of course some non-Japanese whose purpose is not weed go to the Netherlands for mushrooms!)

However, it appears to be prohibited to produce weed as only the use of weed is legal in the Netherlands.

Also, it snows in winter in the Netherlands despite the amount not as heavy as Estonia.

Based on this information, the walking tour guide showed us one picture: There were houses, and one of the houses didn’t have snow on the roof partially.

Even if you don’t know a lot about weed, you can guess what it means.

Since weed grows in a warm place, the house got warm, and the snow melted partially on the roof in winter.






So stupid. 😂




★Summary

Are you interested in Rotterdam now?

I was glad to go to Rotterdam, and happily gave the walking tour guide 10 EUR due to my experience in Belfast.

I feel a walking tour can be a new enjoyment on my trips! (However, they don’t conduct walking tours everyday, so the fact that I will go on a trip does not necessarily mean that I will take part in a walking tour.)

Aitäh! 🙂

Let’s take a train in the Netherlands!

ZooksLeave a comment

Tere!

It was the third visit to the Netherlands in my life. Accordingly, it was the third time taking trains in the Netherlands. I had visited the Netherlands in 2015 and 2018, and each time I stayed at my friend’s parents’ place in the south of the Netherlands as well as I went to Amsterdam from there by train.

This time was the first time since 2018, namely the first time in 5 years to have visited the Netherlands, therefore my memory on how to take a train in the Netherlands was subtle.

In this article I will talk about my learning in terms of taking trains in the Netherlands.

Table of Contents

     1. Buying train tickets in the Netherlands
     2. Types of train tickets in the Netherlands
     3. What will happen if one buys wrong train tickets in the Netherlands?
     ★Summary

1. Buying train tickets in the Netherlands

It is fairly easy to buy train tickets in the Netherlands. The trains in the Netherlands are called “NS”, whose main colour is yellow. I bought a train ticket at the Schiphol airport to go to Rotterdam.

You can also buy train tickets on Omio, and yet the prices are not so different, and should a flight be delayed, your ticket might become invalid. For this reason, in my case I bought the train ticket at Schiphol airport to Rotterdam.

At train ticketing machines, you can select in English, so it shouldn’t be so difficult to buy the tickets.

2. Types of train tickets in the Netherlands

There are a couple of types of trains in the Netherlands: Intercity, Intercity direct and Sprinter.

Honestly I have no idea how exactly they are different, but be careful when buying train tickets because if your train tickets are wrong, you might be required to pay more money.

Plus, the railway staff at Schiphol airport are not trustworthy.

3. What will happen if one buys wrong train tickets in the Netherlands?

As I wrote “the railway staff at Schiphol airport are not trustworthy” above, I will explain the reason.

The train ticket I bought at Schiphol airport to go to Rotterdam was a train that takes a detour. I bought that train ticket because I had enough time and was not in a hurry.

The ticket for the slow NS train (sample)
Slow NS trains require only one train ticket.

However, when I went to the train platform in Schiphol airport, I was confused with which train was for my ticket. I asked a railway staff member there, and told him I wanted to go to Rotterdam. Then he told me to take “Intercity direct”.

I suspected, but I took the Intercity direct train. Then just before arriving in Rotterdam, a staff member in the train asked me to show my ticket and said “Where is the other ticket?”

“Sorry? I don’t know that…” I said, and he said “Your ticket is for the slower train. This train is faster, and you need to pay 10 EUR.”






The guy in the airport deceived me.




I was so pissed in my mind, and left the train station in Rotterdam.

After all, I spent more money than buying the faster train tickets. I wished I could have screamed at the staff at the Schiphol airport:






Give me money back.




So be careful.

Tickets when taking an intercity direct train (sample)
Intercity direct trains require these two tickets.

★Summary

When going to Amsterdam from Rotterdam, I bought the train tickets for Intercity direct, and took the Intercity direct train.

By the way, I felt the train tickets in the Netherlands are so expensive as it cost 20 EUR for a 30-minute distance (from Rotterdam to Amsterdam). It takes around one hour from Kyoto to Osaka, and it costs only 400 JPY (less than 3 EUR) (if you use Hankyu).

Aitäh! 🙂