Have nice and safe trip, bigbet.
Beautiful city, esp. if the weather is on your side and it's not raining.
Last time I went was in July (world cup final at museumplein), whole city was celebrating in the streets and everyone was wearing orange in support of their team. Imo very open minded and tolerant people in Amsterdam, always like to make a short trip to Amsterdam or Barcelona, probably my favorite two cities in Europe.
Beautiful city, esp. if the weather is on your side and it's not raining.
Last time I went was in July (world cup final at museumplein), whole city was celebrating in the streets and everyone was wearing orange in support of their team. Imo very open minded and tolerant people in Amsterdam, always like to make a short trip to Amsterdam or Barcelona, probably my favorite two cities in Europe.
BB - I've flown into Schipol quite a few times. Very safe to take the train. Just remember you're taking a redeye over (most likely), and you're gonna land at like 3:00am your body clock time when it's 9:00am there (or there-abouts as you've got a 6hr time difference), so you're gonna feel like it's the middle of the night when you're trying to get to your hotel.
As for the hotel, make sure they know you're an early am arrival. You may have to get the room the night before to make sure its ready for you when you go to check in.
Once you get over the jet-lag the city is Phenomenal.
As for the hotel, make sure they know you're an early am arrival. You may have to get the room the night before to make sure its ready for you when you go to check in.
Once you get over the jet-lag the city is Phenomenal.
Have been there only once for a weekend, must have been 6 years ago. Back then it was dirt cheap, but from what I've heard prices went up when they joined the Euro community (but still cheap if you compare it to Munich *lol*). Nightlife was great, lots of beautiful girls. And also lots of beautiful architecture, slightly preferred Prague compared to Vienna, but just my opinion.
Nightlife in Prague is pretty much up there with Amsterdam, Amsterdam is more expensive (Barcelona even more), but I enjoy great architecture and Barcelona has lots of that and I also prefer Amsterdam over Prague from that point of view.
If I had to rank them, Barcelona would be #1, Amsterdam #2, Sevilla #3 (lacks a bit in the nightlife department), Paris #4, Prague #5. Vienna would probably rank 6th. Liked all those cities, but was a bit disappointed when I went to Venice, also didn't like London so much, Rome was really disappointing, Brussels is flat out ugly in my opinion and Madrid was average at best. Havent been to Scandinavia yet, Copehagen and Stockholm are def. on my list for future trips (as is Lisbon).
English tv stations should depend on the hotel you booked. You might get some English TV stations besides CNN, but wouldnt expect too many channels.
I grew up near the Belgian and Dutch border and drove to Holland several times: If you are in Germany, many people will complain about Dutch drivers (and their caravans *lol*) but I really enjoyed driving in the Netherlands. More speed limits there but overall it seems more relaxed over there. Much less aggressive drivers, no honking at all and I dont think you will have any trouble driving there as long as you respect their speed limits.
When you're going to Germany, you should expect lots of speed limits there, too. There is no general speed limit on autobahn, but they are construction works all over the place and some parts have speed limits in general, so you should watch out or you might be out of a couple of hundred bucks for speeding ;-)
bigbet1234 said:
As mentioned above, you should have CNN, but you should be able to watch a few of the Dutch stations as well, since most of the time they do not dub over the voice but use sub-titles instead - so you get to hear the English version of the program but follow along / read the words in Flemish (Dutch) below. Works out well IMO as I learned more Flemish that way than any others. Took a year but I was pretty well Fluent in the language when I left.
bigbet1234 said:
Driving is no problems at all. You just need to get an International drivers license. I had a Belgian license since I was there for 2 years but an International works. I don't know what the car rental is going to cost you but it's probably going to be a lot. You are MUCH better off taking the train to what-ever city your buddy is at and have him meet you / pick you up at the station. Trains are THE way to travel in Europe and it's not even close.
