Grand European Tour, Budapest to Amsterdam—Final Day
August 24, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Today I was without a camera and on my own after breakfast. I said a final good-bye to Jo and Jack and a few other friends who were still on board for breakfast. My taxi was picking me up at 11 a.m. and I headed into Amsterdam to the Hotel Mozart.
Viking offers a post-cruise stay and tour for two days. I did not opt for that because I thought I could get a better deal. In hindsight, I may have saved $100 but I only stayed one day. They stayed two nights and had a tour of the city on the second day. I paid for a canal cruise and a meal. My hotel had a free continental breakfast.
I liked it very much, based on a central location close to the Rijks Museum and down the street from the Anne Frank Museum. It was tiny, though. A single room, with a bathroom almost as large as the bed area. I did like that they put a fan in the room to make it more comfortable. I would go there again, though I don’t think I am inclined to go back to Amsterdam. It was far too hectic a pace with bicyclists to watch out for (Killer bicyclists, the guides in Germany called them), as well as cars. And on the canal, a cluster of boats. I was so hungry, and should have just gotten a slice of pizza, but sat at a restaurant to enjoy a Dutch meal of veal croquettes and a grilled Gouda cheese sandwich. As a result, I missed going to the Rijks museum, which I had hoped to see, especially for the miniature displays. I didn’t expect to get into the Anne Frank museum, because the lines get long, but when I passed it on the canal boat ride, it didn’t look too bad.
One thing to get used to when going from Hungary to other parts of Europe is the currency difference. I actually felt more comfortable spending thousands of forints versus Euros because I knew that the thousands of forints only came to a few dollars and when I spent Euro, I knew it was actually more expensive dollar-wise than the amount I was being charged. So a 103 euro bill was actually $117.
I ended up sleeping a lot in Amsterdam—maybe because I was so tired from all the tours I went on or the high stress of Amsterdam’s manic vibe. I have to say, too, that the taxi driver upset me by charging more than I was told the cost would be. And because I needed a ride to the airport, I did agree to let him pick me up because the price he gave, 45 euro, sounded fair. When he got there and I sat in the car, he gave me a story that the traffic to the airport was so heavy and it might cost more. I said I only have enough based on what we agreed upon, and that I could have gotten a cab from the hotel for 40 euro. He said that they would have charged me 70 euro at the airport. He also kept saying, “Where do you want me to stop so you can get more money?” I held my ground and said I was not getting more money. So he put on the meter and said he would give me a “discount.” It ended up being 52 euro, with no discount. Next time, if I ever go back, I will figure out the mass transportation.
When I returned to Budapest, I happily got my transit pass and paid the equivalent of $4 for a bus that took me directly to my M2 line in Astoria on the way to Deak Ter. Budapest has always had mass transit connections to the airport, but they’ve gotten a lot more streamlined, making it very easy to hop on a bus that drops people at all the Metro lines, with stops at Kalvin Ter (blue and green lines), Astoria (red line) and Deak Ter (blue, red and yellow).
Happy to be back in my second home of Budapest, but the Viking Cruise was the cherry on top of a summer “cake” in Europe. I’d love to take another Viking tour—maybe in France or Scandinavia, or a different cruise like the Christmas Market cruise, or the Around the World cruise. I hear there is one that goes around the UK into Scandinavia and that they are going to be starting a river cruise on the Mississippi. Totally fun and stress-free, and a learning experience as well.
