After the first few weeks of continuous programmes, events and getting to know everything, I finally mostly managed to settle in. However, my interrail ticket that I had used to get to here in the first place was about to expire, with still two free travel days available on it. I definitely couldn’t let that happen, so I started thinking, and ultimately decided to organize a smaller weekend trip to Amsterdam. Two of my really good highschool friends study and live there, so accommodation (which otherwise can get quite tricky there) wasn’t a problem, so I just had to throw some of the most essential stuff in my backpack and jumped on a train.
This was the first time I had to use the SNCB app, which I found really self-explanatory and easy to use. As I had a universal interrail ticket, I didn’t have to worry too much about tickets, but it came in handy for planning my transfers. Additionally, my first train was significantly late, so I had to use it to make some quick adjustments to my plans as well, which still didn’t prove to be much of a problem. The rest of the train ride went relatively peacefully, and I arrived in Amsterdam in the early afternoon.
To those of you who have never been to Amsterdam I would definitely recommend checking out some of the parks. There are obviously a myriad of thing to do and look at from museums to boat rides, but something that relatively few people mention when talking about the city is how beautiful some of their parks are. My personal favorite, the Vondelpark is where I headed first, as that’s where we decided to meet up with my friends. After having a nice walk, we went home and spent a really nice night in the company of some beers and board games.
Unfortunately next morning I had to leave right away, as I had some studying planned for the weekend. I decided to take a flixbus home, both to try it, and because my ESN card (a discount card provided for everyone taking part in an Erasmus programme) had a significant discount for it. The ride was somewhat slower than it would have been by train, and overall I would say that for the Amsterdam-Leuven trip I prefer the train, but it was an interesting experience regardless.