Day 17- Amsterdam

Sunday, May 9 (Day 17)

Our contiki tour started today! We had to meet downstairs at 6am to check in and get ready to board the coach. We still don’t have any luggage but that means that we didn’t have to weigh our luggage! (and I am pretty sure that mine was over the limit…)
So we woke up at 5am to shower and get ready and to get our luggage situation figured out.

For our shower, we used the travel shampoo and body wash that British Airways “generously” gave us. Second day with no conditioner. Last night was my second day wearing my DAILY contacts. So I took them out to sleep because they started to irritate my eyes, which means that this morning I had to contacts to put in (because they are all in my luggage). I started off the day blind. I tried asking people if they had glasses or contacts similar to my prescription but no one that I talked to seem to have anything that would help.

Paula’s mom called the airlines to figure out what was going on because we were promised our luggage on Saturday night. They knew that we were leaving for Amsterdam early on Sunday morning and had our status as “urgent.” After trying to figure out what was going on, we finally found out that our bags were at the Heathrow airport (in London) all last night! But because there was no one working at the desk because it was after-hours, there was no way for us to check it out of the airport. So close, yet so far!! So the airlines said that they would get our bags onto the next plane to Amsterdam and it would meet us at the hotel later tonight. They PROMISED! So we were glad that they bags were still in sight and going to be on their way to meet us.

We all met downstairs and got checked in, DIDN’T have to check in our bags since we didn’t haven’t any, and set off towards Amsterdam!
We arrived at the ferry station, to cross the English Channel, and saw the castle on top of the white cliffs of Dover. The cliffs are white because they are made of chalk. It was pretty cool. The ferry was huge! We drove our coach onto the ferry and walked inside. It was like a cruise ship with coffee shops, cafes, lunch rooms, and lounges. Because I couldn’t see, I couldn’t read any of the signs so I was blindly following everyone else. It was really rocky on the boat and we all felt like we were drunk walking around.

After an hour and a half, we arrived to France. We boarded our coach, on the ferry, and waited for the ferry to dock. We drove off and were continuing our journey to Amsterdam!

While on the bus, we played speed-dating to get to know everyone. We had two ro three minutes to talk with the person sitting next to us, then we all moved one seat forward, or backward in some cases, to make a big loop. This was a good idea but in theory, we only met half of the people; the ones sitting next to the window didn’t move and one ones in the aisle made the loop. So, the ones making the loop didn’t get a chance to meet each other. Everyone I talked to knew that I was one of the four that had lost luggage and I explained to them that I could barely see them and not to be offended or weirded out because I was talking so close to their face (to see them). Haha. I talked to one girl who said that her normal seatmate, and friend, wore glasses and contacts and was a similar prescription to mine. We talked some more and she said that she would ask her friend if I could borrow her glasses for the night.

I went to charge my phone on the coach and a girl came up to me and shoved this case into my face. It took me a few seconds to realize what it was and she said “My friend told me that you need glasses! Here, try mine!” This was an awesome surprise and relief!! They were a bit weaker than my usual prescription but they helped a ton! I could actually see shapes rather than all blobs.

So, we got to our hotel around 5pm. Our bags STILL weren’t where we were and again got on the phone to talk with the airlines. After three different calls and many minutes of being on hold and being disconnected, we finally heard that our bags were at the Amsterdam airport and should be leaving the airport to the hotel within 30-45 minutes. This was good news because they had made the correct flight but this meant that I was going to see Amsterdam in a literal blur.

We had dinner at 7—penne marinara, broccoli, salad, and strawberry ice cream.
We gathered at the lobby at 8 to go into the city for the night. We rode the coach into the city and it dropped us off to get on the boat ride through the canals that we signed up for. This was a really fun event- there were tables and chairs in an enclosed boat with windows on the side and some of the top to see out. There was also an open bar and snacks! Music was being played, people were drinking, and the sun was setting- what a party! (Except that it was still hard to see the city without my own glasses or contacts). But from what I could see, the canals were beautiful! Tons of house boats too!!

The boat ride lasted an hour and a half and then we gathered to go out in the city. First on our list was to go to a coffee shop and to see the red light district. We walked through the red light district first. How bizarre! Girls were standing in windows, with a room behind them, along a certain street, in underwear! (or other various ways of just covering up their parts). The windows where lit up with a red light (hence the “red light” district) and they opened their door when an interested patron walked by to inquire. Most of them were on the phone like this was a very normal thing. We were told that this is legal, and an actual profession! These girls rented out the windows hourly and some had a pimp to protect them. Each girl had a different room setup behind them- one was in a tanning bed, some were regular rooms, and I literally couldn’t see the others. The windows with the curtains closed meant that they were “busy.”

We got word from the hotel that 3 luggage’s had arrived! But where was the other one and whose was it?!?? We were all betting on whose was still lost and I thought for sure that it was mine just because I had the biggest problem with my lack of glasses and contacts. We were all so anxious to get back and see who’s bags were there and whose weren’t!

After this, we ventured over to a coffee shop. This is where they sell the illegals. I took a picture of the ridiculous menu and we took a look around and left. Near the red light district there were signs everywhere for “sex shows” and “sex shops.” What a crazy city!!! The sex shows were exactly what they say- as some of the other people on our tour told us.

We took the tram back to our hotel when we were done exploring the city. The tram took me RIGHT back to when we were in Rome. Even though we had some rough times in Rome, I was “homesick” from it at this point. In Rome, we knew were the stops were and we knew where our dorm was. Here- we were relying on the guys that were with us to guide us home.

We got back to our hotel, busted in the doors, asked where the bags were, and ran to them! I SAW MINE YAYYY! What good news! But which bag was still missing? Seems like everyone had got theirs! Turns out that Erica’s bag had arrived just 10 minutes before we had. How lucky!!

We all headed off to bed.