F the French!

If it wasn't already official we DETEST the French. The are so miserable. To be clear, we entered France with an open mind and disbelief of the stereotypes. But they made sure that they earnestly reinforced those stereotypes. Anyways, we knew that today wasn't going to be a great day because we were traveling on the train (95% of which was French run, and therefore unreliable) from 6:30am (from Nice) to 5pm (to Amsterdam). At least, that was how it was supposed to go... Our first train (Nice to Paris) ended up being 45 minutes late, which made us miss all our later trains. This was strange to us as the train left on time, and is alleged to be the fastest train in the world... So, Andrew and I waited in line in Paris to sort out tickets for other trains (as our schedule was now shot). The smug fellow that was helping us was rude, true to his culture, and since I have had enough of rude French people I was really rude to him (and I'm glad I was, because he deserved it). So the count goes as follows for French people that Amy has yelled at: 3 (breakfast lady in Paris hostel, receptionist in Nice that kept turning off our AC, and ticket salesperson in Paris). People Andrew has yelled at: 0. I blame this only on the fact that Andrew didn't really communicate with these people since he doesn't speak French. He mostly just stood back and felt awkward... something I normally do.

Anyways, we got the trains sorted out, but it turned out to be a really long day (we didn't get in until 10:30pm). The Dutch are such a breath of fresh air. As we got to Amsterdam there was a really nice and helpful train employee who told us which train to take to get to the station near our hotel. Then, as we got off the train and walked outside the train station looking like lost/stupid tourists, a very nice guy rolls up on his bicycle, takes out his earphones, smiles at us, and asks if we need any help, and then proceeds to point out our hotel... this would NEVER happen in France. Next, the receptionist at the hotel pulls out a map of the city and begins to point out all of the things we should see and do, marking them off and answering all our questions with a friendliness we are now wholly unfamiliar with after a month in France. To make things even better the hotel and room is amazing! We have free, wired internet in our room finally, a fridge and a safe, and, most importantly, a king sized bed.

We are really excited to explore Amsterdam tomorrow... after some much needed sleep!