{"id":457,"date":"2016-10-12T04:04:54","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T08:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/?p=457"},"modified":"2016-10-10T07:32:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T11:32:03","slug":"amsterdam-via-ferry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/2016\/10\/12\/amsterdam-via-ferry\/","title":{"rendered":"Amsterdam Via Ferry"},"content":{"rendered":"

We recently headed over to Amsterdam. \u00a0The city of tulips, canals, dykes, windmills, weed, and prostitutes. \u00a0 We took an overnight ferry from New Castle to the port city of Ijumuiden and then a bus into the heart of Amsterdam in the Canal district.<\/p>\n

We took a 3-4 hour train ride over to Newcastle. \u00a0Which is always pretty relaxing.<\/p>\n

The Ferry ride over was quite pleasant. \u00a0It was a fifteen\u00a0hour journey. \u00a0We had a simple cabin with an ensuite bathroom and shower on DFDS ferry. \u00a0We were able to experience both of their ships. It was like a mini cruise almost. There was live entertainment. The restaurants and service were great. We had dinner and breakfast on board and a few cocktails. \u00a0It was quite civilized way to travel. \u00a0It was cheaper than flying and no hassle at the airport. In the future I would consider adding and overnight ferry again to a trip.<\/p>\n

\"img_0474\"
Windmills off the coast of the Netherlands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The city was pretty amazing. The canals made the city feel less dense. We did not part take in \u00a0any of the\u00a0debauchery that goes on but we did walk through the red light district. \u00a0The highlight was visiting the Van Gogh museum. \u00a0Thankfully we got there before it got busy and the \u00a0queue (line) spilled out the door. \u00a0 We were able to enjoy about half of the museum in relative peace and quiet.<\/p>\n

\"img_0459\"
The Waag – Part of the Original city wall and defense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the way back into the UK, we were stopped for the second time entering the UK and they really put through the paces. \u00a0Something that we are saying is raising a red flag. On the way back from Athens and now Amsterdam we were really put through the paces. \u00a0We were not prepared for it. \u00a0Seems like it would be a good idea to travel with all of my bank statement and copies of my entire journey. Both times the Border Force Agent \u00a0took extensive notes as to what I was telling her. \u00a0Although I\u00a0was let in, it left us with an uneasy feeling. \u00a0In the future I will be traveling with more documentation. \u00a0We think it is combination of the duration of my stay, the fact that I am associated with UK national and have no legal status in the country. Seems as though it raises a red flag about whether I will leave or not. It might also have been an issue, that as we got off the boat in the Netherlands, they were not checking passports. \u00a0They started just after me. There was no record of me leaving. \u00a0Port security, Immigration and customs was pretty light compared to an airport.<\/p>\n

\"img_0438\"
The Church of Saint Nicholas (Front)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"img_0445\"
Church of Saint Nicholas (Back)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"img_0444\"
The Old Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"img_0437\"
Central Station – The main train station in central Amsterdam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"img_0451\"
Typical Canal Street. Notice the building are not quite straight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"img_0461\"
Fall day in Amsterdam.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We recently headed over to Amsterdam. \u00a0The city of tulips, canals, dykes, windmills, weed, and prostitutes. \u00a0 We took an overnight ferry from New Castle to the port city of Ijumuiden and then a bus into the heart of Amsterdam in the Canal district. We took a 3-4 hour train ride over to Newcastle. \u00a0Which … Continue reading Amsterdam Via Ferry<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,76,11,73,75,1],"tags":[79,78,77,80,81],"class_list":["post-457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amsterdam","category-dutch","category-europe","category-ferry","category-nethernlands","category-uncategorized","tag-amterdam","tag-ferry","tag-nethernlands","tag-new-castle","tag-waag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470,"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions\/470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.searsie.com\/sabbatical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}