Lyon -> Amsterdam 4/13:
This one should be quick – most of the 13th and 14th were travel days by train. I stopped in Lille, a little town in Northern France, for the night – otherwise it would have been about 16 hours by train. I’ve found that the slower travel is worth it for me – less recovery time when I do get to my destination.
While walking to the train station in Lyon, I stopped at a cafe for breakfast, and snapped a few photos along the way.
One neat thing I’ve noticed in Lyon – there are cracks in the sidewalks that have been filled in with little mosaics. According to one local I met, this is all the work of a street artist called Ememem (named for the sound his moped makes). He calls this art “flacking” – turning cracked blemishes in the sidewalks into public works of art that are owned by all.
The one on the left was the first thing I took a picture of in Lyon!
After a few hours on the train (during which I technically stopped in Paris, but only to switch trains), I was in Lille!
I was pretty tired from travel, so I got myself a (supposedly) nice dinner (I don’t know if it was just not something I liked or if this restaurant wasn’t great) of Flemish (local) cusine, and turned in for the night.
Lille -> Amsterdam, 4/14:
Breakfast was a mocha and a delicious breakfast sandwich at an apparently very popular cafe.
As I traveled on the train, it became pretty obvious as I drew closer to Amsterdam – windmills began passing by every now and then. I didn’t manage to catch any out the window, but I did snap a photo of this cool old warehouse.
Amsterdam’s train station was also really cool looking! I didn’t have much time to stop though – my next train left in 5 minutes so I had to run to the next platform!
After crossing a large canal with a ton of other people on foot and bike, I was almost to my hostel (the red building in the photo below).
The room in the hostel is utilitarian, but comfortable and quiet. I don’t spend a lot of time in there anyway!
That’s all for this day! Still no Mopeds 😉 But, I can rent them here! We will see when it happens. I’m a little scared to have that much power on the roads of Amsterdam 😛
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