Going Native - The Dutch Way

Ann will often comment that I “go native” whenever I’m in a new place.  Ann says it one-half in jest, one-half as a compliment on my adaptability, and one-half derisively, as if I were trying to blend in as something other than an American (regardless of the fact that I have no doubt that any native immediately knows I’m an American just by looking at me).  Yes, I know that’s three halves, but that’s just the way it is.  Live sometimes doesn’t add up.

Anyway, a few days before my flight to Portugal I asked myself the question, “Hey, I wonder if I can take a train back from the airport so that Ann doesn’t have to pick me up.”  Now, Didam is a small village, but it has a train station (which we saw when we went to the Gemeente [Municipality Building]), the week before I left).  Ann, of course, was adamant that, no, she would go pick me up at the airport.  I kept brining it up, Ann kept insisting.   And so it was, even after I’d arrived in Portugal.

Those of you who know us, know that Ann is incredibly stubborn and she, of course, wins all of our disagreements.  Except this time, I won!

As with all real stories, along with the good comes a bit of bad and I guess I should get the bad out early because . . . it’s not the way I want to win an argument.  You see, by mid-week Ann . . . well, a picture paints a thousand words:

While I was off traveling to Portugal, Ann decided to catch COVID.  As the week went on, Ann got worse and was still wiped by Saturday, the day I was supposed to return.  Yeah, Ann wasn’t really going anywhere far.

So, I got to test my theory - can I go from Schipol Airport in Amsterdam to Didam and, if so, how long will it take?  I was pretty sure I could (otherwise it was going to be an awfully big Uber fare), and once I got settled in at the hotel the afternoon before my early morning flight, I set up my computer to find out just how it could be done.

A bit of research on the web gave me several ways to get home and that there are, get this, 62 trains that leave every day from Schiphol Station (at the airport) that would take me to Didam.  The first one leaving before 1:00 am and the last one leaving just before 11:00 pm.  One was bound to be timely for me.  They involved one or two transfers along the way though.

Ok, it was feasible.  I had a plan, now all I had to do was get a decent night’s sleep and implement the plan because when I said early flight, I meant “wake up at 2:30 to shower, grab a bite and walk over to the airport for a 5:00 am flight” early.

I was up early the next morning and, as you might imagine, there aren’t many people in the airport at 3:30.  The short walk from the hotel to the airport was refreshing and once past security I found a spot well away from the crowds and de-masked.  I even found a lounge chair to relax in while I chatted with Ann (she was one hour ahead of me and up because of her COVID coughing).

My maskless lounge spot didn’t last too long though, as a crowd of young folks came after about half an hour and surrounded me.  I masked back up and, not too much longer, they started boarding my flight.  Oddly, it was at the gate right next to where I decided to hang out.

I had a three hour layover in Lisbon (I opted for the longer layovers on both trips so I could be sure to not only make my transfer, but to ensure my luggage made it too.  It was a longer layover than I would have wanted in Lisbon, but it gave me time to have a very hearty breakfast, go for a long walk around the airport (masked of course), grab a latte at Starbucks, go for another long walk, and to periodically sit and watch people walk by . . . or to pull out the phone to make a photo or two.

Finally (20 minutes late), our plane arrived.  It was a turn-around flight, right back to Amsterdam.  As it sat at the gate, I looked at it and decided it really needed a new paint job.

Unlike the early flight from Amsterdam to Lisbon (I.e., this plane’s flight down here), the late-morning flight from Lisbon to Amsterdam was packed!  Oh well, at least I was on my way home.

I must say, Amsterdam is a huge airport.  The TAP airline seats aren’t very comfortable, but the long walk to the baggage claim at least helped me work out all the kinks (ok, maybe it’s just getting older, but . . . ).  I’m glad I’m familiar with the airport because one could easily get lost in the place.

Unfortunately, thanks to the lengthy flight delays, I’d missed the train that I’d hoped to catch.  I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get a ticket, but where to buy one ( was easy enough to figure out.  Just follow the signs in the airport that said “Trains” (followed by an arrow) and eventually arrive at what is obviously the ticket counter for people like myself, who have no idea how to buy a ticket at one of the many self-serve kiosks between the ticket counter and the tracks.  And, of course, the person helping me spoke English and didn’t blink an eye when I said Didam.  She smiled knowingly when I said I know I’ll need to make a transfer or two.

She said she’d print me out a schedule for the trip and highlighted key points.  I’m glad I had it - I would have roughly 5 minutes to make my transfers, which should be doable.  Spoor means platform, righting “Name” is the final destination of the train I’d be boarding, and the station I’d get off at is in bold with the time it should arrive.

Two things are worth noting: (1) it only cost me EUR 23,49 for the trip.  At anywhere from €1.78 to € 1.95 a liter (roughly a quart), driving there isn’t that much cheaper.  And (2) the ride would only take me 1 hr and 37 min.  And in case you were wondering, by car from my house to Schiphol airport, Google Maps says it takes 1 hr and 19 minutes.  So even if you add 10 minutes to drive from the Didam train station to home (it’s less than that), the timing is still impressive.  The only bad part was that I had to wait 42 minutes for the train to arrive.  If my plane had arrived on time, I would have made the earlier train.

The Dutch train system is very efficient with lots and lots of information boards indicating trains.

I, of course, couldn’t help but pull out my phone and take some shots to pass the time.

Most of the trains run precisely on time.  At least that’s what the first 5 trains did running from this platform. Then I noticed on the board that one of the trains to downtown Amsterdam was running late and instead of arriving 3 minutes before my train, the board said it was 5 minutes late and would arrive 2 minutes after.  The sign first changed to say my train would depart from track 1 and the conductor called folks over to there, but then a second train arrived at the same time and, as I stepped onto the first train, I realized it looked more like the local train (the one we took when we visited Amsterdam - the destination of the other train) and stepped out. I looked up and the sign had changed in that one minute - mine was now on Track 2, Amsterdam on Track 1.

Fortunately, I made it on the right train.

Since I had luggage and didn’t want to carry it up or down stairs (it was a double decker train), I stayed in the area for bicycles and had my luggage by me.

We were soon off and passing the highway traffic.

We crossed a river . . .

And slowed down to the station that lets off at the Ajax Football Club’s Johann Cruyuff Stadium (a player I got to watch play live).  Had to get a nice abstract shot of that, aided by the train slowing down and the rain smearing the window.

Stops at stations along the way tended to be for a minute or two, but at the two main transfer stops, they were for longer.

As we left Amsterdam on the way to Utrecht I took a Google Maps screen shot of our location.

By that point we were in the countryside, passing farms and irrigation canals.

Utrecht was a nice covered station and, best of all, I just had to move from one side of the platform over to the other.  As you can see, lots of folks taking the Saturday afternoon train.

The second train found me standing by the handicapped area, as well as by the handicap restroom.

Again, I spent most of my time watching the landscape, this time with a lot more forests near-by.

The route from Utrecht to Arnhem was the longest of the legs.

The landscapes, even in winter with a week’s worth of rain, were interesting and constantly changing.

And of course, there were the stops in the smaller towns/villages.  Ann and I stopped in Eden for lunch on during our drive about when we visited Amsterdam a couple months ago.

It was interesting to see stops at towns I’ve only looked at on maps.

And, once again, I took a screen shot of the route from Arnhem to Didam.

The passengers on the route from Arnhem to Didam was interesting.  There were lots of young teenagers onboard who apparently had taken the train from their home towns into Arnhem and perhaps Utrecht or even Amsterdam.  Kids, usually in groups of 2 or 3, or larger groups of 7-8 would get on or off at the various stations, laughing and joking as kids do.

With folks coming on and off the train, and the rain, things started to get a bit wet and the mix of colors and reflections made me pull out my phone yet again.  The best camera is the one you have with you!

I eventually made it to Didam.  It was raining, but I had to stop to make one final image before walking over to the parking lot where Ann was waiting for me.  We drove home both masked and with the windows cracked.

I dropped Ann and my luggage off at home and headed out to go food shopping for the week, staying masked at the store.

The next day, for safety’s sake, I tested myself.

So far, so good.

Ann’s feeling better, though today (Wednesday) she still tested positive.  So we’re still socially distancing (thank goodness for the dining room table leaf), wearing masks whenever we’re in the same room and hoping I don’t catch it (knock on wood).

We are so looking forward to getting out and exploring!

[Update:  It obviously took me a few days to get this posted.  Ann’s fine now and we finally are able to go out in public.  Best of all, we don’t have to mask when we’re around each other.  I’m still feeling good so . . . all is well that ends well.