Thursday, July 12, 2018

Watch Out for The Trams in Amsterdam!


My biggest adventure in Amsterdam was riding the tram, which is an electric train system.  You need to buy a pass card and put it past a scanner each time you get on and off.  Luckily we got day passes that could be used more than once, because…
When we got back to our B&B’s stop, riding the tram from downtown, Paul got off ahead of me, and then another person.  When I got to the door, it wouldn’t scan my card, and there I was, stuck behind a closed door.  Paul was in as much shock as I was (he told me later) as the train took me away. 
In a panic, I thought perhaps I could get off at the next stop, find the main street and work my way back.  I don’t know the address of our B&B, though.  Then a very nice young woman on the tram told me how to take a pedestrian overpass at the next stop so I could catch the next tram coming back.
Several others in the car were also helpful.  I have good impressions of the Dutch!  When the tram finally stopped, I scanned my pass and headed up the stairs they pointed out.  Just as I came to the stairs going down, the tram was pulling in, so I ran.  I didn’t want to miss this one.
When I got off at the correct stop—finally—Paul was there waiting for me.  The first thing I said was,
“This is the kind of thing we will laugh about later.”
It certainly was an adventure!  And I saved those tram passes as a souvenir.
In a strange sort of way, it made us look out for each other more on the rest of the trip.  And even though it may have seemed to be a bad start, it actually wasn’t.  I learned to appreciate and take everything in stride, more than I used to.


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