Destination : Utrecht - Armin Only!
Destination : Utrecht - Armin Only!Saturday (19th April), Steve and I packed up our bags from Brussels and quite thankfully I was happy to see the back of it after it really being a blur! On the other hand we were heading into The Netherlands - Utrecht. At some point in London before we embarked on this crazy adventure Steve and I were looking for something different to do while travelling around. I had looked into maybe seeing the Foo Fighters in Germany as I knew they were touring yet somehow I ended up agreeing to attending the Armin Van Buueren - "Armin Only" show in Utrecht. Without hesitation, Steve ordered the tickets online before I got a chance to change my mind! ;o)
So here we were standing at Brussels Midi (Brussels Sud) waiting for our next train "Thalys" to take us to Amsterdam. It was a tad chilly that morning, so when the station staff announced that our train was going to be 15 mins late, we decided to get off the platform and head back underground to keep warm for a little while longer. When our train was finally due to arrive, Steve and I headed back up to the platform via a thoughtfully installed travellator (you know, like an escalator but flat) On the way up I looked towards the platform and noticed a man coming down in the opposite direction with a thoroughly terrified German Shepard who just was NOT happy with this moving ground he was on.. The poor animal had all fours spread as wide as possible for maximum grip and with an expression on his canine face of utter terror which just made me laugh out loud.... as well as just smile at how CUTE it was....
Anyway, where was I? So anyway, our Thalys train arrived and we jumped on board and headed towards Amsterdam.... As we crossed the border between Belgium and The Netherlands there was suddenly an abundance of water everywhere. That is one thing the Dutch will never be short of is - WATER! The Dutch thought to themselves oneday... "Mmm, we need some extra land.. but there is water everywhere..... No, problem, we'll just build a dyke and pump the water out!" I was thoroughly impressed with the countryside as the train travelled through this flat (below sea-level) land... Our train passed through Rotterdam (which at that instant I decided I wanted to visit when we returned later), Den Haag and finally Amsterdam... From Amsterdam, we had to grab a local train to Utrecht to complete our journey..
On arrival in Utrecht, Steve and I were both amazed at the shear size of the station... Steve said "Lets go this way, our hotel isn't very far from the station" and naturally I obediently followed because I figured he had seen it on the map and knew where we were going... AND as usual we ended up at the wrong end and Steve had to use his vodafone GPRS to locate ourselves in relation to where we were sposed to be! Funny! After heading the the correct direction, we found ourselves weaving through a massive shopping complex (on a Saturday) that was just CHOCKERS! When we emerged at the other end, we had come to a square that had a local market. It was so busy you couldn't have stuck another human being in there let alone us with two cases and two backpacks ... ;o) FINALLY, we located our hotel which was just over the other side of the square, checked in and looked around our room impressed with the quality and comfort!
After checking in, we dumped our bags and headed out to grab some lunch. We proceeded to weave our way back through the market into the shopping centre to feed our hungry and growling little bellies! What I think we were both impressed with was the choice of food presented to us... and I was happy that there were a few juice/smoothie bars from which I could get a banana smoothie. Mmm, my favourite! With our bellies full and no longer growling, Steve and I headed back to our hotel to curl up for a decent afternoon sleep prior to our ALL NIGHT "Armin Only" experience..... *Zzzzzzzz*
In the back of my thoughts I was thinking "Me at a Rave Party? What was I thinking?"..... but I'll let you know how it went! .....
So here we were standing at Brussels Midi (Brussels Sud) waiting for our next train "Thalys" to take us to Amsterdam. It was a tad chilly that morning, so when the station staff announced that our train was going to be 15 mins late, we decided to get off the platform and head back underground to keep warm for a little while longer. When our train was finally due to arrive, Steve and I headed back up to the platform via a thoughtfully installed travellator (you know, like an escalator but flat) On the way up I looked towards the platform and noticed a man coming down in the opposite direction with a thoroughly terrified German Shepard who just was NOT happy with this moving ground he was on.. The poor animal had all fours spread as wide as possible for maximum grip and with an expression on his canine face of utter terror which just made me laugh out loud.... as well as just smile at how CUTE it was....
Anyway, where was I? So anyway, our Thalys train arrived and we jumped on board and headed towards Amsterdam.... As we crossed the border between Belgium and The Netherlands there was suddenly an abundance of water everywhere. That is one thing the Dutch will never be short of is - WATER! The Dutch thought to themselves oneday... "Mmm, we need some extra land.. but there is water everywhere..... No, problem, we'll just build a dyke and pump the water out!" I was thoroughly impressed with the countryside as the train travelled through this flat (below sea-level) land... Our train passed through Rotterdam (which at that instant I decided I wanted to visit when we returned later), Den Haag and finally Amsterdam... From Amsterdam, we had to grab a local train to Utrecht to complete our journey..
On arrival in Utrecht, Steve and I were both amazed at the shear size of the station... Steve said "Lets go this way, our hotel isn't very far from the station" and naturally I obediently followed because I figured he had seen it on the map and knew where we were going... AND as usual we ended up at the wrong end and Steve had to use his vodafone GPRS to locate ourselves in relation to where we were sposed to be! Funny! After heading the the correct direction, we found ourselves weaving through a massive shopping complex (on a Saturday) that was just CHOCKERS! When we emerged at the other end, we had come to a square that had a local market. It was so busy you couldn't have stuck another human being in there let alone us with two cases and two backpacks ... ;o) FINALLY, we located our hotel which was just over the other side of the square, checked in and looked around our room impressed with the quality and comfort!
After checking in, we dumped our bags and headed out to grab some lunch. We proceeded to weave our way back through the market into the shopping centre to feed our hungry and growling little bellies! What I think we were both impressed with was the choice of food presented to us... and I was happy that there were a few juice/smoothie bars from which I could get a banana smoothie. Mmm, my favourite! With our bellies full and no longer growling, Steve and I headed back to our hotel to curl up for a decent afternoon sleep prior to our ALL NIGHT "Armin Only" experience..... *Zzzzzzzz*
In the back of my thoughts I was thinking "Me at a Rave Party? What was I thinking?"..... but I'll let you know how it went! .....
The session that was called "Armin Only" : http://picasaweb.google.com/hillsj/ArminOnly2008
