Last installment for this trip, and another in my series of 'micro-vacations'. That is instead of wasting 6 or 8 hours sitting in an airport, I waste the same amount of time somewhere outside the airport. Sometimes that turns out to be interesting or fun, and sometimes, like today, it ends up with me wandering around aimlessly in the rain/snow without a proper jacket until I get so cold I decide to go back to the airport. This flight got into Amsterdam at 5:30 am for starters, and at this time of year, it doesn't get light until about 8:30 or so. Which means I also spent a good deal of time walking around in the dark, on mostly abandoned streets. Still, it wasn't a total loss. I managed to see about a dozen canals, 5000 bicycles, 3 cheese shops, 4 Starbucks, 5 shwarma places, and 6 McDonalds. 

I should also say that the train system here is quite good (this is well known), but I really think that the train system in Kuala Lumpur still wins for ease of use. I should start another blog just rating train systems. I've seen a bunch, and generally they're all really good, but I think the ticket machines in Kuala Lumpur win in the most user-friendly category, plus signs are available in 3 or 4 languages including English, which makes getting around pretty obvious. I did notice that Amsterdam also uses Bombardier trains. I guess trains is something Canada does well, I just never knew, because we seem to send the cool trains overseas. Too bad.