4th of February, 2022.
When I live town, it is raining a little bit. But when I get to the open area, just before my hitchhiking spot, the wind makes the tiny rain lethal. In a few minutes I am soaked. I don’t think even an umbrella would have saved me. At least I am only soaked from my waist down, so my chest is still protected. But my sign is almost gone.
And why is nobody stopping? Are they too worried about their cars getting wet?
At some point a van stops. When I start to walk into its direction, they leave. At this moment, I decide I will go back to town and take the bus. For the time I was waiting in here, two buses going to Amsterdam Central Station have passed already. And because it is only a 20 minutes drive, I don’t think it will cost me more than 3 Euros.
When I am almost leaving my hitchhiking spot, a car stops. When I come to the window, the guy asks me where in Amsterdam I am going. I tell him to the Central Station. My plan was to drop the Hulk at the Tourist Info and go exploring the town a little bit. Rahul, my CS host, is going back home only around 9 p.m., so I have time. Ah! and I still need to get direction to his place.
The guy who picks me up used to hitchhike before with his wife. Unfortunately she has Parkinson’s disease now and he tells me he can’t wait to go back home and tell her that he helped a hitchhiker today. And he helped me a lot! He was actually going back to Edam when he passed me and saw my misery. So he decided to come back and take me all the way to Amsterdam. Isn’t that the best?
At the station… what a mess! Millions of people! I try to think what to do. Should I try to find a spot with a plug somewhere here instead of looking for a McDonald’s? My plans of going exploring went out of the window in the moment I got soaked. I decide to go looking for a McDonald’s so I can change myself and put on dry shoes.
There are no plugs in the McDonald’s nearby. Perhaps because it is right in the city centre? Anyway, it sucks! Back at the station, I find a plug but I cannot get connection. Toilets are paid. What a surprise! But luckily I figure that Starbucks shop has plugs. I get in only to get directions to Rahul’s house, but then I decide to stay there the whole day. I don’t know why actually! I should definitely had found another option where I could had changed my wet clothes. I guess you never stop being stupid, doesn’t matter how experienced you are as a traveller.
Around 8 o’clock a lady comes and tells me they will close in 5 minutes. On their website it says 10 o’clock. Perhaps is a Covid thing. Great! Now I need to find another place to hang out for the next hour because Rahul’s house is less than 30 minutes walking from the centre.
When I try to cross the station from inside, it is also closed. What? Perhaps is a Covid thing. But at least the police officer who talks to me is nice and he explains to me how to cross from outside. It is not a detour but I was hoping to spend the next hour in that warm inside part of the station. Now I have to stay in the almost cold part of it. Let me remind you that I have been wet all day long.
A guy comes by and offer me some sandwiches and a Coke. When I kindly refuse, he drops them by the bench and leave.