Unexpected friend

I was traveling to Amsterdam to meet a friend last Saturday. It is almost embarrassing to admit that I have not traveled on my own on the trains here. When ever I travel to an unknown place I make sure to ask for directions a dozen times and even then I get lost! :D

This time, after asking the service desk people at the railway station in Eindhoven and one of the officer's at the platform about the next train, as I was sitting and waiting for the train I yet again had the compulsion to ask the person sitting next to me if I was at the right place. This Portuguese girl probably sensed I was having travel jitters and politely said she was going to Amsterdam as well and she would tell me when to board which train.

And thats how it began. We boarded the train together and ended up talking as if we had known each other since kids :). It is such a weird feeling to suddenly start talking to a literal stranger especially since I never do it. She seemed to have traveled all over Europe and motivated me to travel as well. We talked, giggled and gossiped non stop on every possible random topic and we complained a lot about the Dutch..hehe..:). The train that day was taking a longer route because of construction work and it ended up taking almost double the time it was supposed to take. I was losing hope that my friend would be waiting for me at the station as I was almost an hour late! My Portuguese friend waited with me for a while and she even suggested that I should come with her to look around Amsterdam. But I decided to stick around for some more time. We shared our contact details and split up.

In the end I did meet my friend who had almost given up and was just about to leave. We walked around the streets of Amsterdam, had dinner at the "Gandhi" restaurant and then I came back home.

A couple of pictures I took while in Amsterdam -




On my way back, I actually did get lost a bit, but some how managed to find my way home. :).