NS trains, Dutch Travel
NS Trains:
“Dames en Heren: De Intercity naar Sittard, S’Hertogenbosch, Weert, Eindhoven, Utrecht Centraal, Roemond, Amsterdam Centraal”
Usually such a clean, efficient and effective service is the Dutch NS train service. They get you from A to B in an as non-chaotic manner as possible. But not this Sunday.
Today I wanted to make, the usually fairly painless journey from Maastricht to Apeldoorn – in the north of the Netherlands. Usually this involves an ‘Intercity’ train from Maastricht to Utrecht and then a ‘Stoptrein’ from Utrecht to Apeldoorn. Today, however – due to some works or some such, I was forced to firstly take the train from Maastricht to Sittard, then a bus service from Sittard to Weert and then the train (which was delayed) from Weert to Den Bosch (S’Hertogenbosch to you and me) where we were asked to get off to wait for another train at the same platform. After waiting for a while the doors on the train that we had just alighted from opened. There was a surge toward the train and it seemed that we had got off and back on the same train for no reason. I am currently writing this on the train from Den Bosch to Utrecht where we make the (hopefully) final change for the Apeldoorn train. It has been a long day. On top of moving apartments and forgetting breakfast and lunch (due to all this travelling), as well as clearing up after an awesome BBQ/ Karoke night at my new place. I fly from Dusseldorf to Edinburgh in 2 days (super cheap Ryanair flights) and will once again be able to have chippies with brown sauce, Irn Bru, bagpipes on Princes Street, BBC TV, hugs from my parents and a full fridge. Many at UCM seem to be doing super-fantastic-internships, or awesomely-prestigious-work-experience, or even an excessively-well-paid-job, although I feel that – although I may do this in the coming summers – I need a break. The holidays are not so long (around a month and a ½ if you want to do INKOM, less if you have resits) and the maximum holiday is around 2 months. We work really hard at UCM and it is pretty intense. I think after a stressful, fun and exhilarating first semester at UCM – I need to sit on a sofa, curl up with a book, watch some TV, meet up with friends and enjoy some sun. Right now – on this overheated and crowded train, this image of summer is paradise to me. I am already getting a degree, holding down a job and friends – maybe internships can come next summer or Christmas holiday, when I am not so utterly tired and homesick.
Catriona O'Sullivan
Hey I'm Catriona and I'm from Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. I am 18 years old and am currently in my 1st year of UCM. I enjoy art, film, fashion, literature, music, sociology and philosophy. http://ilikecheesyurlnames.tumblr.com/