I just stayed at a town called “Enschede” for business for a few days. Before visiting, I had no idea what kind of town it was, and I certainly did not expect much. However, Enschede turned out to be one of most lovely European towns that I ever visited. It reminds me of fun & relaxing college life…
===== From Wikipedia & Wikitravel =====
Enschede is a city in the eastern Netherlands. It is the largest city of the Twente region (a former center of textile industry), and also of the Overijssel province.
In sports and culture, Enschede is perhaps best known for being home to football club FC Twente, one-time Dutch champions and University of Twente.
This time, I have very short time to transit between flight and train, so I was nervous. I brought only a hand-carry suitcase, in order not to lose time waiting for the luggage to come out… but I wasn’t sure if my hand-carry would pass the size limit (even though I did check online in advance), so I was worried… Luckily it did!!
Also, I took a picture of the drinking machine in the Narita Airport, because it was so amazing to have a free water drinking machine, not only cold water, but also hot water and 60degC warm water for baby formula! It was just perfect! I filled my thermos with hot water & add a teabag! Yeah!! I have hot tea & it’s free!!
I was excited because I don’t have much chance to take AIR FRANCE. I was hoping that the meals on flights would be great. Before boarding my AIR FRANCE, I saw a HONG KONG EXPRESS!! Actually, although I was born & raised in Hong Kong, I’ve never taken HONG KONG EXPRESS. I heard about it from my friends. It’s a budget airline with rather good price. I want to try it next time.
https://www.hkexpress.com/en-hk/
Ha! The meals on flight, not disappointing, but not super great either. Average? I do enjoy the meals on flight since I was a child. Because in Hong Kong there is no lunch service at school. There are canteens where you can buy lunch, but we never had lunches served on a plate, so I always thought it was so fancy & awesome to have lunch & drink & dessert all served on a plate!!
Haha!! I lied! Actually, I did not go directly to Enschede. I had to transit at Amsterdam to Lyon (France), then back to Amsterdam to take a train to Enschede. But my stay at Lyon was so short, and I was so jet-lagged that I ended up spending most of my free time sleeping… I didn’t take much photos, so I don’t even bother to make a post for Lyon. (If I have time, I will make another post for my last visit in Lyon, which was much longer and much more fun!)
Anyway, the Amsterdam airport (Transit Area) was awesome!!!!!
Not only their toilet is so pretty & have a great view (LoL), they have a free shower room for long-distance travelers like me, who desperately wanted a shower… after so many hours on flight… and many more to go… As you can see, there is amazingly clean shower room, even has foldable table & dressing room, also they have HAIR DRYER, ADJUSTABLE HOT SHOWER, but no soap no shampoo. Lucky me, I have a hand-carry suitable, and I always pack my own soap & shampoo (picky), even a small towel, so I could have a full shower right there!!
As you can imagine, the shops in airport wouldn’t be cheap… but the decorations (bicycles & tulips & cheese!!) were so cute, I had a great time just window-shopping & taking pictures. (Also, I did bought those colorful-packaged cheese on the way back! hehe…)
Really, Lyon is another awesome city too! But not for this trip, which I just popped in, popped out. Actually, when I arrived Lyon airport, it was already late at night (this photo was taken when I was leaving Lyon at noon the other day), I had to hurry to look for public transportation, but there was nobody around at all!! who to ask?? Even the ticket machine display was in French!! Anyway, the only relief was, the breakfast at hotel is always good. Even though I was too sleepy to eat next morning…
Well, I have nothing to show, except around the train stations where I went. Somehow, Lyon is a big station too. There were many gypsies and strange-looking people hanging around the station, so I was a little scared to wander around after dark. Also, the shops closed early, like 6-7pm. I did managed to find a big Sports Shop, shopped a lot in 15min. before heading to the airport… I love the Sports Shops in Europe!! They have so many original brands — not famous, but good quality & good prices!! (probably made in China though)
Finally, the featured place — Enschede!! Even though, it was a long journey to get there.
I’m not familiar with the train systems in Europe, and it was late-August, a sunny hot day. After sweating all the way from Lyon to Amsterdam, I came to the huge train station at Amsterdam. There was a big black digital board showing too many train schdedules on top of the ticket office (again, long line and many windows) that scared me. I just held on to the paper of train schedules that I had printed out, waited in line for long time, finally reached the window and passed on my paper. They lady at the window said, “Oh, that’s your train! It’s leaving! Hurry!” What?? How about the next one?” “There is still 5min, you can catch this one, just go!” She didn’t give me a choice, just took my payment, give me a ticket, circled the platform no., and pointed out, “there, just go!” I stared at the crowded station lobby in despair, and thought, “where??”
Thank to fellow kind passengers who could speak English, I did manage to get on the correct train before it left in 5min. But you see, it was a 2+ hour train, so I not only had to find the platform & train, but also had to find my cart & seat!
I think, trains & trams in Europe ain’t very helpful. They always have stairs at the doors (not good for suitcases), sometimes even have partitions between normal carts & more deluxe carts. The signs ain’t always obvious and shown in English.
There was a time that I entered from the wrong door/side of the cart, ended up finding myself in the deluxe cart, while I only had the normal ticket… I don’t remember how it ended. I probably just crossed my finger and hoped that no train employee find me before the next stop, where I could get off and get on again from the other side of the same cart.
Anyway, this time I met a university student on the train, who sat next to me. She was so nice, even taught me an app which was very helpful to search for trains in Netherlands. She thought I was similar age, but I was actually more like double her age. Haha…
My hotel was very easy to find, not far from the Enschede station. It was a pleasant little business hotel. My window could oversee the town. Nice!!
After check-in, I wasted no time and started exploring the town. It was such a nice sunny afternoon, and I had no further plan that day, so I continued to wander the streets until dark.
I didn’t know that actually I was near the University of Twente. There were so many students and bicycles around. I think, since it was end of August, the students were returning to school from their hometown, or maybe there were many Freshman students excited to start their college life! The mood around there suddenly brought me back to college time. When I was in college in the U.S., it was like that at the beginning of every fall semester — people walking around carried carton boxes and suitcases, parents dropping off their kids by cars, lost-looking kids wandering around…. Beginning of college is always exciting!! It’s the beginning of new life — independent from parents and leaving home!! At least I was excited… haha!!
The town was so pretty, many interesting buildings, bookstores and restaurants, cinema and gift shops… At the center, there was an ancient church. I have no idea what it was, but the structure was beautiful!
Finally, around evening, I found DECATHLON at the square!! As I mentioned before, I’m always looking for the Sports Shops in Europe, and DECATHLON is my favorite — since I first found them in Spain! (Too bad there is only 2 DECATHLON shops in Japan.)
What?? There is only 30min before closing?? Why does it always happen to me?? I hurried to shop around the already-emptied 2-floor huge DECATHLON, filled my shopping bags with items and rushed to cashier before closing…
On my way back to the hotel at night, when I was waiting at the traffic signal to cross the street, a young fellow looked down from his bike (yeah, they are tall and I’m short) and smiled at me, “Are you lost? Do you need help?” I was surprised and answered shyly that I was okay, and then he left. I thought, maybe I looked like a lost freshman student to him? He looked like a student to me too…
Next morning, I woke up early to go for a jog before breakfast. I love to jog in the morning. The air is always fresh and cool, and it is always quiet and peaceful in the mornings. Indeed, the whole town was sleeping, except me!!
There were some rubbish left on the streets from the night before, but it was so much easier to take pictures without people on the streets!! Also, when the sun started to rise and the sky changed color, it was so beautiful!! I could finally enjoy the scenery, all by myself!!
Oh, that yellow couch with red hearts is super cute, isn’t it? I took many pictures sitting on it, no need to wait or worry about other people, haha!!
Back to my hotel, this was my breakfast — buffet, of course!! The breakfast was served in an elegant and quiet restaurant inside the hotel, not crowded and no tourists. See! There is one single flower on each table. Lovely!
That’s all!! This is my very short trip at Enschede. Although it is a small town, it’s so relaxing & lovely here♥ Other than Enschede, I had also visited Amsterdam. Please also check out my post on Amsterdam!!
