Arrived in Bremen a little over 5 o'clock yesterday morning. I didn't sleep a wink that night, as we were talking all night through. Upon arriving I immediately made the signs I'd need, namely one for Holland and one for the closest city, in case people wouldn't react to the prior. To make a long story short, I waited all of seven hours at that truck stop and the surrounding area, and no matter where I tried positioning myself and how many I asked, none seemed willing to take me even a kilometre towards Holland. I eventually tired of the fruitless waiting, and decided to make my way a couple of kilometres along a country road that trailed alongside the autobahn, hoping to find my way to a new petrol station. This led me to a small place called Delmenhorst, which turned out to be a worse idea. The people there seemed completely ignorant to the entire concept of hitch-hiking, I sat there for an hour, trying several different locations all with ample room for stopping, but time and time again the people stared at me like I was crazy as they drove past. Now don't get me wrong; I know some people just won't stop under any circumstances, and I did try all the different regional hand signals other than the thumb, but you could see it in their eyes: they didn't seem to get what I was after. Now before you accuse me of making wrongful accusations: someone eventually did stop. Martin. He confirmed what had started as a humorous thought in my mind. After explaining briefly where I was headed and why, we embark on what's been the most adrenaline-filled part of my trip so far. Martin loves driving. He drives a small Ford. So small infact that the boot didn't close completely with the wheelchair in there. I knew i'd need that duct tape eventually. So off we go on the autobahn, peaking at 180km/h, weaving in and out of traffic at break-neck speeds. This is what I was born to do. Like I mentioned earlier, Martin loves to drive. So much in fact, he didn't let me off until we reached the river Ketelmer, 40 minutes from Amsterdam. From there I quickly found a lift with a businessman headed for the airport. If advised going to the airport and to catch a train to the city, as there aren't many drivers that can take one all the way to the centre. I agreed to this, and a little under an hour later I was sitting outside the train station.
I should mention at this point that my parents very kindly decided to sponsor one night in a hotel so that I could have one relaxing night with a shower and a breakfast, and I saved it for now. When I arrived I went around trying to locate the cheapest hotels, but amsterdam is in short supply of these because of the booming tourist industry. I eventually found a hotel that wanted €120 per night- which is among the cheaper ones that had handicap-accessible rooms.
Now I feel rested and ready to go. It'll be a challenge getting out of here, it being a big city and all, but i'll get to it! I heard from the man who took of to the airport that quite a lot of Dutch people vacation in France, so at least there'll be traffic headed in the right direction.
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