THE ROTTERDAM HOUSE OF MYSTERY

The sailing last night was quite smooth despite the many sea sickness bags around on the decks and in our room.  We enjoyed breakfast at the buffet and even included coffee and orange juice for free.  It surprised me as coffee was not included with our dinner and the lovely presentation of a 500 ml bottle of spring water...we just asked for water…came with a 4 Euro price tag!  Wow!!.

Our cabin on the ferry was on the 9^th deck facing forward right in the middle.  We sailed under a beautiful full moon.  It was very pretty although the night did not look completely clear, it was a beautiful big moon

I was very surprised for a ferry, it had a bigger duty free shop than some of the cruise ships I have been on.  They had an extensive supply of men’s and ladies fragrances, clothes, lego, liquor and many other assorted items.  

As we neared Amsterdam, I was amazed at the huge wind farms located off shore.  I counted 50 wind turbines in the one that we passed by.  The Netherlands has gone from the famous traditional windmills to pump water out of the lowlands so they could farm the land, to these massive wind turbines that are generating more than 15% of the country’s energy demands.  A number that is continuing to increase.  You have to see these big farms to actually believe them!

Soon it was time to disembark for our transfer to the train station, catch a train to Rotterdam and get to our home away from home for the next 6 days.  The host met us upon our arrival and we were able to settle in.  Hauling around a suitcase and a backpack is wearing on me.  I think I need to hire a Sherpa if I ever choose to do this again.  As of now, I do not think I will be doing this type of travelling again!

The house is very interesting in a weird way…The downstairs is quite modern.  The kitchen eating area is lovely and open.  We couldn’t find the fridge and the dishwasher at first and that is because they look like cupboards.  The bathrooms have only a toilet and no sink…but they have a warming rack for towels. 

Going up the very steep stairs, you will arrive at the second floor with the master bedroom and open shower and bath tub.  There is a huge and high rough like sink that we can barely reach over to spit.  Lol  There is also a bathroom on the second floor with no sink only the trough behind the bed in the open bedroom.  The master is huge – has TV, couch and chair and desk and chair and still plenty of room to swing a cat.

Up some more steeeeeep stairs, you get to the other floor with 2 more bedrooms, laundry and a huge work room with a large work area about 8 feet by 12 feet and still lots more floor area.  There is a laundry sink in this room but no bathroom on the uppermost floor.  The family who live here other than when this is rented out as an Air B and B have 2 little girls.  The children’s bedrooms are on this floor.  I can’t help but wonder how they manage with no bathroom up here and only the high trough sink in the bathroom area for their washing up.  Those stairs look even scarier coming down!

We walked down a few blocks and grabbed dinner and brought it back to the house.  Not much was open today as it was Easter Sunday.  Tomorrow it will be different.  We will go walking and see what we can find … who knows maybe we can find a windmill!