Our last port is Rotterdam…booo.
We have two days here so we decided day 1 will be Amsterdam (only a 40 minute train ride) then day 2 will be Rotterdam.
First order of business – Apple Store. We needed to unlock Jayden’s phone because she locked it on day 1 of the cruise. We hadn’t even left the U.S., for Pete sake! But, we discovered that a teenager can be without her phone for 2 weeks. It’s possible!!
It took us about two hours to get her phone up and running but we all got to use the wifi to update our iOS and apps, and Justyne got an art app lesson from one of the employees. The app is really cool and can get really detailed.
Justin had a long conversation with Dennis, an employee, who told us about a great restaurant – Cannibale Royale. I tried a traditional Dutch Bitterball. I had no idea what it was so wanted to try it. Wasn’t really my favorite but wasn’t bad. It’s an acquired taste. The rest of the food was amazing!
Next stop river cruise. But we had an hour to spare so stopped in the Rijksmuseum. We lost the kids a couple of times but ended up finding them. Oh well, we tried.
We forgot to take a picture of our tour guide, Roy, but he was hilarious. He spent some time in Michigan and worked at a Dutch village. When he first started the owner was giving him a tour and he showed him “Tom” plugging a hole in the dike with his thumb. Roy had no idea what the owner was talking about. Apparently, in the Netherlands they don’t learn about the little boy who plugged the dike with his finger to save the entire country from flooding. 😊
Gay pride was the previous week so we got there in time to miss the mayhem. One houseboat was half under water from the partying.
What a pretty city. Will definitely be coming back!!
Next stop, Rotterdam! The end of our first leg of the trip…or is it the second leg. I’m sure I’ll mess it up more than once during the year. Rotterdam is Europe’s busiest port and the 3rd busiest in the world, after Shanghai and Hong Kong. We also learned the pilgrims left from a neighborhood here in Rotterdam, Delfhaven. The pilgrims settled in the Netherlands before leaving for the U.S. I need to brush up on my European history!
We learned that they used the windmills, among other things, to grind grains – for consumption as well as for distilleries. The neighborhood we loved is Schiedam and was known for having many distilleries. Many windmills are now museums or even restaurants.
The highlight was definitely the Markthal and the cube houses. A smart person bought one of the cubed houses and turned it into a tourist attraction. Just seeing the number of people in and out I bet they make close to $250 a day. That’s good income!
It was definitely small but looked quite comfortable. Europe has been experiencing a heat wave, too, so it was quite hot on the top floor with all the glass. The kids want to buy one as a vacation home.
Our favorite was the Markthal. Anything having to do with food is our favorite! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Everything was so beautifully displayed, too. We discovered that there are hot dog stands everywhere in Europe. Our new favorite snack is the Stroopwaffle. So so delicious!
Oh, we cannot leave the Netherlands without a shot of bicycles! Now, this is parking!
Higman Travels 