Rotterdam via London (to catch up with Suzie)

in front of the Fokker to Rotterdam

I had about 4 hours sleep and then had a 
flight to London to meet Suzie. I met 
Suzie in the restaurant and I wasn’t in 
a good way, I’m not going out drinking 
like that before a flight again. Suzie 
managed to get the seat next to me on 
the plane which was cool. Its not 
everyday  you can go flying somewhere 
with your sister (I realize it’s the 
3rd time but the other 2 weren’t 
commercial flights).

I got to Rotterdam about 30 minutes early and then had to wait about an hour 
before my rent a car person got back to her desk. There was a problem with my 
contract (I have to fix I at the end of my trip in the Netherlands) and I ended 
up with a massive Saab 95 wagon instead of a compact car. It even came with a 
satellite navigation system with a nice Swedish woman giving directions.



my car :)

 

The sat nav was wicked but several 
times she would say bare right and I 
would turn right, she actually meant 
stay in the  right hand lane and keep 
going straight (why couldn’t it have 
said that instead of making me go in 
circles!). Driving in rotterdam is 
crazy as the system doesn’t make any 
sense. There are trams everywhere that 
drive on the exact same lanes you do, 
crazy people on bikes that have no 
problem cutting infront of you and 
many intersections with no traffic 
lights (scary). The sat nav also didn’t 
understand the one way street system in Rotterdam and kept on trying to send 
me down roads I couldn’t go on. I was very happy when I finally got to the 
hotel.

We checked into the hotel and then suzie suggested I go now and park my car 
in the underground parking downstairs.



Netherlands tallest building

Our car was 60m further up from 
the hotel and being a one way street 
with heavy traffic I decided not to 
try and reverse but to use the sat nav 
and do a loop. This ended up being my 
most miserable experience I have ever
had in a car (worse than the 4 hours I 
spent stuck upto my neck in water with 
my car in a lake). It took me over 
30mins to get my car back 60m, in that 
time I was nearly hit by trams and cars 
and those stupid cyclists. I got to an 
intersection with no lights that had 3 
other directions all merging into 1 road. 
I had to drive across the traffic with 
oncoming cars from both sides and those 
trams coming straight for me. I tried to call suzie and let her know where 
I was but my phone decided it didn’t want to work again. I was a wreck 
when I got back to the hotel and so pleased to see it, I entered the 
parking garage and drove my car downstairs because that’s where I was 
told to park it.



Pencil and cubes

 
The ramp going down was a spiral one 
and was so small and tight, when I 
got to the bottom there were only 
small hatch backs down there. I 
checked out the car for damage and 
was amazed that I got through 
without a scratch (I thought I had 
hit something). Driving in germany 
was so much more relaxing, give me 
the autobahn any day over these trams 
and cyclists.

My room ended up being 1 room away 
from suzies, so that was cool. After 
dumping my stuff we went for a walk 
through Rotterdam, we ended up at a nice café and I ordered some bitterballen. 
On route to the harbour we came across these wicked cube houses (need to see 
the photos to really understand). From the ground it looks like the living 
spaces are on 45 degree angles and I imagine them sleeping and living life in 
their cubes at these funny angles.



love these Cube houses

 
We ended up going inside one and I 
was so disappointed to discover that 
they lived in a normal way. The cubes 
are amazing both inside and out and I 
would love to live in one.

Nearby we found a shop that sold clog 
slippers, they look just like clogs 
(the traditional dutch wooden shoes) 
but are made from soft material and are 
indoor slippers. We both bought a pair 
as they are so comfortable and warm.
We then went to the harbour and had a 
few drinks. The drinks were definitely 
the end of a long day and after them we 
went back to our hotel for some sleep.